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Exclusive Insights: Unveiled United Airlines' LinkedIn Ad Strategy

+ Zuck's Candid Apple Vision Pro Review

Hello and welcome to the 105th edition of Fresh Salmon.

It is my pleasure to have you here, and if you would like to read past issues of the newsletter, please click here.

Now let's get started and explore something interesting that caught my eyes on my LinkedIn feed.

What is United Airlines Doing on LinkedIn? 

I was on LinkedIn and saw a video on my feed that caught my attention. Here is the still . .  .

A famous Mother-Daughter video from United Airlines shows the daughter sharing her joy at having the opportunity to fly the plane with her mother. This is indeed a very rare occurrence for anyone. You can watch the video here

I remember watching this video a couple of times before in the last few years on Instagram and TikTok. I can confidently say that it’s not a recent video. 

It is surprising, however, that I am discovering this video on LinkedIn now. 

This really got me curious about what's going on. What is United Airlines doing on LinkedIn? Like really?

Interestingly, when I clicked “Learn More” on the LinkedIn advertisement, it took me to a page on their website with another video. Here is the page it took me to.

I would consider both the Mother-Daughter video and the video on the landing page as brand videos. Both of them aim to evoke positive emotions in the viewer.

They are serving a dual purpose targeting both the customers and the future employees for the airline. 

Is the Advertising Working? 

It appears that the Mother-Daughter video ad is driving a significant amount of engagement. The ad has already received almost 16,000 reactions, 423 comments, and, most importantly, 367 reposts, demonstrating its virality. 

To verify the positive impact of the ad, I dug into the most popular comments on the advertisements. This is what I saw - 

The majority of comments are positive, with a few negative comments. I also checked the reposts, and pretty much all the quoted reposts were positive as well. 

Considering its purpose, the advertisement is delivering its promise. 

To further investigate, I visited United Airlines' LinkedIn page and clicked on "Ads" in order to view their other advertisements. 

The surprising fact is that many people are unaware that you can view any brand's LinkedIn ads by visiting their Page > Posts > Ads.

I found a couple of more video ads, showcasing their employees and how they are committed to providing top-notch service on their flights. You can check both the ads here and here

One More Thing . . .

I also noticed that on the day of the Super Bowl, they launched a new video ad to announce major news i.e. No Fees to Change Your Flight. Ever.

The video was a dud in my opinion, you can check out by clicking on the link here

But the intention and the offer are good. 

Super Bowl is a big event in the US, announcing a strong customer centric offer on that day is a great move. 

Well done on making a big move United Airlines. 

Conclusion: Lessons for B2B Companies

There are several positive aspects to United Airlines' use of LinkedIn advertising:

  1. The messaging seems to have a consistent pattern i.e. all video ads are showcasing employees, and conveying a positive message mostly centered around the customer service they offer. 

  2. All the traffic is going to the same landing page on the website, and is leading to the consistent brand story around the punch line: “Good Lead The Way”.

  3. Advertisements and website landing pages are designed to attract both prospective customers and employees. In order to build a positive image of a brand, the brand story is the key attraction.

  4. Capitalizing on the seasonality and the occasion by announcing a major offer on the day of Super Bowl. Great move!

  5. Repurposing a popular video from one platform to another. The mother-daughter video that caught my eye on LinkedIn wasn't a recent video, it was at least a few years old. United Airlines made a smart choice by using the same video from Instagram/TikTok in their LinkedIn ad. By using an already viral video on a new platform, they have a much better chance of success.

Overall, considering LinkedIn users are the right type of audience that United Airlines would like to engage with, they are doing a fairly decent job with their LinkedIn Paid Advertising campaigns. 

From my side, it is a thumbs up. How about you? What do you think?

Tweet That I Noticed This Week

The video will definitely get people to look at Quest. Well done Zuck.

Interesting Thing That I Read This Week

Totally agreed with Kyle. This is great….

What Do You Think?

This concludes this edition of Fresh Salmon.

I would like to hear what you thought of today's newsletter.

Also, let’s connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, or TikTok.

Cheers,

Vivek

PS. I love you ❤️