Business Blogging Done Right by Southwest
If you would like an example of business blogging done right, you need not look any further than Southwest Airlines. Not shy to dip into the technology, they offered their customers a widget back in 2005. (We talk about widgets here and here). You may have had experience with it. Placed on your desktop, it dings when special internet-only flight rates were available.
“In its first two years, the Ding application was downloaded by about 2 million consumers and generated more than $150 million in ticket sales, said Kevin Krone, vice president of marketing….The ratio of referred [Ding] installers to total installers is very high, which tells us that people who download the program often convince their friends to do it as well…”
Which is something to take note of if you have been considering a widget. Fast on the heels on their widget success, they introduced their corporate blog.
“..the blog generates a decisive response from Southwest loyalists. In July 2007, the blog attracted more than 100,000 total visits and more than 40,000 unique visitors…
Over the last 12 months, the blog has featured 260 posts, and has received about 6,200 comments, or about 20 per day…”
(source)
More importantly, not resting on their laurels, they did their analytics homework, resulting in their simplifying the widget so that it was less confusing. They also came to understand the need for transparency in their blog.
“If there is something that customers demand and you can’t change it, it is best to be transparent,” said Krone.As a McKinsey report states it:
“Blogs, in particular, “help engage prospects and detractors in a positive and productive discussion,” thus helping brands manage their reputations…”
Southwest will now share the blogosphere with Delta who just announced the introduction of their Delta ‘Under the Wing‘ blog. It will be interesting to see how Delta, who has a whole city of disgruntled customers in Cincinnati, responds to the inevitable complaints from that region. While that challenge still looms, they may want to take note of a blog that also recently debuted going by the name “DeltaisEvil”, created by an unhappy Delta customer and rapidly gaining steam.
Delta’s new blog will be flying into some head winds. If they emulate Southwest, however, they should be able to ride the turbulence.
Tags: analytics, blog, blogging, blogosphere, blogs, brand, Business, business-blog, business-bloggin, business-blogging, comments, consumers, content, corporate, desktop, discussion, hr, im, IT, marketing, news, ping, PR, reputation, RSS, sales, sphere, tech, technology, training, transparency, unique, widgets, XP