airlines

Southwest Reaches Facebook Million Mark

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Southwest Airlines has become the first airline to log one million fans on Facebook.

The Dallas-based airline is offering Facebook fans a special Rapid Rewards promotion for one day only to mark the achievement. Fans of the airline can earn triple Rapid Rewards credit on all flights purchased on Dec. 1 for travel through the month.

With this promotion, members can earn a free flight after just three roundtrips. Registration is required through the airline's Facebook page. Fans who are not yet Rapid Rewards members can join and receive a special enrollment offer of up to five credits and become eligible for the triple credit promotion. This promotion is offered exclusively through the airline's Facebook fan page, which has added more than 21,000 fans to the one-million mark as of early afternoon, Dec. 1.

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In comparison, JetBlue had 428,387 Facebook fans at press time, United Airlines had 163,160 and American Airlines had 96,546.

The airline has been involved in social media for five years, says Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines vice president of communication and strategic outreach. "Through this effort, we've identified what our customers want, what we're doing well, and how we can improve," she says.

The airline has been ahead of the curve on social media for many years, Southwest Marketing VP Kevin Krone told attendees of a National Retail Federation conference in September. Even before Twitter and Facebook, Southwest embraced new media very quickly.

Southwest's Twitter account reached 1 million followers in January and the airline offered a similar promotion. The company also has a YouTube page and a very active company blog.

Southwest has two teams working on social media, Krone told the NRF audience. The PR and communications team engages customers in dialogue. Meanwhile, the marketing team looks for ways to monetize social media and also is responsible for the look and feel of the sites.

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