Airlines face the heat from passengers when expectations aren't met, but when it comes to being social, they are apparently the best sector on the web.
Social Bakers, a social media marketing specialist launched an initiative (in 2012) by name #SociallyDevoted, a project that measures social media activity of brands - be it the response time, openness in communication, and resolving issues.
In the fourth quarter of 2013, SociallyDevoted says the airline industry tops the list with a response rate of 76.4% on Facebook and 56.3% on Twitter, compared with a wider cross-industry average of 59.4% and 40.6% respectively.
The "response rate" is the percentage of user questions which are answered by companies on Facebook and Twitter.
In Q3 2013, the airline industry was at second place in its response rate, following the financial sector. In Q2 and Q1 2013, airlines were at second and first place with their overall response rates.
In 2013, the airline industry's leverage of social media has had a number of noteworthy examples:
Across all industries, Twitter attracts the most number of questions with a clear majority of 59.3%. With respect to travel industry, this is not surprising considering the evolution of Twitter as a
virtual travel concierge service, according to a study by
Allianz Global Assistance on 25,000 tweets.
On the other hand, Facebook attracts 40.7% of questions (relative to Twitter). Interestingly, the equation changes when it comes to brand response where Facebook actually gets more response (by brands) than Twitter.
Unsurprisingly, KLM tops all brands when it comes to addressing customer questions. Recently, KLM launched a service where it displays in its Twitter and Facebook pages the average time it would take to respond to customer queries.
KLM has been juggling between the first and second place in all quarters of 2013.
To top it all, KLM has also been awarded the top socially devoted brand of the year 2013.
KLM and its social media magic
When eyes read the word 'KLM', the brain thinks 'social innovation', such is the brand image the airline has created among social media professionals with its various initiatives.
Recent notable developments from KLM include,
NB: Airline employees image via Shutterstock.