British Airways vs Sunwing Airlines on Facebook

British Airways, travel and leisure and Sunwing Vacations, travel and transportation are two verified Facebook Business Pages. British Airways has over 2, 000, 000 more likes than Sunwing, posting on average two times per day, usually one post being between the hours of 6-7 am EST and second being posted around noon, 12 pm EST. The UK airline along with their consistent posts also is true to the 50/50 rule. Although British Airways enjoys posting about their brand, details of the daily flying conditions, weather updates of popular UK tourist sites, promotions and milestones their Facebook page also posts content in regards to travel tips, must see destinations and social norms where there are cultural differences. With combined likes of 5K, over 600 shares and over 400 comments British Airways’ 2 most successful posts were both focused on their industry and not brand. One a video of popular to do’s and must see in Spain, where British Airways now flies to 15 destinations and the other, an infographic sharing tips for first time travellers to Italy. I believe these two posts were successful due to their use of hashtags and both posts asked questions in which followers were able to engage. 

British Airways Facebook Page, 2016

With close to four posts a day, all seeming to be in a close window of time, Sunwing may not be as consistent however the airline does share their content equally between brand and industry. Sharing posts between Sunwing’s packages, promotions, deals, destinations and travel tips, popular vacations and articles relating to travel. Both of Sunwing’s most popular post have had a French translation but only had a combined total of 200 like, under 100 comments and a handful of shares. 

Sunwing Facebook Page, 2016

Although not as successful as those of British Airways, Sunwing’s post were likely more popular than their other posts in relation to the timing and number of post those days.

Go give British Airways and Sunwing Vacations a ‘like’ to see more!

Sunwing Airlines' Social Media Strategy

Analysing the Strength of Sunwing Airlines' Social Media Outlets

Sunwing Airlines is a Canadian owned Airline company who is relatively new to the airline industry. Although they are only 10 years old Sunwing Airlines, also commonly referred to as Sunwing Vacations, the company can be found on a variety of social media platforms. Although present on these outlets:

• -        Facebook
• -        Twitter
• -        Instagram
• -        Youtube
• -        Sunwing Blog
• -        Pinterest
• -        Google+

Is the company using them effectively to communicate with existing and potential flyers? Let’s find out!

Sunwing (Sunwing Facebook Page, 2016)

Sunwing Vacations, Travel and Transportation BusinessFacebook Page is verified with 105,702 followers. The airline company makes a Facebook post 2-3 times a day each post each containing a minimum of one hashtag sometimes one post will have up to five hashtags. The airlines does a good job at applying the 50/50 rule on their timeline. Fifty percent of the content pertains to promotions, packages and content information Sunwing has to offer the remaining part of content is promoting the industry they are in, travel tips and vacation destinations. The Facebook page does lack interaction with followers though with very few likes, comments and shares.

Twitter (Sunwing Twitter, 2016)

With 14.9K followers on Twitter @SunWingVacay has 6,556 tweets in the 4 years. Although they are highly-active on this social media outlet Sunwing Airlines tends to be active in time bursts. In 1 hour the account retweeted 40 tweets (approx.) from consumers who @ mentioned the company or used a #hashtag that Sunwing has chosen for contests and promotions.

The airlines Instagram profile only has 3, 897 followers and under 300 posts. The company has irregular posts occurring one every two days or as spread out as only three post a week but sometimes more than one post a day. Although they have in consistent postings the brand does however make good use of incorporating hashtags into their posts. Ex) #sunwingmode

Sunwing Airlines had their own Youtube channel called SunWingTV in which they are posting regular weekly videos. Although the channel only has 2, 008 subscribers they have had 2, 758, 602 views. The channel displays videos of popular travel destinations, excursions, weddings, contest promotions and more.

So although Sunwing Airlines has a presence on a variety of social media outlets the company could improve the strategies used. They seem to have a strong Facebook strategy however their other social media outlets need to have more consistent and direct strategy to their postings.