Delta airlines has created a new approach to selling passenger seats, which may initially sound bizarre, but if you really think about it, the strategy makes total sense in today's world. What is this new approach? The airline company has decided to enable customers to book their flights via Facebook.
The new feature was released on Thursday, August 12, 2010 and was positioned on Delta's Facebook page. Fliers can now book their travel flight plans right from Facebook without going through the fuss of travel booking on Delta's main website or through other travel planning websites.
Delta has launched this feature as an attempt to better connect with consumers and to provide travelers with a relatively easy tool to improve customer online experiences. Named the "Ticket Window", consumers can navigate to Delta's Facebook page and simply click on the page's profile tab entitled "Book a Trip". It is important to note customers wishing to buy airline tickets via Facebook will have to allow the Delta application to access their profile prior to being able to purchase a flight ticket. If not, access will be unavailable.
The ticket purchasing convenience offered on Facebook is seemingly only the beginning of Delta's overall strategic plan to modernize themselves with current trends which are likely to be long-lasting. Paralleling ticket sales to better align with today's social environments has strong potential to attract positive attention to the Delta brand.
In the near future Delta plans to also add an app for the iPhone as well. The latter will allow fliers to check in, verify flight statuses, keep track of their frequent flier miles and provide some other nifty features, all in the name of convenience. With so many individuals in society working from cell phones, creating compatible ways for customers to utilize Delta's service has high probability to attract a lot of attention.
Bob Kupbens, Delta's Vice President of eCommerce, state in a press release "Our customers are spending more time online and are looking for new ways to connect with us. We're now delivering technology where our customers are – from our own website to our Facebook page to Internet news sites and beyond. We already know Facebook is the most used website by inflight WiFi users on more than 2,000 Delta flights every day, giving us the natural launching point for a new online Ticket Window." (Delta Press Release).
With all the competition in the air travel industry and financial struggles, will using mobile marketing approaches catch on? If recent history of other industries embracing socialization centric technologies are any indicator, chances are this move by Delta will be a hit. Social media marketing is here to stay for the immediate future and Delta's strategy simply kicks it up a notch as an attempt to optimize customer experience.
To visit Delta's Facebook page and see how to book tickets, please visit their page at this link.
Source: CNN.com