Julian Carr, the managing director of bmibaby, took some time out of his busy schedule to discuss how social media campaigns will shape the future of airline marketing.
Mark Scourse: Do you think the rapid growth of low-cost airlines was a result of the internet offering a cheap way to sell tickets directly to passengers?
Julian Carr: I'm not sure that you could imagine a low-cost airline without a website! In the early days this wasn't the case: the first easyJet planes had a phone number on the side, not a web address. I'm sure that the subsequent success of these carriers owed something to the lower distribution costs of selling tickets online directly to passengers.
Mark: How much do you see the bmibaby website as a critical commercial tool of the airline?
Julian: The website is the backbone of the business. We often joke that bmibaby is a e-retailer which happens to fly planes! But the website is much more than just a booking engine: it is the main showcase for our brand and we push all our other marketing towards the homepage. It then becomes a really cost-effective channel for communicating with our passengers.
Mark: Bmibaby recently won an award for their use of social media at the Digital Impact Awards. What benefits do you see social media offering the airline?
Julian: bmibaby is a medium-sized low fare airline and we have to get creative in how we use our limited marketing resources, as compared with an easyJet or Ryanair. Social media platforms are great for this as the initial costs can be very low, as long as you have the right team in place to update the content.
One important future trend is towards influencer marketing, where search results become more reliant on the behaviour of your own social network. You are much more likely to be influenced by your friends rather than an anonymous Tripadvisor review.
Mark: How do the characteristics of different platforms affect your social media strategy?
Julian: It's important to understand that social media is different from a traditional 'top-down' media platform. Engaging in conversation, with the right tone of voice, is the key to attracting more and more followers. Just copy and pasting offers will not do it. People want to engage with the personality behind the brand.
There are risks; the recent Qantas Luxury twitter campaign backfired spectacularly. But as long as you are genuine, your followers understand that there are real people working for the organisation and are often prepared to be more reasonable than you'd think!
Mark: Where do you see your social media strategy leading the airline in five year's time?
Julian: I think the fundamental change will be away from websites and towards personalised, integrated travel apps. Browsing news on my iPad I no longer use websites, I access content through apps. The challenge in travel is creating an app which is independent of airline or airport, yet still allows you to manage every aspect of your trip.
The pace of change makes it very difficult to predict where things will go over the next few years. If you'd said to me five years ago that I'd be posting microblogs on Twitter, I wouldn't have believed you!
Mark: Do you see any areas of conflict between the airport and airline in 'owning' the value in the complete passenger journey?
Julian: Commercially there has to be a balance. Airports will offer low-cost airlines a cheap deal to get volume, but unless they are allowed to use this stream of passengers to generate commercial revenue then this equation doesn't add up. Initiatives such as the Ryanair one-bag rule risk undermining the business case for wanting the extra volume.
Mark: Thanks for your comments Julian and best of luck with your digital marketing initiatives at bmibaby!
Follow Julian on Twitter at @jjfcarr