Spring Airlines Social Media Marketing Strategy

In recent years, the rapid development of social media can in part be traced both to the breadth and speed it can deliver information to its audience and its ability to reduce marketing costs. Given these factors, an increasing number of businesses are now attaching greater importance to the numerous applications of social media and have now begun to employ them as critical marketing tools.As a result of this rapid development and the potentiality of social marketing, there is currently insufficient research that might allow companies to maximize their own social marketing activities. This is particularly true when applied to the budget airline industry. It is well know that Facebook is the most popular social media platform globally and it is for this reason that many companies have selected it as their prime social marketing channel. This study examines some successful social marketing strategies employed by airlines in the Thai marketplace, with particular reference to Spring Airlines and its Facebook marketing strategies. Furthermore, it will offer a number of recommendations and alternate strategies for still greater results.Chapter One provides an overview of research concerning the development of international and domestic social media platforms and the rise of social marketing and identifies the lack of investigation into the use of social marketing in the aviation sector. It also outlines the research objectives, methodology and overall structure of this research. Using traditional marketing theory analysis Chapter Two offers a definition of social marketing and theoretical understanding of social marketing strategies. Chapter Three explores the social marketing environment in Thailand and the social media behaviors of Thai consumers. Chapter Four provides a detailed case study of Spring Airlines and its Thai language Facebook page, with reference to the company’s overall development and the unique social marketing features employed on its Thai Facebook page. Chapter Five provides an empirical analysis of Thai consumers’ expectations as well as the content, events and user feedback of Spring Airlines’ Facebook page and suggests a series of changes to the company’s social marketing strategy. Chapter Six offers a concluding summary and outlines areas for future discussion.