March 14, 2014
NBAA this month is marking its fifth anniversary of using Facebook and Twitter to share Association news and publicize its advocacy efforts to Members, industry, public officials and the press.
The vibrant social media tools have become a vital resource for communicating information about the value of business aviation and confronting negative stereotypes about the industry.
“We also need to be available to the business aviation community wherever its members are, and that’s why we got into this space,” said Jason Wolf, NBAA director of Internet communications. “If you’re not there, it’s a void. It’s like not having a fax machine 20 years ago.”
NBAA uses Facebook and Twitter to provide updates on the industry, the Association and Member benefits, and a Twitter-based advocacy tool launched last year enables Members to tweet alerts to their elected officials about legislative concerns.
NBAA also uses Facebook and Twitter to discuss the association’s events, such as the annual Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition. For these items, hashtags are used to designate the events (such as #NBAA14), and create dialogue among attendees. NBAA encourages its Members to also use these hashtags to call attention to their participation in the Convention and other events.
“During events such as our flagship Convention, Facebook and Twitter are the best way to share up-to-the-minute photos and news with attendees, as well as others in the industry who may be keeping tabs on the events from home,” said Beth Sanders, NBAA’s online editor.
NBAA’s Facebook page has been “liked” by more than 16,800 people, while its Twitter site has garnered more than 19,000 followers. And those numbers continue to grow steadily, Wolf said. The No Plane No Gain campaign, a joint effort of NBAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association to educate policymakers and opinion leaders about the importance of business aviation, has more than 6,700 Twitter followers.
When NBAA joined Facebook and Twitter in March 2009, the two tools were still relatively young, and few elected officials and businesses regularly engaged on them. But the Association saw huge potential in both websites, whose usage ultimately skyrocketed.
“With Twitter’s launch in 2006, we were a fairly early adopter,” Wolf said. “NBAA’s Twitter account is older than more than 99 percent of all Twitter accounts.”
Although NBAA has joined other social media sites, including Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube, Facebook and Twitter remain the most popular and effective, Wolf said. In addition to these mainstream sites, NBAA also offers Air Mail, a popular Members-only social network for collaboration and discussion on topics of interest to business aircraft operators, first launched in 1997. “Even with these other social media venues, Air Mail is still one of NBAA’s most popular Member benefits,” said Wolf.
NBAA Members and those in the industry are encouraged to become involved with NBAA social media sites through likes, shares, comments and retweets.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.