Delta is one of the biggest airlines in the world. One of their bases is right around the corner from the GBW headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The air line has usually had good times over the years, but for the last decade the entire air line industry has struggled. There have been countless buyouts and mergers.
It’s not really fun to fly like it used to be. It’s a hassle to go the airport. It’s a hassle to fly.
So that’s the struggle air lines deal with as their customers are typically in a bad mood when they show up and when they finally get to the plane.
With that in mind it’s even more interesting to see what Delta is doing with their company blog.
I think it’s great.
Quick Glance: The Delta Blog
I’m a big fan of starting out with a simple blog design. The design of the Delta blog looks like it could have been the original design back in 2007 when they launched it.
That’s all right, though. You don’t need a fancy design to get started. Go in with limited investment on design and focus on the writing. Once you start seeing the way people respond to the content you can begin working on the design.
Now, design is important. You don’t want something that gives thew wrong impression about your brand. You want it to fit in pretty well with your brand. It’s also better to keep things simple with the design. Don’t over-design the blog.
Addressing Issues
An interesting post on the site recently was one addressing the issue about a guitar that was broken on the flight. Again, the air line industry has been dealing with bad feelings for about a decade. Everybody seems quick to jump on them when something bad happens. Nobody wants their luggage wrecked, but it happens. It’s interesting to see Delta address it on the blog. It’s one way to handle those issues.
Company News
Another area where you can provide great content for your company blog is to talk about company updates. Delta did that heading into 2013 with a post about what’s on tap for the next year. It’s kind of exciting to read about how they’re going to improve for the customers in the future.
Perspective From the Employees
A post that stood out to me was one from a Delta employee in Seattle. It’s great to get perspective from all types of employees at your company. The different looks at what takes place in the company can be interesting to customers.
What you might notice is that not everyone (or anyone) wants to blog. What you can do, though, is ask them questions and post it was an interview or something similar.
Final Thoughts
It’s impressive to see such a big company maintaining a company blog. Delta has been keeping this blog since 2007. That’s impressive on its own, but what’s more impressive is that they’re just as active now as they were when they started. That’s where some companies go wrong. They give up before they see the benefits.
Delta has a slightly different strategy with their blog and it’s another one you can use for inspiration for your own company blog.