Social media monitoring is crucial to a brand's reputation but are you doing it right?

The amount of ‘chatter’ that takes place on social media platforms makes monitoring of content and conversations a mandatory task, but it doesn’t end there. In fact, analysing online conversations for key business insights via real-time social analytics and relating intelligence to structured data can be an important differentiator for travel brands. However, monitoring isn’t always straightforward especially if content like photos are posted on social networks without mention of the brand.

Stephanie Scott, American Airlines Social Media Specialist believes that using keyword and hashtag searches across networks like Twitter and Instagram can solve this problem.

EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta talks to Scott about other ways to unearth content that’s relevant for a brand.

EFT: What major developments have your company made in terms of social media monitoring?  

SS: The American Airlines social customer service team monitors all incoming mentions on Twitter and wall posts to Facebook 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We use data analysis to constantly review our allocation of resources, which in turn allows us to broaden social monitoring beyond direct brand mentions and traditional social networks. In this way, we surprise and delight our customers, amplify positive buzz and encourage brand loyalty.

We believe that going above and beyond in social media monitoring allows for opportunities to strengthen relationships.

EFT: Is it challenging to monitor social media conversations and content that is relevant to your brand?

SS: Despite the volume of content associated with our brand, sophisticated social media monitoring tools enable us to mine all relevant conversation. This can be challenging but our belief in the importance of social customer service means we have invested in robust staffing and training to assist as many customers as possible.

EFT: In your opinion, when a brand isn’t mentioned in online social conversations, can location-based social media intelligence help?

SS: Not every post about American Airlines need mention American Airlines to have value for the customer and the brand. Nonetheless, we’re considering ways to leverage social location sharing to give deeper meaning to our content. 

EFT: How can social media monitoring provide insights into the likes, dislikes and the needs and desires of loyal customers for a brand like yours? 

SS: We hear about the likes, dislikes, needs and desires of our customers every day through social listening and customer service. We pass these insights along to the appropriate departments within our business to consider and act upon. We also use social listening tools to see overarching trends in conversation and report those back to the business where relevant.  

EFT: How do you make use of social media monitoring in real time? Does location-based data add context to social media conversations?

SS: Social media monitoring in real-time with location context enables us to provide fast and effective social customer service and engage with customers in a meaningful way.

For example, if a customer checks into Foursquare in our Admirals Club lounge and says they’re excited about their upcoming flight, we can reply that we hope they enjoy a complimentary beverage and free Wi-Fi in the lounge before boarding.  

EFT: How significant is location data in relation to social content?

SS: American Airlines customers are passionate travellers who love to share their whereabouts with friends and family. This enables rich content sharing which benefits our brand.

In May, we launched a promotion with Klout whereby influencers with a Klout score of 55 or over earned a free Admirals Club One Day Pass. We encouraged customers who redeemed their passes to check in on Foursquare, post Instagram photos or tweet using #AdmiralsClub. In this case, location-based content drove positive sentiment toward our Admirals Clubs.  

EFT: Do you have any advice for brands on how to avoid mistakes when it comes to social media monitoring? 

SS: One piece of advice I would offer is to always be alert for context clues in a social post. We encourage our team to review an individual’s profile and past tweets before responding so they are armed with information to develop an appropriate response.

For instance, if a customer’s profile shows their interests, we can engage with them around those topics. If a past tweet shows they’ve expressed frustration about the brand before, then we are aware of past events.  

EFT: How do you assess the success of your social media monitoring?

SS: The American Airlines social media team regularly measures the volume and sentiment of incoming conversations, as well as our response rate and time. We also observe key topics and trends in social conversation.