Search this site:

Southwest Airlines Swag for Twitter Followers

The marketing department at Southwest Airlines noticed that its number of followers on www.twitter.com 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 branded merchandise to one lucky winner.

Not long after the idea struck, the announcement was blasted out to Twitterers. “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 the box of Southwest goodies to a customer in New Mexico. We Twittered who won and he Twittered us back.”

The winner received a branded sewing kit, shoe-shine 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 www.facebook.com 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 prizes for them,” Day says. “Twitter gives them the instant gratification that they want.”

Day says that 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.”

As you can see promotional gifts effectively create attention. Contact Garrett Specialties for your marketing items.