Travel app Skyscanner’s social customer service response goes viral on Facebook

Most brands respond to customer service complaints online with canned tweets and Facebook messages. But a little creativity can help you strike viral marketing gold, as travel app Skyscanner discovered when its humorous response to a customer query went viral on Facebook, getting over 17,000 likes and over 2,700 shares.

It all began last week, when a user named James Lloyd got a suggested itinerary from the app saying he would have a layover in Bangkok lasting 413,786 hours, or 47.2 years.

The amused Lloyd shared a screenshot of the itinerary on the brand’s Facebook page on Aug. 23, with the caption, “Hi Skyscanner. Just wondering what you’d recommend I do during the 47 year layover your website has suggested?”

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 11.02.21 AM

A rep named “Jen” responded to his post three days later with a detailed itinerary of Bangkok, rather than a run-of-the-mill reply directing him to a call center.

“Unless you’re a huge fan of The Terminal, I’d probably recommend spending those years outside of the airport, so here are a few suggestions,” she said, before recommending that he go check out a rooftop bar, take a cruise, check out the floating market and even become a Tai chi expert.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 11.03.35 AM

Jen from Skyscanner didn’t stop there. She went through the comments, initiating several other conversations — even throwing in a Game of Thrones reference when someone asked for her full name.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 11.04.43 AM

Such unscripted responses by brands’ social media agents is a growing trend, said Paul Johns, CMO at social customer service company Conversocial.

“Customers increasingly appreciate it, because they’ve gotten bored of the sterile nature of branded customer service,” Johns said.

 

 

https://digiday.com/?p=195421

More in Marketing

Digiday+ Research deep dive: Agency spending on TikTok sees a sharp decline

Agency marketers have historically been more skeptical toward TikTok than their brand marketer counterparts, and a Digiday+ Research survey found that agency spending on TikTok has fallen sharply in the last few months.

The Home Depot rebrands its retail media network in pitch for ad dollars

The Home Depot hosted its inaugural InFront, a play on the television industry’s UpFronts or NewFronts, digital media’s answer to the upfronts, for its retail media offering.

Why Georgia-Pacific consolidated most retail media spending with seven networks after testing over 25 options

Figuring out which retail media network is worth spending on given the glut of new retail media networks can be a challenge for marketers.