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Airlines Use Tablets On Airplanes for Marketing to Passengers

by Ryan Taft in Tablet Marketing

We have all heard the reports of major airports around the world setting up tablets in the airport to engage customers with digital content. It’s a fantastic idea on the part of the airlines and airports, as I’m not quite sure if only one or both were involved in making that decision. That said, it’s an excellent way to engage consumers while they are in the airport terminal.

In the future the stores within the airport will be able to plug into these iPads and run special offers to entice travelers to visit their store before boarding the plane. The airport will be able to show flight information on the iPads. People might even be able to switch seats.

Truly, the potential is limited only to the creativity of app developers and heads of marketing at these airports. One thing we haven’t heard of just yet, but based on what we are seeing with OnSpot Social, the airlines themselves are starting to see the value in using tablets on their planes for marketing to passengers.

5 Ways to Use Tablets On Airplanes for Engaging Passengers with Digital Content

Although airlines are not currently using tablets on airplanes for marketing, they will be in the near future. Airlines across the board are equipping their planes with wireless internet, and tablets are the next logical step. Here are 5 ways that I think you will start to see airlines around the world begin to use tablets on planes for engaging passengers with digital content:

  1. Using tablets on planes for signing up passengers as frequent fliers – With almost every flight I take, before take off and before landing, the stewardess is on the loudspeaker asking people if they want to sign-up to become a frequent flier with the airline. Interested parties then have to fill in the paper form and hand it back. The airline then has to pay people to decipher this information and enter it into their system before the passenger can be activated as a frequent flier. All of that hassle goes away if airlines would turn to tablets for converting passengers into frequent fliers.
  2. Airlines can use tablets on planes for collecting email addresses and social media connections from passengers – Even airlines are on Facebook and Twitter these days. That means they have to find ways to build their social media community. What better way than to use a tablet on the plane for collecting social media connections and email addresses from passengers?
  3. Using tablets to let airline passengers compete in contests would be an engaging marketing tactic – All consumers love winning free stuff, right? Why not use tablets for contests during flights to keep passengers engaged in your brand, pass the time, and build customer loyalty by providing prizes.
  4. Run the SkyMall app and let passengers make purchases through a tablet during flights – SkyMall has a very unique business. You see their magazine in the back of every passengers’ seat on an airplane. The types of products sold in the SkyMall magazine are unique and some consumers love making purchases. Why not give our instant gratification society the instant gratification of making the purchase on the spot through a tablet while on a flight?
  5. Airlines can use iPads on planes to take drink orders – Instead of stewards coming by to ask what you’d like to drink, they can simply come by and hand it to you. This would save a little bit of time and might even remove the need for that huge cart to clog up the entire walking area of the plane. You know you hate it when you can’t get by the cart to get to the bathroom! Use tablets to let passengers submit their order online, provide stewardesses with an iPad that has a portal open showing the orders coming in by seat location, allow them to prepare the drinks up front, and bring them to the passengers row by row.

Using Tablets On Planes for Marketing

What do you think? Will this idea catch on? We definitely think so. We’ve had a few airlines inquire about our service, so that right there tells you that they are starting to dip their toes into the water. Soon we will be seeing iPads on the back of every seat OR stewardesses carrying iPads around the plane asking passengers if they’d like to sign-up for the airlines email newsletter, enter a contest during the flight, watch a quick video, or maybe even book another flight! Let us know what you think of this new tablet marketing strategy for airlines by leaving a comment below.