As a Dallas-based company, Southwest Airlines has a fantastic reputation in the DFW metroplex, and many of us at DMA Solutions happen to know people who work for the airline. It caught my attention the other day when a friend of mine shared a local news segment taking you inside Southwest’s “Social Media Listening Room.” Social media is a huge part of what we do here at DMA, so any chance to peek into the process of a company with the size and reputation of Southwest Airlines is one we’ll gladly take!
There’s so much fresh produce marketers can learn from marketers in other industries, and we felt very validated and affirmed after watching the story on Southwest. Here are 3 major takeaways that fresh produce marketers can learn from Southwest Airlines’ social media process:
Social media customer service is an expectation of consumers.
Increasingly, we’re seeing first-hand that people are turning to Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms FIRST when they have a question or complaint. This is certainly true in the airline business (I love tweeting @AmericanAir because they almost always respond, and I don’t have to sit on hold on my phone!). Many of you have likely experienced the dreaded consumer post of spoiled produce on your Facebook pages. It’s becoming an expectation amongst consumers that with the digital age, your online communities should also serve as a platform for them to connect directly with you the same way they would calling your customer service line.
“Listening” is an essential piece to the social success puzzle.
The fact that Southwest has dubbed their social media team’s workspace “The Listening Center” gave us marketing goosebumps. This only further underscored to us how important it is to “listen” to what your customers and consumers are tweeting, posting, sharing, etc. about your products if you want to create a real authentic connection and relationship with them online. Ask yourself, are your social media posts all one-sided and about you? Or are you spending time asking others questions to create relationships?
Social media is a 24/7 job, and your response time really does matter.
The report explains that Southwest’s social media team has recently expanded to around the clock coverage of their social networks, meaning there is someone in the listening center at all times ready to respond! We’ll admit that this still may seem like a tall order for produce brands, as most of us don’t get 2,000+ tweets and Facebook comments a day (if you do, call us – let’s grab a cocktail at United!), but this only solidifies how important it is to monitor your social accounts at all times. 85% of consumers expect you to respond to their social media message or comment within at LEAST 6 hours, yet most companies take more than 24 hours to do so. Southwest understands the importance of meeting consumer expectations when it comes to brand image and loyalty, and the same can be said for how food brands engage online. Your response time matters!
I guess you could say that after this peek inside “The Listening Center,” we have a little bit of a crush on the Southwest Airlines social media team. They’re doing a fantastic job, and we should continue to learn from other companies when it comes to our own fresh produce marketing efforts. Are you meeting your consumers’ and customers’ expectations with your social media communications? If you’re not sure, these free social media guides and resources can help!
