Social Media at Paris Air Show by the numbers June 22, 2009
Posted by ludozone in Conference, International Business Development, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Twitter.Tags: Paris Air Show, Social Media, Twitter
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The 100th anniversary of the Paris Air Show was punctuated by many anniversaries, but in the future the 2009 edition will also be marked by the first use of Twitter by professional attendees. Collecting the data stream from Sunday June 14th to Thursday June 18th (professional days), provided an insight into the buzz the show created in the Social Media universe.
Over the 4 days, there were 2471 updates from 979 unique accounts reaching well over 20,000 combined “followers” as well as countless additional viewers who simply searched the stream. This represents a massive audience for disseminating all the happenings from the show.
The Press.
Looking at the top twenty accounts, the two main news organizations dominated the updates. AvWeek and Flight Global made significant use of twitter to drive traffic to their in-depth coverage offered on their website (see also Paris Air Show online Coverage: AvWeek versus Flight). Even though Aviation Week was the busiest unique account at the show, 7 out of the top 20 accounts belong to the Flight Global team. Aggregating the statistics, Flight Global posted 289 updates to Aviation week’s 157 updates. Both organizations rank high on Twitter Grader with average team scores of 91% and 93% respectively, and in number of followers with 5550 and 4207 respectively. They are joined in the top 20 by three other news organizations: News4Paris (80%, 59 followers), GoodPilotNews (98%, 7635 followers), and ATWonline (95%, 408 followers).
The Industry.
Interestingly, the show marked the entrance of some top industry companies in the world of Social Media. Even though many of them had their accounts for a while, this was their heaviest use to date.
It is interesting to note that Bombardier used its account from the beginning of the show, while Embraer joined on the last day. Northrop, Lockheed, Raytheon, Thales, and Rockwell Collins were all represented. As were engine manufacturers GE and Pratt and Whitney. Notable absences were Airbus, Boeing, ATR, and Rolls-Royce just to name a few. Lost opportunity?
Most of the big companies used Twitter in a “traditional” way, simply as a relay for the press releases they had posted elsewhere. However, there were two exceptions. GE started using their accounts early and was very active on the community boards and other social media outlets well before the show started. They also had a YouTube video diary that was really fun to follow. Clinkenbeard, a small US manufacturer of complex cast and machined parts, was the best user of the medium in the industry class and was rewarded with great coverage including a television spot back in Illinois.
It will be interesting to see how the use of Social Media, LinkedIn and Twitter in particular, continues to expand in the A&D industry. Hopefully we will see more “collaboration” and exchange of ideas on all the hot topics concerning the industry.
Ludo Van Vooren, a 15 years veteran of the industry, blogs about eBusiness, Social Media, Internet Marketing, and International Business Development.
[...] less than 13 veteran Twitter accounts reporting for Flight. By comparison, AvWeek had 4. (See also Social Media at Paris Air Show by the Numbers) Even though AvWeek employs Benet Wilson, arguably the A&D Social Media Queen, she was [...]
This is another proof of the increasing role of social media in the business world. A sophisticated sphere like aviation to be well represented/ reported through a concise message of 140 characters only. What an eloquent contrast!
Despite the relatively high level of Twitter coverage, some big names like Boeing and Airbus are still shying away from using the social media channel.
management@ultraconsultants.net
[...] Aerospace eBusiness also reported ( http://ludozone.net/2009/06/22/social-media-at-paris-air-show-by-the-numbers/) that Clinkenbeard had the third most active Twitter account of all companies tweeting at the show, out-tweeting companies ranging from Raytheon to GE Tech Infrastructure. [...]
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Thanks for sharing this very good post. I’ve been looking for information on the aviation industry and how top industry companies are using social media! Great B2B social media information… Have a great weekend!
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