How Ryanair Reinvented Their Social Media Strategy for TikTok
How Ryanair Reinvented Their Social Media Strategy for TikTok
With almost 2 millions followers on TikTok, it is clear Ryanair knows what they are doing when it comes to social media. Europe’s largest airline has blown up in the digital space over the last 2 years by delivering engaging and less polished content to attract their target audience. Together, let’s uncover the most effective strategies that brought Ryanair so much popularity online
Rather than pushing hard sales, Ryanair’s TikTok account aims to fit in with their audience by putting an emphasis on being authentic— opposed to taking a formal approach to their communication strategies that often look too formal or elevated. Ryanair is putting all their efforts into building a close relationship with their audience, and they have seen great results from adopting their audiences 'lingo' and sense of humour.
The popular airline sees an average of 1 million views across a vast majority of their posts, with the most viral post reaching 15 million views. Ryanair is most widely recognised across TikTok for a character they invented using a photo of one of their planes. They added a face filter to the plane and made their dialogue sassy and sarcastic. Ryanair goes viral on TikTok more often than not because they know how to position themselves in a way that stands out in such a vast pool of content on the platform; that, paired with their use of viral trends and popular sounds, has led to their popularity on TikTok.
Ryanair strengthened their identity on TikTok by being consistent with the tone they adopted. The airline’s self-appointed guidelines on TikTok are either to mock rival companies, customers or their own service. From one extreme to the other, Ryanair showcases that they are not taking themselves too seriously and focus on using light-hearted humour to communicate their brand. Although they post numerous TikTok’s where they put themselves on a pedestal, it doesn’t exclude them from making fun of themselves and owning up the criticism from their customers. That way, their followers feel more connected and more comfortable to comment on their content.
@ryanair Did somebody say JustFeet 🎶 #ryanair #feet ♬ originalljud - 👑🙏 🇺🇦 🙏👑
@ryanair I'd rather sit in 11a and stare at the wall #ryanair #rodgercleye ♬ original sound - Ryanair
Ryanair established a playful relationship with their audience where each party takes turns mocking each other. Their followers point out negative aspects of their service in their comments knowing they can expect a funny response from the airline. Ryanair raised a lot of attention when making jokes about short passengers complaining about the lack of legroom in their planes.They also ensure they are addressing their audience in a language they are familiar with by using Gen Z trending slang in their captions such as 'mans thinks he's in the NBA'. It’s a smart way to show that the brand acknowledges their customer’s opinions while still boosting engagement. This approach enhances the brand authenticity, their followers are watching a creator rather than a brand.
@ryanair You ain’t fooling anyone, shorty 🥴
♬ original sound - Saint
@ryanair Completely false 🙄😅 #ryanair #airline #fyp ♬ original sound - Gary Vaynerchuk
@ryanair What’s next? Another talking plane? smh😷 #ryanair #airline #europe #pleasestop ♬ original sound - moschinodorito
The brand has reached such a wide audience and seen so much success from their social media strategies that many airlines have tried to approach the same marketing strategy. However, Ryanair didn’t fail to call out United Airlines in a comedic tone when they tried to replicate their signature aesthetic. Ryanair’s impact doesn’t stop here. Their TikToks have attracted users from areas they don't currently operate in (such as North America and the Asia Pacific) who have called Ryanair directly and asked them to extend their flight routes so they could personally experience the airline.
Ryanair’s unique personality and ability to turn jokes and criticisms into comedic content is the key to the success they are currently seeing across their social media platforms, especially TikTok. They have embraced being authentic while publishing content that their audience craves.
Ryanair has developed a strong community that shares their sense of humour and genuinely enjoys their content. The support from this community has driven the airlines engagement rate up by over 40%. Ryanair managed to lose their corporate tone while still remaining heavily relevant in the industry, resulting in users from the other side of the Atlantic demanding to implement their service over there.
Ryanair’s social media strategy is a prime example of how social media can elevate your brand. If you would like to find out more about how social media can elevate your business, enquire with us
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