How American Airlines Generates 33 Billion Social Impressions

June 16, 2016

If you want to generate 33 billion impressions on social media, you’re going to need a team. A few tools. And of course, an incredible understanding of communication and the social media landscape. American Airlines, it would seem, has it all.

The Airline Generated 33 Billion Social Impressions Last Year.
On June 10, Mike Slattery published his story of stepping into the American Airlines social media control center, where 30 employees are divided into three teams:

1. Social Customer Service: Practical and hands-on, this team is responsible for fielding customers’ comments and inquiries.
2. Social Engagement: This small team generates all of the “pro-active” content that shapes the AA brand story.
3. Social Insights: A small team of one, Social Insights paints the big picture of how social media efforts are impacting the customer and the company as a whole.

The Magic Ingredient
So what’s the key to building a social media platform from the ground up in just under five years? Passion. “I know it sounds a bit cheesy,” says Annette Hernandez, leader of the Social Customer Service reps at AA, “but you have to be passionate about the customer and the customer experience.”

AA’s Year in Social Media
How is the team’s hard work paying off?

• 6 million public social mentions
• 33 billion potential social impressions
• Platform growth of 172% on Instagram, 23% on Twitter, and 8% on Facebook
• 6 million Tweets handled
• Average response time to public Tweets of 34 minutes

Head on over to American Airlines’ Twitter profile to see how they bring passion and a down-to-earth attitude to their audience.

How to Approach Social Media Like the #AATeam

1. Be timely! Responsive brands get 4x the engagement. Respond quickly and thoroughly to your audience.
2. Make it personal. The #AATeam comes across as fully human in all their messaging. Be real with your audience.
3. Create great content. The creative on American Airlines’ profiles is funny, interesting, and never dull. Don’t get bogged down in selling all the time on social. Use these platforms to have fun and create fans.
4. Repurpose fan content. Lastly, repurpose great content. Who knows… you might even get fans to reach out and offer you their content!

What’s your favorite brand on social?
We want to know! Tell us what brand you love following the most, and why!

Digital & Social Articles on Business 2 Community

(29)