How Airlines Use Facebook Bots.
It’s nothing new — Big companies such as Starbucks, CNN, Microsoft, Tommy Hilfiger, KIA, Pizza Hut and Co are making use of bots to support their customers and market their products. With all the recent noise around bots airlines have also found an interesting use case to catch up with the trend.
The Colombian airline Avianca has recently introduced the Avianca bot to its Facebook Messenger account. The bot answers frequently asked questions, facilitates check-ins and gives customers access to their flight information, personalized alerts, and weather forecasts. The current version of the bot is in Spanish but an English version is expected to be released soon. Avianca’s bot complements the company’s effort to reach out further to its customers over social media channels with 24/7 support.
Flight Check-Ins
Customers of the airline can conveniently use the bot to check-in their flight over Facebook Messenger. This helps the airline keep away passengers that run in the check-in counters shortly before the flight takes off. With a click users are directed to a check-in page that requires a bit more flight information and the passenger is officially checked-in. — It couldn’t be any easier.
Flight Info
The Avianca bot provides customers with a handy flight information overview. Users provide the city of origin and the city of destination to be able to access information about flights at any given date. This helps users find out easily about flight arrivals or departures which can make it easier to coordinate a pick up or drop off. For more details about the flight users are directed to a specific page that can help them further.
Flight Alerts
This bot will never let you forget about your next boarding time. With an integrated reminder feature, users are kept up to date with their flights and unexpected changes. The feature also allows passengers to set their own alarms with a quick reminder text. This is specifically useful for passengers that tend to get caught up in the terminal shops. The alert can be set right in time for someone to walk over to the gate after spending a couple of minutes shopping through the duty free section. This feature is definitely not the most important one but it helps expand the usability of the bot which adds to the user experience.
Customer Is King!
Implementing a bot with a customer support & marketing strategy can help enhance overall customer experience and brand equity. Marketing managers are trying to find solutions to help their teams become more effective on social media platforms while Customer Support Managers are trying to find solutions to help their customers feel supported immediately.
The noise around bots is very real for companies that face high volumes of customer inquiries, specifically on Facebook. Airlines manage their traffic around the clock and each flight brings another potential customer who needs to be supported conveniently. — At best with a Facebook bot!
Besides customer support, the bot also stream lines other important processes like check-in. Soon enough we will encounter many more automated customer support solutions, especially in the airline industry.
You can chat with the Avianca bot here: https://www.messenger.com/t/1749798598605028/
Marcellus Gaag is a digital growth marketer, tech writer & founder of Turnkey Mate, a Miami-Based Advertising Agency.
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