AmericanAir is on the ballot as voting begins for Best Airline in Social Media award.
Before last year American had made a few experimental attempts at using social media channels purely as a marketing tool, but starting in late 2010 they decided on a different approach and got serious about using social media as a way to connect with customers, address service issues, and communicate with people.
They’ve worked really hard to do it right and I think they’ve been very successful.
They’re on Twitter 18 hours a day handling complaints and questions, sharing travel related info, and talking to customers.
They’ve put together videos that give a behind the scenes look at how fares are set, how bags get loaded, and what happens during weather disruptions and shared them on YouTube.
And they’ve used Facebook to kick off new routes, share travel info, support disaster relief efforts, and to build a place where people can go to share travel photos, advice, and get the latest AA related news.
All that hard work has been noticed: they’ve been nominated for two awards in the Annual SimpliFlying Excellence in Social Media Awards.
Thry are among the finalist in two categories:
Best Airline in Social Media
Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service
The public is able to help in the selection process by voting for a winner in each category. Voting is underway and runs through August 25th.
I’m not going to sway you to vote one way or the other, but if you want to Vote for American, go here. If you want to vote for another airline, go here.
As we say in Oklahoma, vote early and vote often!
Photo: Vote!
Credit: Ho John Lee on Flickr