How an airport leverages social media...

Social Samosa dives into the Mumbai International Airport Social Media Strategy to map the online presence of what caters to 48 million passengers in a year.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport began its digital journey in 2010 with an aim to engage and communicate with passengers on a regular basis. Almost a decade later, the social media profiles are used to put across updates regarding developments, events, announcements and answering passenger queries. We take a look at the Mumbai International Airport Social Media Strategy with inputs from a MIAL Spokesperson.

The airport's social media team runs social media campaigns to address special days in the aviation industry, spread awareness, announce new airline operation, outlet/brand launch and leverage existing services.

Focus is also on celebrating passengers and encouraging them to engage. This includes stories at the airport or photographs that give them space to share their thoughts and interpretations if any.

Behind the screen - Mumbai International Airport Social Media strategy

CSMIA's in-house digital team works in collaboration with an external agency for ORM and social media creatives. The team provides passengers with the latest updates and developments at the airport, along with information about the various offers that are available for passengers.

Another part of the team's to-do is to address passenger queries and concerns while educating them about the aviation ecosystem and guiding them to contact the relevant stakeholders when required. The core objective at play is to engage, inform and enlighten.

Platform differentiation

The MIAL spokesperson tells us how the response they get from passengers is distinct on each platform. On Facebook, the airport usually gets reviews. On Instagram, the engagement and interactions primarily involve young travellers who share images, tagging the airport in the caption.

On Twitter, the airport authorities deal with grievances and queries that need immediate action. These include conversations about flight status, baggage and other services.

Also Read: Inside Mumbai Police Twitter Headquarters

Often duplication can be observed across channels — same content, even that seeking engagement is shared on all the three platforms for amplification of the message. Almost all festivals and special days are acknowledged and celebrated on these social media handles.

There seem to be three verticals to the creative content pushed out by the airport handles. These include giving a glimpse into life at the airport, travel-related information and people (passengers and employees) at the airport. Mumbai, too, is an important element of the international airport's social media strategy.

Such posts include book launch announcement, offers at eateries, food, and amenities at the airport. It is a world of its own and on social media, it is portrayed as one.

#High5ForMumbai

Recently, when the Mumbai International Airport's Terminal 2 celebrated its 5th anniversary, the #High5ForMumbai campaign was initiated, where passengers were asked to share videos of them grooving to the music. Videos with maximum engagement were rewarded with gift hampers.

The on-ground part of this campaign was the lit-up exterior and the entry of the airport. The week-long campaign was able to reach out to 536.6 K+ users and generated 2.2 million impressions.