Social media marketing strategy for airlines: Elevating CX at 30,000 feet

Key points

• For airlines, social media is now critical infrastructure, powering everything from destination discovery and bookings to real-time customer care and crisis communications.
• Winning airline strategies unify publishing, listening, engagement, and analytics, giving teams a single view of passengers across platforms while responding at speed, 24/7.
• With the right AI-powered platform like Emplifi, airlines can turn social engagement into measurable revenue, stronger loyalty, and consistently better customer experiences at every stage of the journey.

For airlines around the world, social media isn’t just a marketing channel anymore.

It drives awareness, demand, and bookings but, for airlines in particular, it’s also frontline customer care and real-time crisis management.

From weather disruptions and lost luggage to viral TikToks that inspire the next booking, social media now sits at the heart of the airline experience. And unlike most industries, airlines don’t get downtime. Flights operate 24/7, issues escalate fast, and customer expectations are sky-high.

To keep up, airlines need an always-on, unified social media strategy that allows them to market their services and handle customer queries at speed.

In this guide, we’ll break down why social channels are business-critical for airlines, and how Emplifi can help teams turn engagement into bookings.

The sky-high stakes of airline social media

In the last few years, airlines have seen social media shift from a promotional add-on to critical infrastructure.

It’s where travelers go to find inspiration with 75% of people agreeing social media has inspired them to travel to a specific destination. But it’s also where:

• Passengers check their flight status
• Customers demand answers, almost immediately
• Delays, disruptions, and complaints go public in seconds

Airlines operate in an environment where one delayed flight can trigger thousands of mentions across multiple platforms, all while the situation is still unfolding.

From discovery to destination

The modern traveler uses different platforms at different moments:

• TikTok & Instagram: For trip inspiration and destination discovery (Instagram was found to be the most successful social media channel for airlines in terms of engagement)
• X (formerly Twitter): For real-time updates during delays or cancellations
• WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram DMs: For customer service and rebooking
• LinkedIn: For corporate travel and employer brand storytelling

With flight delays even making national news, the pressure is on for airlines to deliver a top quality service, and outstanding customer care across all channels.

Managing that reality requires:

• A single, unified view of customer conversations across platforms
• Tools that show spikes in negative sentiment
• The ability to publish, listen, respond, and measure, all in one place

A social listening and customer care tool like Emplifi can help your team keep track of any emerging crises across all channels, and align conversations so that your agents can see everything in one place.

Elevating your content with visual storytelling

Travel, and particularly aviation, are blessed with some of the richest visuals of any industry. The best airline social content doesn’t simply sell seats – it sells experiences.

High-performing formats include:

• Wing-view sunrises
• Cockpit glimpses
• Destination flyovers
• Cabin upgrades and lounge tours

With its short form video feed, TikTok has had a big impact on the travel industry with 60% of surveyed users saying they’ve become interested in visiting a new destination (such as a city, beach, or park) after seeing a TikTok video about it.

Popular ideas for short form video on TikTok include:

• ‘Day in the life’ of a pilot or cabin crew member
• Quick travel hacks for smoother journeys
• Behind-the-scenes looks at aircraft or operations
• Showcasing premium cabins and onboard service

Short-form doesn’t require massive budgets, just smart planning and fast publishing.

Emplifi’s social media publishing tools help teams plan, schedule, and optimize visual content across regions and platforms, without losing brand consistency.

When Aeroméxico set out to strengthen connections with travelers, they turned to Emplifi to unify their social analytics, community management, and performance workflows. With a clearer view of what resonates with their audience and the ability to respond faster across channels, the airline saw engagement skyrocket by 786% and its social community grow by 40%, all while streamlining content production and cutting down manual processes.

These results show how an AI-powered social media publishing platform like Emplifi can turn social media efforts into real business momentum.

UGC builds trust fast

Emplifi data shows that customers trust customers with shoppable User-Generated Content (UGC) boosting engagement by up to 28%.

UGC feels real, not rehearsed. For airlines, that means:

• Reposting authentic passenger journeys
• Highlighting destination photos from real customers
• Encouraging ‘airport tags’ and journey hashtags

UGC turns passengers into advocates and feeds a steady stream of high-impact content back into your marketing engine.

Turning likes into boarding passes

Almost two-thirds of consumers follow brands for deals, and airlines are no different. Passengers who see your promos and want to book immediately should have a painless experience. Here’s how to encourage that all-important conversion:

• Highlight limited-time fares for seasonal routes through link-in-bio destinations
• Use short-lived Story formats to promote flash sales, pairing high-impact visuals with time-sensitive offers
• Place clear, native “Book now” CTAs across organic and paid social
• Retarget users who interacted with destination content using personalised route and fare messaging

With Emplifi, you can access powerful reports that help you analyze data across owned, earned, and paid channels, all in one place. Emplifi customers have found leveraging data-driven insights with a unified analytics platform has led to a 50% increase in sales directly from social media channels.

More tactics for driving ticket sales

Social engagement can also translate into ticket sales through influencer partnerships and loyalty programs.

Influencers showcase new routes, premium cabins, and in-flight perks in ways that feel authentic.

An influencer marketing strategy for your airline could include:

• Partnering with travel vloggers to spotlight new route launches and inspire bookings
• Collaborating with business travelers to showcase premium cabin experiences and upselling upgrades
• Working with family creators to highlight long-haul comfort and child-friendly amenities

Social media can also feed directly into loyalty programs, turning engagement into lasting customer value. For instance:

• Rewarding social engagement with loyalty points to encourage repeat bookings
• Promoting member-only fares and exclusive offers to drive conversions
• Personalising messaging using social insights to make offers timely and relevant

While social media can be a lifeline for airline brands looking to improve brand awareness, it can also improve the bottom line and enhance customer care.

Community & customer care: The 24/7 digital gate

Social channels are no longer simply about engagement. With private messaging and DM options available, they’ve become a key channel in customer care. Over half of frequent social media users will jump to Facebook for customer service-related issues while 47% take to Instagram. 

Passengers now expect:

• Instant help to rebook flights via DMs when plans change
• Fast responses to questions and updates in social media comments
• Quick answers during delays to stay informed and reduce stress
• Support that feels human and empathetic rather than automated

With 74% of customer service enquiries on Facebook, Instagram, and X left unanswered and only 8% of people willing to wait 48 hours for a DM reply, one cancelled flight could lead to plenty of angry customers.

Using Emplifi’s social customer service tools, airlines can route messages, prioritize urgent cases, and manage massive volumes without losing the personal touch.

Delta Air Lines leveraged Emplifi to bring real-time support directly to passengers, giving flight attendants the tools to resolve issues and provide updates on the go. Since adopting the platform, attendants have handled over 16,000 service calls through the app. By combining real-time assistance with a centralized system, Delta ensures passengers get faster, more personal service while attendants can focus on delivering a seamless travel experience.

Crisis communication, without chaos

Airlines need to be well equipped to deal with crisis communications. From weather disruptions to technical issues and air traffic control delays, your team needs to be able to:

• Publish synchronized updates across social platforms
• Monitor customer sentiment in real time
• Respond consistently, across regions and languages

With a centralized social media publishing platform like Emplifi, your team can avoid mixed messages and keep passengers informed, even when situations change fast.

Building a strategic foundation with AI optimization

Not all passengers behave the same way. A smart social media strategy for airlines reflects that. For instance, you might segment your audience by:

• Business travelers:
  • Platforms they use: LinkedIn, X
  • Content focus: Reliability, punctuality, loyalty benefits
• Gen Z & budget travelers:
  • Platforms they use: TikTok, Instagram Reels
  • Content focus: Deals, flexibility, travel hacks
• Luxury & family travelers:
  • Platforms they use: Instagram, Facebook
  • Content focus: Comfort, experience, premium service

This segmentation allows you to take a more personalized approach to content across different channels, rather than trying to speak to everyone at once.

Social media analytics software like Emplifi can help you understand the content that resonates with each demographic. For example, does a beach sunset or city skyline drive more clicks on Facebook? Does video outperform static posts during sales periods? This can inform your social media strategy going forward.

TUI fly Belgium used Emplifi’s AI-powered tools to make social media smarter, faster, and more efficient. By automating reporting, predicting high-performing posts, and structuring content, the team reduced reporting time by 75%, increased audience engagement by 150%, and cut cost per engagement by 81.5%, ensuring the right content reached the right audience without wasted budget.

Focusing on the right metrics

Another key part of your social media strategy should be focusing on the right metrics. Rather than dwelling on vanity metrics that don’t move the needle, zoom in on:

• First Response Time (FRT): How long it takes to respond to an initial message, especially during delays and disruptions
• Sentiment trends: How brand perception shifts during campaigns or crises
• Conversion rates: From social ads and posts to booking engines
• DM resolution rate: How many issues are solved on social without escalation
• Customer Effort Score (CES): How easy it is to resolve issues on social
• Inferred revenue: Bookings influenced by social interactions

Using social media analytics software like Emplifi, you can connect social performance to real CX and commercial outcomes, bringing every conversation into one streamlined view.

Final thoughts: Airlines must see social channels as a full customer experience

Airline social media never sleeps, and neither do passenger expectations.

From real-time crisis care to high-conversion storytelling, Emplifi gives airlines the unified platform they need to manage volume, protect brand trust, and turn engagement into bookings.

Keep your social strategy flying high. Get a demo to see how Emplifi can elevate your social media performance.