Mobile Marketing: To the Sky and Beyond

There is only one thing I remember about my January flight from SFO to JFK and that is that it was the first flight where I've gone completely paperless. Yep, similar to my internet bill or cell phone bill, I can now have an entire my airlines experience without printing a thing.

It appears in the past couple of years that several airlines have increased their use of mobile marketing. As well as checking in for flights on mobile devices more frequently, consumers are beginning to use their mobile devices for all aspects of their trip from finding flight to getting in their seat. Recognizing the increase in use of mobile devices among their highly transient customers, airlines are increasing their mobile marketing initiatives for general promotions and all aspects of communication with consumers.

For the Convenience Flyer

While printing a piece of paper seems like such a simple thing to do, it's always one more thing on the checklist that isn't as convenient as it seems.  In general, with the increased use of emailing documents, reading online or on tables and using mobil devices, rise of mobile options, people are printing less. The idea of having to log in to a website, hooking up the printer, restocking ink and print the boarding pass before jetting to the airport seems simple but also one more extra thing on the checklist that doesn't need to be there (and soon won't) with the technology trends of today. 

Airline apps are starting to simplify the boarding pass process by letting flyers get through security and board the plance with their smartphone.  The Fly Delta app is a perfect example. By allowing customers to send their boarding pass directly to their phone which can be scanned at the gate saving time and paper for the convenience oriented eco-friendly traveler. 

For the Social Flyer

Not only are social apps a great ways to interact with customers but they are also a way to increase the word of mouth about their services through their current socially savvy customers. This is no different for airlines.  While it's becoming the norm for the tech oriented flyers to check in for their flight via mobile devices, it's also becoming more and more common for the social butterfly's of the sky to check in again . . . on Facebook.  In 2011, Virgin America Airlines incorporated Foursquare and Facebook checkin options at their San Francisco terminal with their "T2 Takeover" campaign which gave incentive to those who participated.

This year, Virgin America Airlines took top prize for Innovative Campaign at the fifth annual Loyalty Innovation Awards for taking the idea of Social-Mobile-SkyHigh to the next level with it's multi-media #myVXexperience campaign. During this campaign they actually allowed passengers to share their Tweets and Instagram photos while inflight sharing and spreading in-flight experiences all over social platforms.  

For the Everyday Deal Seeker

Knowing that customers only spend a limited time traveling, relative to the amount of time they are on-the-go, airlines have also began to use mobile devices for general marketing campaigns.  This past year, Southwest airlines started a mobile campaign as a way to increase engagement with their highly mobile customers through sending emails on a weekly basis. Through their mobile click n' save campaign that allows mobile users to sign up for weekly emails that include special offers and discounts, they were able to touch their mobile customers more frequently. This campaign also allowed Southwest to grow their database and further segment those of it's customers who are active mobile users so that they can use them as targets for future mobile campaigns and promotions.

This campaign also served as way to increase the amount of Twitter followers and users of their iphone app which already allows passengers to make reservations, book car rentals, check in for their flights, check flight statuses and and look for more offers and deals.