As the October 23-25 Airport Social Media Summit moves closer, we’ve asked some of the speakers to share why they’ve agreed to be part of the event, and what participants will get out of it. This post is from Kristie Van Auken (@CAKristie) the senior VP and chief marketing officer at Akron-Canton Airport, which is both hosting the event and still celebrating the best traffic month in its 64-year history, not to mention eclipsing 30,000 Facebook likes.
Social media is so red hot, right? Well, “red hot” may be a bit of an overstatement. SoMe was so hot last year. Things change quickly in the communications biz, particularly at airports. While many airports were formulating their social media procedures and policies, big brands busted into the space with their top notch campaigns and big budgets. Most of us eventually got into the game too, often dragging law departments and suspicious CEOs who were certain that there just wasn’t time for this “flash in the pan” strategy.
How can airports find and maintain their share of voice in what is now a very competitive arena? It is going to be tougher moving forward, that’s for sure. Welcome to the real (connected, me-centered) world. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and the like have fundamentally changed the way we communicate and it has opened a one-to-one portal with our customers. How amazing is that? And more importantly, what are you going to do about that?
The SoMe space continues to evolve as customer preferences evolve. CAK has been actively involved in social media for years, building on strong content and engagement strategy. We still have more to learn though. That’s why we are hosting the Airport Social Media Summit. We are gathering a bunch of experts in ROE (return on expression), best practices for crisis communications, and leading strategists…so basically, the people we learn from.
I am absolutely certain that you will be a stronger communicator after our power packed day-and-a-half of intense, deep-dive social media training. This isn’t for the faint of heart…it is for the diehards who believe, as I do, that engagement is critical to customer conversion. Those who attend will add more Likes, will measure your influence more accurately and will be a greater asset to your airport and community as a result.
Can you afford to miss it?
Join me. You won’t regret it.
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