Southwest Airlines Offers Treats for Tweets

The marketing department at Southwest Airlines noticed that its number of followers on Twitter was about to hit 20,000. It was a Friday afternoon and they were about 200 followers away when they had an idea: offer a gift pack loaded with promotional products to one lucky winner.
Not long after the idea struck, the announcement was blasted out over Twitter. “ We were looking for a fun and energetic way to reach our customers, “ says Christie Day, a representative for Southwest Airlines. “Who doesn’t like to receive free stuff? We had the swag all ready to go. We sent a box of Southwest goodies to a customer in New Mexico. We Tweeted who won and he Tweeted us back”
The winner received a branded sewing kit, shoeshine kit, can coolers, drink coupons and other prizes “We raided the closet and picked out our favorite promotional products,” Day says. “Our customers travel a lot, so by providing them with baggage tags and other products, it helps with their trip.”
Southwest also offers prizes on Facebook to people who answer its trivia question of the day. Overall, customers find social media engaging because someone at the brand is interacting with them. Offering promotional items takes it to another level, because “They are excited to know someone is on the other end who has some cool prized for them,” Day says. “Twitter gives them the instant gratification that they want.” Day says the simple Friday afternoon giveaway “created a lot of awareness. A lot of people started following us who didn’t know we were on Twitter.”