Next up to bat is Southwest Airlines' Twitter all-star Christi Day, an emerging media specialist. "It comes down to our people; the leaders trust us to make these decisions," she said. By placing trust in their employees and customers to talk about their brand, Southwest is a prime example of the kind of company that finds great success not only with Twitter, but social media in general.
"Twitter empowers us to be authentic," Day said. "Getting real means being empowered, engaged and prepared. It is necessary to have the person in the Twitter role equipped to handle news management, customer communications, to be able to write compelling tweets and be willing to be engaged at all times."
Day emphasized having the tools in place to handle a variety of questions, concerns, etc. "Your Twitter voice should be an established voice for the company."
One element of Southwest's involvement on Twitter that Day finds additionally exciting is their CEO's support and involvement. "The newsletter went out to Gary Kelly, our CEO, and he got interested in Twitter. We sent out a picture and a note that the CEO was Twittering and people responded instantly to be able to access him."
Day explains how effectively you can react to tweets. "We had a customer back in March who direct messaged us that the kiosks were down in Oakland and was frustrated," she said. "I called Oakland to find out exactly what was going on and sent him a reply that there was a power outage and it would be up soon."
A top tip from Day: "All companies have their own corporate culture and values. I would say examine those values, ensure that this is the channel that will help you achieve that mission, then get on there, explore the tool for yourself and try to transfer that to your brand."
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