IN-DEPTH: The use of social media as a reward platform is expected to open new horizons for travel companies to better engage their customers.

Since social media is a word-of-mouth marketing communications tool, customers become the unofficial ambassadors for the company, harnessing the powerful marketing medium, word-of-mouth to its fullest, says Mohd. Hisham Salleh, Malaysia Airlines’ Head of Social Media & Innovation, E-Business.

By Ritesh Gupta

The travel industry is looking at new ways to leverage the presence of its members on Facebook. The practice of allotting points and miles for participation on Facebook is now getting stronger as travel companies have come up with novel initiatives over the last couple of months.

Last week hotel group Accor launched its A|Club Places application on Facebook. The company stated that A|Club Places is the first location-based application launched by an international hotel group that offers bonus points to its loyalty programme members. The application enables A|Club loyalty programme members to earn bonus points.

Every time an A|Club member stays at one of the programme’s 2,300 participating hotels and checks in the application, clients will be able to unlock badges. These badges reward regularity, variety of destination, loyalty to one type of hotel, etc. Each badge enables members to earn A|Club points that can be redeemed as A|Club reward vouchers for use in Accor hotels, with partners, or converted into airline miles.

Airlines, too, are rewarding members for sharing their location at airports using Facebook. They are offering members real-time, personalised offers for immediate use.

“Facebook layering”

The industry is also looking at adding a social layer to the booking process. New Facebook apps for loyalty programmes exemplify this trend. These apps hope to make travel both a rewarding and social experience.

Recently, Malaysia Airlines unveiled a campaign that allows members of Enrich, the airline’s loyalty and frequent flyer programme, to book air travel through MHbuddy Facebook application and earn 1,000 Enrich Miles per booking. The airline is currently taking bookings under the `Enrich Gift 4 Buddies’ campaign (until 31 March 2012).

MHbuddy is an application on Malaysia Airlines Facebook that allows passengers to book and check-in for a flight while sharing their trip details with their friends. In addition, they canselect their seats and look up for their friends who are travelling on the same flight.

“F-Commerce, or Facebook commerce offers better interactivity between an airline and its customers. Hence, we have leveraged on this potential and have taken a quantum leap forward with Malaysia Airlines’ MHbuddy Facebook application,” says Azlan A. Tanjong, Malaysia Airlines’ Head of E-Business, Customer Experience.

Ideal Fit

Airlines and hotels are being urged to reignitetheir loyalty programmes to reflect changes in consumer behaviour. It is being highlighted that companies need to be innovative and ensure their loyalty programmes engage customers and offer relevant, personalised rewards which excite them.

The travel industry, too, needs to re-look at the traditional view of loyalty and rewards.

On how the usage of social media and apps developed specially for various platforms/ networks is taking guest recognition to the next level, Mohd. Hisham Salleh, Malaysia Airlines’ Head of Social Media & Innovation, E-Business says the use of social media as a reward platform will certainly open new horizons for companies to better engage their customers.

“Since social media is a word-of-mouth marketing communications tool, customers become the unofficial ambassadors for the company, harnessing the powerful marketing medium, word-of-mouth to its fullest,” Salleh told EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta.

According to Malaysia Airlines, around 80 percent of MHbuddy users are Enrich members, and therefore, this is a great opportunity for the airline to recognise its loyal members online with such rewards. The airline has about 1.9 million members worldwide and it is clearly planning to add new Enrich members.

On how Facebook can contribute in earning trust, love and advocacy for products and services amongst a new breed of savvy and fickle travel customer, Salleh says, when dealing with social media a softer approach is much better to get the message across than an out-and-out hard sell, “because we are encroaching into the personal space of the customer”.

“Facebook, being a real time media channel, does offer greater options of interactivity between companies and their client base. At Malaysia Airlines, we attend to our customers as if we’re meeting them face to face rather than just a person behind the computer. By doing so, there is the human element in our marketing message rather than the usual, general message,” added Salleh.

Social Media Strategy

As far as social media initiatives are concerned, Salleh said the industry is still fine-tuning its approach to social media as there are so many areas to work on.

“We’re seeing more out-of-the-box ideas from travel related companies, especially airlines as they create their presence in social media,” said Salleh.

The airline is very particular about its treatment for Facebook and Twitter.

“We try to limit the hard sell and focus more on the soft sell aspect. For example, we will post more conversation starters on Malaysia Airlines’ Facebook page whilst the focus of Malaysia Airlines’ Twitter account is on customer recovery. We have this customisation to avoid duplication in both the channels and commit our resources properly.”

When setting the RoI for social media, companies should have a clear understanding on social media and anticipate audiences’ response to marketing messages on social media, added Salleh.

“It is a challenge putting the two together as customers are easily turned-off if companies dictate on social media. Instead, Malaysia Airlines avoids putting too much emphasis on hard-sell messages that may steer away customers, but instead engages them with conversation starters which will get them excited about the brand.”

Another important component of social media is tapping into online conversations around brands, products or services to understand what its core audiences are saying and determine the influence they have on their brands.  

“There have been many cases where social media has given travel companies an advantage,” acknowledged Salleh.

However, as Salleh added, it is still a growing medium and the full effect is hard to quantify at the moment.