Delta’s SkyMiles Life (SML) Facebook Group is a thriving social community and customer engagement platform where people can connect to share trip recaps and tips on how to make the most of their Delta experience. What began as a virtual space to connect travelers using Facebook’s unique Groups capabilities, has become a place where Delta's 48K+ fans have found a sense of belonging with those who share similar interests. Members learn from one another through trusted peer-to-peer testimonials which, in turn, gives Delta a customer pulse and brings SkyMiles Members closer to the brand - fueling engagement and advocacy both in and outside of the Group.
But Members don’t just want these connections to stay online – they want to meet IRL. So, Delta had an opportunity to leverage Facebook Group’s community tools to foster these meetups, finding ways to authentically integrate physical gatherings into existing brand tentpoles and programs, ultimately driving excitement and engagement around Delta initiatives and elevating brand advocates within the group.
Our Social Audience Engagement team, which functions as the human faces of the brand moderating the group, began testing various in-person meetups, from exclusive sneak peeks at new Delta Sky Clubs to causal hangs at the Delta Flight Museum. These meetups allowed us to experiment with group size and logistics while also building relationships with other Delta teams across the enterprise to help curate behind-the-scenes experiences we knew Members would love.
When sourcing attendees for SML Group events, we looked for passionate brand advocates who were most engaged in the Group via Facebook’s Admin Membership tracking tools and top contributor badges.
With so many genuine brand-obsessed SkyMiles Members in the group, we had an opportunity to recognize and reward their fandom with the most exclusive, Delta-insider event to date – the first-ever SkyMiles Life Summit. A dozen of the Facebook Group’s top contributing SkyMiles Members were flown in from across the country to a three-day brand event at Delta HQ in ATL. The whirlwind agenda took Members inside Delta’s operation, including going through flight attendant training (and yes down the inflatable slide), testing their skills in pilot simulators, walking through test engine cells, backing up a plane on a ramp, looking behind-the-scenes on where bags go and more. In addition to the Delta experiences, Members also got unprecedented access to Delta leaders through informal fireside chats (no PowerPoints, no talk tracks) where they could share a meal, learn about upcoming initiatives and ask any question.
Throughout the experience, the Summit attendees shared with the Facebook Group, giving daily recaps and fielding questions in real-time. Our team also used Facebook’s ability to start a private group chat for attendees within the larger Facebook Group to stay connected with each other. What started as chat for event logistics quickly turned into a non-stop fun conversation between the attendees that would rival any friend group chat.
Group events helped fuel an increase in total engagements within the Group in 2023 with Members sharing 16.9K posts driving 1.6MM engagements (+175% YoY).
The SkyMiles Life Summit drove 2.5x as many engagements as any other Group event to date and sparked excitement about future Summits. Attendees, who were already active, increased their interactions in the Group following the event, with 1.7K total comments in the 30 days post-Summit – many of which reinforced education around Delta initiatives highlighted during the Summit. The Group saw the experiences and testimonials as authentic and compelling because they came from trusted Members.
In the months after, the Summit Facebook Group Chat is still going strong with attendees sharing life updates and discussing Delta news with one another. Attendees remain close and have even met up with each other again.
In a post-event survey, attendees shared how recognized they felt by Delta and how much the group has had a lasting impact on them.
“I met 11 strangers on Sunday night. When we said goodbye at the airport yesterday, I said goodbye to lifelong friends.” - Amy B.
Through Facebook Groups, the brand has been able to build a community and take it IRL, creating brand advocates, real friendships, and more love for travel and Delta.
