Jetstar has announced it will direct 40% of its marketing budget to social media.

“We’ve conducted some very successful marketing and PR campaigns via social media in the past 18 months, including YouTube and Twitter, and the response has been phenomenal,” said David May, Jetstar’s head of marketing. 

May explained the increased costs of traditional media when compared with audience reach were key to the decision.

“Social media offers more value for money and is a smarter way to reach our customers – which is what Jetstar is all about.”

Jetstar uses social media for new route launches, special offers and announcements, responding to customer queries and posting sale and news updates.

In May last year, Jetstar conducted a sale exclusively on Twitter as part of its 5th Birthday celebrations. The campaign offered 1,000 seats for two cents – selling them all in a matter of hours. Jetstar has more than 6,000 followers on Twitter in Australia.

“In line with the increasing need to talk to smaller, interconnected communities; communities that when aggregated deliver large numbers of engaged and involved brand advocates, we are likely to shift a large percentage of Jetstars above the line media spend into digital areas, with an increased focus on social media,” said Richard Smith, managing director of Jetstar’s media buying agency Maxus.