The Power of Social Media
It’s the online “headquarters” for all things PT6. It has helped define – and given voice to – the PT6 engine community, which has been shown to be passionate, diverse and global. It has become a meeting place where fans of the PT6 engine exchange information, stories and other forms of content. It, of course, is PT6Nation.com, launched just three years ago this month. In the past 12 months, it has played an integral role in the engine’s 50th-anniversary celebration.
“The PT6 engine microsite has performed exceptionally well from day one,” says Kathy Roberge, Senior Advisor, Communications, P&WC. “The value of the site to the PT6-engine community came through loud and clear throughout 2013 as we celebrated the anniversary of the delivery of the first PT6 engine in 1963. We made the site front and centre to our celebration activities, and the PT6 engine community responded with tremendous enthusiasm.”
PT6-engine enthusiasts who register on the microsite are called “PT6ers.” As of the end of November, just under 3,000 had declared their allegiance to the engine. PT6ers get advanced access to videos, interviews and news posted to the site. By the end of November, the PT6 engine had some 65,000 followers and fans across all social-media channels.
Roberge says that the microsite itself has proven to be a powerful tool through which engine enthusiasts have publicly, and proudly, shared their views on the PT6 engine. “Certainly, it’s the personal stories that have been posted to the microsite that have the most impact,” says Roberge. “We also do analysis every month to determine the ‘share of voice’ the engine has on social media. Consistently, the PT6-engine community ensures that the engine is more talked about than any of its competitors – and that’s gratifying because you can’t buy that level of support. It’s a reflection of the value of the engine to the market and the efforts P&WC and its team have put into making the PT6 engine the reliable and durable product customers have grown to count on to bring them home.”
“Facebook is also an obvious and popular means by which PT6-engine enthusiasts stay in touch with the community,” says Roberge. “We use Twitter frequently when we are at shows where the engine is on display, and we find it’s an excellent way of keeping people informed of the various PT6-engine-related activities we routinely undertake at these shows. Twitter is also an effective way to build the PT6-engine brand as it creates an open forum for discussion.”
Roberge is confident the PT6Nation community will continue to be a gathering place for PT6-engine enthusiasts for many years to come. “We will continue to enhance the ways in which customers can interact with us via social media,” she says. “We will provide customers with new capabilities as the technology changes.”
Click here to see what PT6ers are saying about the engine.
“The PT6 has kept our Caravans flying through countless hours in some of the harshest weather and terrain in the world. You couldn’t ask for a more dependable and durable engine.” – Nick Cabral, Cessna Caravan pilot, Era Alaska, Kotzebue, Alaska
“I trust my life to the PT6A-27 on a daily basis, flying over the rugged mountains of Papua New Guinea. No other engine would give me the confidence to fly over this environment in a single-engine aircraft like the Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter.” – Matt Dearden, Pilatus Porter PC-6 bush pilot, Papua New Guinea
“The first time I heard the PT6-powered Quest KODIAK start up, I knew that’s what I wanted to work on. Every time I heard that engine spooling up outside, I got more eager to learn how to fly. It was as if it was calling me.” – Amber Philips, aircraft mechanic, Quest Aircraft, Willowbrook, Illinois