What The Best Asian Budget Airlines Do Right On Social Media

Sometimes it pays to be a smaller company on social media. Expectations are not as high as they could be. But this doesn’t mean that you can send out lazy updates and use poor quality visuals.

The airlines we are looking at in this post are from Asia, and they have worked hard to ensure that the social media channels they use work as marketing tools. We thought we would take a look at some of the budget airlines, and work out how they are gaining traction in a growing market. Not to mention how they feel they can compete on social with the big airlines.

Peach

This is a quirky, fun little airline. It has recently undergone some growth in the number of routes, but it is most definitely a small and budget carrier.

Obviously, people are most interested in what Peach has to say for itself regarding flights, customer service and so on. But the Facebook page that Peach runs also ensures that it covers the experience of flying. This doesn’t feel budget. Instead, you appreciate the food that is served on the flights, with attractive pictures of the delights the cabin crew will serve.

In addition to that, Peach tries constantly to serve up news. All of the news it delivers is about new routes, for example. This post illustrates this perfectly.

The modern budget airline will have loyal fans, and sharing news about more routes keeps the fans engaged.

Scoot

This airline shares the same kind of fun-based attitude that Peach does (and we know this is getting a little weird with all the single word title stuff, it may change) and it had an incredibly attractive Facebook presence. Fun is obviously plastered all over their offices because this is all primary colours and fun videos.

The banner image at the top of the page really just about sums it up, with cartoon characters in front of a photo of the aeroplane itself.

It’s a small fleet, but the reach of the brand is growing. Small doesn’t have to mean boring or uninspiring, and that is definitely reflected in both the banner and the content.

They even carried off one of the infamous ‘mannequin challenges’ that seems to have taken over the Internet recently. Lots of fun, and lots of useful information too (‘101 things to do in Singapore’) make for a useful page that is constantly updated.

AirAsia

Now, if there ever was a budget airline that was famous for thinking big, this could be the one. An extremely successful low-cost airline, it set the standard by which other cheaper airlines were measured by.

It has even spun off into a smaller version of itself which shows that it has actually grown massively while remaining a brand that is seen as ‘low cost’. And the thing is, they follow all the right rules of making a social media feed a useful and attractive one.

So there is a ton of useful information on the brand’s Facebook page (first rule of success on social: be useful) and this information is interspersed with videos of the mascots the brand has, as well as fun videos that are just, well, different.

Oh, and did we mention that AirAsia has a very strong set of colours and that these colours are all over the Facebook page? Yep, they have branding down right on social media, including the colour scheme.

Jetstar Asia

Jetstar is a very aggressive player in the market, regularly slashing prices and offering deals that are basically too good to miss. They keep up the momentum on the Twitter profile, for example, where the majority of posts allow the audience to save money.

Somehow remaining persuasive and not salesy, the Twitter feed simply points out opportunities. Twitter was of course built to spread news, and Jetstar manages this admirably. Check out this post to see how they make it basically impossible to not see a good deal on offer. The brand has mastered the art of offering literal value for money just for being loyal to them on social.

But Jetstar also showcases some incredibly effective campaigns. All around the Chinese New Year, a campaign ran that focused on asking people to consider coming home for the festivities. The personal touch the campaign brings when talking to the loyal audience is something else.

By including this video on their Facebook feed, for example, the brand is telling its audience that it celebrates the same values that they do. Family and friendship above all else. It’s powerful branding, and the response in terms of engagement proves this.

The tools? Any tricks?

These guys are competing in a rapidly growing market. With air travel by main carriers being extremely expensive for most people in the world today, a budget airline always comes up trumps.

But this doesn’t mean they don’t have to work hard on social. These airlines focus on adding value to the experience, so the customer always gets something out of it. Whether this is a cheaper flight on the day, or even just an amazing travel guide to one of their destinations, it’s all good.

A combination of really useful information (the travel guides) along with a sense of fun and vibrancy is what helps the small operators here stand out. They look like big budget airlines, even though they are considered to be the opposite.

The lessons for other brands is clear. Ensure that your personality and spirit comes through on social media. And whatever you do, always be useful to your audience.

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