united airlines: unlocking social media sales socially, presented by allison brown
TRANSCRIPT
SOCIALMEDIA.ORGCASE STUDIES
Member Meeting 32Chicago, 6-15-2014
Learn more about Member Meetingssocialmedia.org/meetings
SOCIALMEDIA.ORG
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United Airlines Allison BrownUnlocking social media sales socially
WSJ- Social Media Fail to Live Up to Early Marketing Hype
Just Being Social is not cutting it anymore.
Quote‐ Jan Rezab, chief executive of Socialbakers AS
“Fans and follower counts are over.
Now it's about what is social doing for you and real business objectives."
UNITED
Businesses are looking more critically at social media and its influence on the bottom line. A majority of respondents in a Gallup survey said that social media had no influence at all on purchasing decisions.
“That’s cool. Where should I go for spring break?”
Desired-I just booked a flight to Denveron United.com
I just checked in for my flight toMunich on united.com
Social Notifications Social Reactions
“I will book a flight on United.com too”
Reality-
“So what? You are going to Denver for work again.”
“Well, good for you, but I’m not about to spend $xxx.xxjust because you did”
United is having a specialdeal to Hawaiiunited.com/specialdeals
“Too bad. I wasn’t looking for a beach vacation, I wasactually searching for outdoor adventure destinations”
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Current implementation of social integrationOne way communication, product focused, lack of CTA, not too targeted
“I can buy my client a drink?! It will seal the businessdeal, and I will look good in social space. I’m so doingthat .”
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Its one-way communication
It’s not too engaging/compelling
It’s hard to track and measure
It’s not tailored beyond broad segmentation
It’s missing the social component of social
YOUR MESSAGESHOUT-OUT
What's wrong with the Megaphone approach?
UNITED
BRAND
Not a problem but can we do more?
Peer Recommendations
(Amazon, Yelp)
Group Buying
(Groupon, LivingSocial)
Peer to Peer
(eBay, Etsy)
Social Shopping
(Mattel, Go Try It On)Participatory
(Threadless, Kickstarter)
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Assessing the social commerce landscapeNoticing communication direction, who are the players?
Source ‐The 7 species of social commerce by Lauren Indvik
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Maslow's drivers of human behavior
SELF-ACTUALIZATION - Problem solving, Helping others,personal growth, fulfillment…
ESTEEM - Confidence, Achievement, Recognition, status…
LOVE/BELONGING - Friends, Family, affection…
SAFETY - Security, Employment, Insurance, order, law…
PHYSIOLOGICAL- Breathing, Food, Sleep Water…
Why do we do what we do?
SOCIAL - Connections, Sharing, Reciprocation
ESCAPISM – Entertainment, Enjoyment
EXPRESSION – Communication, Consumption, Transaction
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ALTRUISM & DISCOVERY - Problem solving, helping others, self development, learn from others, meaningful, truth
What motivates us in social space?
Source – TMW social Media Research
Why is it important for us to understand these drivers?
FAME - Recognition, Reputation, Status
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Basic Product Overview
“Flight Fancies” is a social storefront intended to use our existing customers and their buying behavior to trigger purchase of our ancillary products by their social networks.
Customers can purchase products or pay for fees on their friend’s / client’s itinerary. i.e – pay for their baggage fee, drinks on the plane, e plus, United club day passes, and more.
We are helping people use social gifting to reinforce social bonds and enable travelers to help travelers in a way that leads to discovery and purchase of United products.
Social sales strategy should be around interactions and transactions between people, not corporations to people.
Flight Fancies Friends, Family & Colleagues to make your travel experience remarkable
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John books a reservation withUnited
John shares his reservation on FF and also shares it out on his Facebook
John’s social network sees the FF link on his Facebook
Allison decides to purchase something for John and clicks on the FF link on his Facebook
Social postsFlight FanciesPublic
Allison’s social network sees the FF link on her Facebook and her generosity towards John who they also know
Allison is linked to FF personal view seeing John’s FF options
Allison purchases an E Plus for John and shares her generosityon her Facebook
Social posts
Social ActivationTakes over
Flight FanciesPersonal
John receives an email from FF of Allison’s generosity. He has an option to share this out to his social network
FF email
Flight Fancies
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Basic Social Networking Flow
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Origin Check-in desk Gate In flight Destination
Baggage Fee paid by my sister
A drink on flight boughtby my vendor
United Club one day pass paid by my colleague A snack box bought for
me by my boss
Flight FanciesSocial activation opportunities integrated into customers' travel journey
UNITED
AnEconomyPlus boughtby my friend
IT’S
FUN
IT’S
SOCIAL
IT’S
HELPFUL
Enabling with infrastructure and product catalog
Take yourself out of the equation Enable your customers by providing the infrastructure and the products, then butt out
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Selling the experience, not the products
Selling products via social media is a fine strategy, but selling experience is a better strategysince social media is an experience delivery mechanism. Travelers are looking to purchaseand share experience s that are unique and personal to the them and hard to replicate.
Lowering the barrier of entry for participation
Purchasing a plane ticket is a highly committed activity and is not considered an impulsepurchase. We need to provide them with a set of products that they can purchase and willmake them look and feel good on their social channels.
Brands dictating what products customers should purchase, let alone what to buy for theirfriends, does not bode well with emotionally‐savvy customers. Leave the decision‐making toyour customers that they know what they want to buy, and let the social do its social thing.
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Organic, social communication & experience focused
I just booked a flight to DenverOn United.com and with FlightFancies,you can buy me a drink in flight!
My vendor just paid for my drink on@United flight via FlightFancies
Social Notifications Social Reactions
“I can buy my client a drink?! It will help seal thebusiness deal, and I will look good in social space. I’mso doing that .”
“I am buying my coworker a day pass to United Club, soshe will be able to join this mtg. from the businesscenter, and we won’t have to reschedule!”
Thanks to FlightFancies, and myfriends, I felt like a celebrity on myunited flight this morning
“Since I took my mom shopping and made her buy awhole new wardrobe, it’s only fair that I pay for herbaggage check–In fees.”
New approach to social activation
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Status
Smart biz?
Evil?
Solving problems?
Expression
Social
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A win-win: How United gainsFlipping the sales funnel and leveraging the rule of reciprocity in social networking
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TRIGGER/AWARENESS
CONSIDERATION
PURCHASE
Customer Acquisition
TRIGGER/AWARENESS
CONSIDERATION
PURCHASE
Traditional mass media marketing funnel spends budget first then hopes for the best
New Customer Sales force
Existing Customer Sales force
VS
Source – Flip the Funnel Joseph Jaffe
Altruism & Discovery
Problem solving, Helping others, Doing good, Meaningful, Truth
Fame
Recognition, Reputation,Attention
Social
Friendship, Family, Connections, Sharing,Reciprocity
Escapism
Entertainment, Enjoyment
Expression
Communication,Consumption,Transaction
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Conclusion: Remember the Drivers of Motivation in Social