Southwest Airlines Marketing Paper
Southwest Airlines was founded in 1967, long before many of the technologies of today
were created. (Southwest Airlines) The company employs many different technologies to meet
customer needs including various forms of social media, a user-friendly website, and an easy-to-
use app. Southwest has been praised over and over again for its social media tactics that help
them connect to customers on a personal basis. These technologies help Southwest earn many
high rankings in the airline industry. For example, research done by the Temken Group revealed
that Southwest had the highest customer experience ratings of all American airline companies for
the third year in a row. (Tempken Group, 2018) In addition, TripAdvisor ranked Southwest as
the top airline carrier in the country. (2018 Travelers Choice, 2018) There is no doubt that these
rankings are influenced by the company’s top-notch social media and web strategies.
Social media is one way that Southwest engages with its customers. The company has
public accounts with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Their Facebook page alone
has over five million followers, more than double that of any other American airline company.
(Dua, 2017) Southwest has also posted more posts on average on Facebook than any other
airline. (Dua, 2017) A quick glance at the company’s Facebook page reveals posts almost every
day, with each posting garnering thousands of likes, shares, and comments. Posts range from
shared passenger posts, to stories about the company and its employees, to weather advisories.
There are a mix of positive and negative comments, and most of the negative comments are more
related to in-flight experiences rather than the actual post’s content, as can be expected with
company pages. The company replies to many of the posts, offering links to things like its lost
and found page or company policies, and sometimes the posts just canter back to the commenter
in the playful way the company is known for. Storytelling tactics are also used by the company
to gain meaningful connections with its customers. Many of the company’s posts focus on
individual passengers and employees rather than the company as a whole. One example is a
video shared from a passenger where a flight attendant leads the plane in singing “happy
birthday” to a child and announcing his surprise trip to Disney World. Another video interviews
two flight attendants who are married and work together at Southwest. These glimpses into
individual’s experiences with Southwest are an excellent example of positive social media
strategy.
The company reports that it receives up to 3,000 Twitter posts per day directed at the
company. (Kerley, Lloyd, Luna, & Cook, 2017) So how does Southwest manage all of those
messages? The company’s “Listening Center” is located in Dallas, Texas and employs around
forty people to monitor social networks for buzz about the company. (Kerley, Lloyd, Luna, &
Cook, 2017) According to one study, Southwest Airlines has the second-fastest Twitter response
time of any American airline with an average time of six minutes and thirty-six seconds.
(Hethcock, 2018) The company is known for being extremely personal on their social media
pages instead of employing canned responses like many other corporate social media pages. For
example, one Southwest social media employee live tweeted a basketball game after a passenger
complained that the in-flight Wi-Fi would not stream the game. (Blackburn, 2018) The company
also rewards its employees for going out of their way for customer using a program called “Kick
Tails” which gives points that can be redeemed for prizes and money. (Muphy, 2018) Not only
does the company rewards their workers for social media, they also stand behind them when
others talk badly about their employees. For example, Southwest reported a passenger’s tweet
