How many of you follow Southwest Airlines on Twitter? They’re on of the most engaged brands we know of, so we interviewed one of the women behind the curtain for @SouthwestAir and the company blog – Christi Day.

Christi is full of insights on working in social media for a large brand. Here are three of our favorite takeaways from our interview:

• “[Southwest] wants us communicating where our customers are.”
• “Our goal [with social media] is to provide great customer service.”
• “Measuring relationships will provide a better outcome for you as a communicator.”
• “A lot of our content is re-purposed and used in several different places.”

In Part 1 of our interview, we focus on Southwest as a company, including how they approach strategy, how their social media presence was born, and what to do in a crisis.

Part 2 focuses on Christi’s individual contribution. She tells us what she handles on a daily basis and how her job at Southwest is more of a “lifestyle” than a career.

Part 1

Part 2

On August 11, Spiral16 employees Kelly Kearney and Whitney Mathews will be giving a presentation at the Kansas City Direct Marketing Association luncheon.

The presentation, titled “Navigating the Social Media Terrain,” will use real-world case studies and statistics to discuss the inclusion of social media into current marketing initiatives. Below is more specific information. Will we see you there?

Click the image to download the PDF postcard.

As a social media monitoring software provider, we are often asked “Who is best suited to manage social media for a company?”

There are several logical options, so we want to know your opinion. Over the next 30 days, we’ll keep this (unscientific) poll posted. We also highly encourage you to leave comments about how your company approaches this topic, or expand on your poll selection. If you think we left out an option, leave it in the comments, too.

Have you seen this presentation called “What the F**k is Social Media?” It’s a great way to introduce yourself to the concept, and contains a lot of convincing statistics on social technology and behavior. It’s been added to our favorites on SlideShare.

A new Forrester report predicts the imminent death of advertising as we know it in the next five years. Here are some of the highlights from a post on the Groundswell blog:

• 70% of marketers believe the effectiveness of social media, online video, and mobile marketing will increase in the next three years.
• In five years, 21% of advertising/marketing budgets will go toward digital initiatives (it’s only 12% in 2009). Compare that to percentages for TV (35%), newspapers = (14%), radio (12%), magazines (5%). (percentages taken from study author Shar VanBoskirk’s comment on AdAge)
• While spending on digital will increase, most advertising budgets are not predicted to grow. This indicates that money will shift from traditional media to digital.
• In five years, online ad spending will total over $3 billion. In 2009 it’s $870 million.

This post was republished on AdAge, where it generated more conversation (blog comments are some of the best places to find new ideas and resources). One of our favorites comes from Jason Baer:

How long until there isn’t a difference between digital and traditional? If every campaign includes a digital component, why break it out separately?

The data you collect about your online audience is applicable in multiple areas. Think about ways to cross consumer sentiment with your sales figures to look for patterns. Look for peaks and valleys in online activity and compare them to your digital spending.

Try to think of digital as a way to enhance all areas of not only your brand, but in every way you communicate with customers.