Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 Virgin America – another Super Brand! Virgin America has grown into a carefully crafted brand selling an experience just as much as it sells transportation. The brand has always been media-savvy and also the campaigns they do are incredibly fun and a great way to engage in smart public relations and marketing. But they don’t stop traditional media. The brand launched back in 2007, when social media was just taking off. Virgin’s first social accounts were set up in 2008, their social media team was created in 2009, and the company has been launching innovative social media campaigns ever since. Virgin America is a leader in the social media spaces well; let’s have a look at their presence on Social Media: Facebook – 483,246 Fans Twitter – 471,790 Followers Google+ – 1.4 Million People have them in Circles Pinterest – 5335 Followers Instagram – 29,488 Followers YouTube – 14,667 Subscribers. Looking at these numbers, they do have an impressive presence on social media. But as we mentioned earlier having Fans/Followers is not the only goal, but driving engagement and communicating is the key. Let’s take a look at 5 Social Media lessons we can learn from Virgin America. You can also follow other Social Media Case Studies we did. 1. Know your Audience The brand think, breathe and act like their customers, by being updated of the latest happenings and knowing what their customers want. They get most of their bookings from their web channels as their customers are tech savvy and available on these platforms, thus on all their channels they communicate consistently and maintain great relations with their customers and influencers. The brand is really value innovating in tech space. Example: Have you noticed that Virgin America’s ads, videos and communication is always bold, casual and young; so is the brand and their audience. 2. Taking Challenges and being Innovative Virgin America is willing to take risks in social media, whether it’s related to customer care, communications or advertising. They believe in experimenting and having fun, and not taking themselves too seriously. Since their presence on social media they always keep experimenting and always make ways to increase awareness about their brand. With Virgin stepping up to become the first airline to use Groupon, the promotion was meant to celebrate Virgin’s new service to Chicago, and offered $77 worth of airfare for $7. When the tickets were sold out in eight minutes, the results were clear; The company has participated in many other daily deal offers since then. Example: Very recently they did a new take on the safety instructions video for your on-board instructions compared to the normal one. The video went viral and has got 7.4 Million hits on YouTube. 3. Connect, Don’t Market They believe in customer engagement as they are the key towards defining the brand through their conversations on the web. Thus they believe in connecting with their audiences by sharing content, engaging with audiences by listening to them. It’s all about having your ear against the pavement and tapping into conversations that revolve around your brand. If you know what your customers think you can constantly improve your brands image and cater to customers on a more personal level. Virgin America realizes how important this is and has a full staff plugged in and listening all the time. This is a great way to connect with your audiences. Example: A Virgin America passenger, using onboard wifi, tweeted that he wasn’t happy that his meal hadn’t been delivered. The ground team picked up on it, contacted the aircraft, and found him his misplaced meal. 4. Make use of 3rd party Applications Organization is vital, especially if you’re a larger organization. Virgin uses the HootSuite dashboard to connect each team to the rest of the company. It uses the dashboard to organize all communication in one place, eliminating the need for multiple screens and programs. With the help of 3rd party organizations it makes the entire process seamless and easier to stay connected with their audiences and always be there, and tend to their needs, wants etc. You might also want to check the 20 twitter tools for businesses. 5. Engage on Social Media with a Genuine Voice Virgin America doesn’t use social media simply to pitch marketing messages. There are real people behind those Twitter posts. They are engaging their customers with fun, genuine, and helpful conversations. They have social media employees who take care of their presence online and they are almost available 24X7 be it positive or negative comments. If you take the time to listen and respond to social media channels, you can consistently hit home runs and convey to your market how important they are to you. Example: The holiday season has started, thus they shared an article about how travelling during the holidays can be a beast. With the funny article they shared, trying to build engagement with their users. Thus they are genuine, fun and helpful while making conversations with their audiences. Takeaways If you’re looking to build your brand, online and off … think about your customers. What do they want? How can you make their experience better? How can you set yourself apart from your competitors? While stepping up your customer experience on Social Media is a necessary start for many brands, we challenge you to think of other creative ways to show your customers you are willing to invest in them. Pay attention to the details, and you’ll find your way. Challenge yourself to think above and beyond the standard of what is expected, and strive for astonishing accomplishments. This is exactly what Virgin America does on social media and excels at doing so! Your turn What do you think about Virgin America’s Social Media presence? Do share your comments below. Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article originally appeared on Digital Insights and has been republished with permission.Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C Author: Harsh Ajmera Follow @ajmeraharsh Owner at Digital Insights. A social media and web tech enthusiast. I keep myself busy with building social media strategies, tactics, exploring new platforms and sharing the best of my knowledge online. I like to play basketball and football. … View full profile ›More by this author:How Colleges and Universities are Leveraging Social MediaStorytelling on Social Media – The Ripple EffectHow Small Businesses Can Use Facebook Calls-to-Action Effectively