Ryanair getting social with their passengers!

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Mar 2010

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In a recent post from Hotel Marketing website it claims that Ryanair are going the social media route by setting up a private community for travelers to communicate amongst each other and with Ryanair. They did consider using twitter and facebook but decided a private community is better.

Is it the right decision to go with a private community? Facebook is now starting to get more traffic in the US than Google and it has over 400 million registered users. Ignoring Facebook is like ignoring a big chunk of the web. Imagine having a few hundred thousand fans on facebook and announcing some cheap flights. It would spread like wildfire on social media.

With their own community they will build up a following but nowhere near the amount if they jumped on to facebook. Yes, you’d get some Ryanair whingers on the facebook page but you’d also get a lot of supporters.

Ryanair is often compared to Southwest Airlines in the US as they operated no frills airline before Ryanair. However, Southwest Airlines didn’t try to set up their private community. They have 780,000 on their facebook page. They have over 9,000 items on the flickr page. Their blog is cool looking and funky with integration with flickr and even some video. They have really embraced social media and have seen the benefits.

I’ll be interested to see how Ryanair get on. How do you think people will respond to a private community set up by Ryanair?

http://www.rjpalmer.co.uk Richard Palmer

That depends on the purpose of the community. Start a private community to gather feedback from selected individuals in order to enhance Ryanair’s service and offering, great. But we’re talking 20 odd people carefully selected as a typical demographic and with a clear objection in mind. Anything beyond that, an absolute waste of time. There is a reason that Facebook’s growth has mirrored MySpace & Bebo’s fall – too many platforms doing the same thing. Why would I use MySpace when my friends are on Facebook. The same applies here, why would I join a private community, unless the offers on flights are incredible, and even then I wouldn’t engage with Ryanair. It’s the usual scenario of jumping on the Social Media band wagon before any real thought process has been carried out.
http://www.razorcoast.com Ian Cleary

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the feedback. I agree 100%. They should be on Facebook with 400 million other people. As a big brand they will get some followers but nothing compared to what they could achieve on Facebook.

Ian
una

The viral effect of facebook has been proven, if harnessed smartly. The question again is what Ryanair is looking to achieve – a private community denotes selectivity and control on their part; however, as a company that tends to shoot from the hip and generally relishes negativity, this may be an initial ‘dip’ into the social network pond. Will be interesting to watch and see (albeit allowing for their PR spin on this).
http://www.razorcoast.com Ian Cleary

Thanks Una, I can imagine there will be lots of moderation of comments so you won’t see too much negativity!