Freebie in-flight magazines – you reluctantly take one from the air-hostess as you know you will be in the air for at least an hour or two and you might flick through the bland pages of advertising and duty free to pass the time. But what a pleasant surprise when you find a magazine that connects you to a community whilst you are flying through the air.
Let’s Go, the in-flight magazine from Ryan Air, manages to connect you to ideas and people at the perfect time when you are in holiday-mode and thinking about your future adventures. If you’re like me, when booking a holiday you want to know who else has been there, what they thought and any tips for places to visit, eat or drink. Let’s Go gives you all of these things, including the tips from readers. I was very pleasantly surprised.
Want to know what to do whilst in Malta? Where’s the best place to do scuba diving? Which pubs should you visit in Dublin? As you browse the articles, you realise The Let’s Go community are talking about it on Twitter and Facebook and you can join in!
Back on the ground however, I realised that whilst the social media content is very well integrated to the magazine publication, when you explore the Twitter and Facebook presence there is definitely more room for growth and development. With just over 1500 Facebook fans and 1100 followers on Twitter (at time of publication), they are yet to reach the critical mass needed for a thriving, interactive community, but the potential is certainly there.
With a more conversational tone of voice (including more questions to the community), more regular updates, and some more images of beautiful destinations (who doesn’t want to see photos of beautiful places!) I am sure they will grow their community – particularly over the summer months when we’re all off on our holidays!
I will be following them to see how the community develops (and to ask for some advice on my next holiday!)