ETW STAFF – Mumbai
SimpliFlying has released findings from its latest Airline Social Media Outlook 2012 report. Based on a research survey conducted with 29 airlines in social media including KLM and American Airlines, the Airline Social Media Outlook 2012 explores key variables in terms of budget, staffing, challenges and return on investment (ROI). One of the key trends is the increasing importance of customer service on social media. About 85 per cent of the airlines surveyed have social media staff working across departments, with customer service emerging as the most common cross-functional role, ahead of marketing and corporate communications.
Among the challenges faced, the biggest stems from the insufficient allocation of resources to social media. Almost 65 per cent of the airlines facing this problem are already investing more than 90 man-hours a month into social media. “Many airlines are still learning social media on the fly, and adapting to a dynamic landscape,” said Shashank Nigam, CEO of SimpliFlying.
In spite of the challenges, over 70 per cent of the airlines surveyed plan to increase their social media budget in the next year. This is an almost two-fold increase compared to a year ago, when only 40 per cent of the airlines surveyed planned to expand their social media teams.
