Everyone knows what Starbucks is. There is just about one on
every street corner in every major city in the United States. It is a place for
people to grab their morning coffee, savor an afternoon snack, or even just pop
by for a break from a hectic day at the office. Starbucks is one of the leading
coffee chains in the world, and it knows how to keep its customers wanting
more! They have an excellent presence on social media and create a fun and
exciting environment for people to enjoy on various different social platforms.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Starbucks
Starbucks, in my opinion, has one of the
most fun and engaging Facebook pages around. It has over 35 million likes. Yes, I just said
35 million. Not only are the posts on the page extremely colorful and
eye-catching, they also include tons of user-generated content that really
seems to show how much people love their products. A majority of the photos on
Facebook are user generated, which creates a feeling of customer loyalty. It shows that the company cares about what their
consumers have to say, and they want to make them part of their brand. They
post images of fans enjoying coffee and tea while going about their daily
lives. They also post special offers and informational posts on how they create
some of their specialty coffee drinks. Other posts inform followers of their
monthly Now Brewing Hangout where they can join and listen to experts talking
about coffee. Starbucks also does a great job at embracing each season to its
fullest. They have already started serving their famous pumpkin coffee and
serving their delicious pumpkin sweets. They market seasonal items on Facebook
with great photos and fun captions that make you want to embrace each season to
its fullest by celebrating with a pumpkin coffee or two. To my surprise, I observed that Starbucks does
not post daily. They seems to go a few days without posts, yet they still generate
more likes and comments than many other brands that post multiple times a day.
This proves that the quality of content, not quantity, is key. From my
observations, Starbucks seems to use Facebook to really appeal to their
audience through photos, user-generated content, and videos. They use Facebook
to appeal visually to their target audience and post relevant content that
engages followers. Starbucks also responds to most comments posted followers,
which generates an even greater response from other followers.
The official Starbucks Twitter page has
over 4 million followers. They repurpose a lot of the same content from
Facebook. Content that they do post includes photos and videos used on
Facebook, along with responses to fans. They tweet between 3-10 times a day,
which is not a lot for such a large and well-known brand. Again, this shows
that content quality is important.
Twitter seems to complement Starbucks’ Facebook. Starbucks utilizes Twitter
to create conversation with their target audience and maintain their brand.
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/starbucks/
Starbucks reaches out to its followers on Pinterest as well.
Starbucks’ Pinterest account has over 100,000 followers, 1032 pins, and just
ten boards. With boards ranging from “Coffee Moments” to “Handcrafted” to “Mornings,” they sure know how to embrace the
world of coffee. Starbucks keeps it clean with only 10 boards. It doesn’t make
the page overwhelming, which can sometimes be the case when cluttered with too
many boards. Instead, they pin a lot of content but limit it to the 10 boards. Each
pin is simply captioned and includes a photo that makes you crave coffee or the
experience of drinking coffee. In previous years, Starbucks has also engaged its
fans with a contest held on Pinterest enticing fans to create a Pinterest board
called “It’s Possible” for a chance to win a coffee machine. A link to the page
shows that this was a successful social campaign: http://pinterest.com/search/boards/?q=it%27s+possible.
Pinterest seems to be used to draw in the customer and make coffee look like an
essential and enjoyable part of everyone’s day.
Instagram: Starbucks
also uses Instagram to connect with its audience. The images on Instagram are
great for creating conversation with viewers.
Starbucks also has a YouTube channel. Their YouTube channel
is very informative. As of September 7, their last video posted was one week
ago. They have different sections for videos ranging from PSL Anniversary, the
journey of coffee, the Verismo, Starbucks giving back to the community, and
different jobs at Starbucks. The variety of videos really gives the audience an
in depth look at how Starbucks works and operates. Starbucks seems to use YouTube
to educate the viewer.
Starbucks Website: http://www.starbucks.com
Starbucks also communicates with its customers through its
website. Customers can learn all about Starbucks, its products, and what is happening
in the Starbucks world. Customers can also shop for Starbucks products on their
website, and browse the menu. The website also showcases a video celebrating
the 10th anniversary of the PSL.
Starbucks also has a site called My
Starbucks Idea where customers can post their innovative ideas for products,
experiences, and involvement. People can join in the conversation by posting
comments. This site allows customers to feel as if they are contributing to the
Starbucks brand.
Starbucks is a growing brand that continues to be an
important part of people’s daily lives. Starbucks spends time ensuring that
social media is an important part of their brand strategy. This company uses
IMC, which delivers a consistent message to the consumer to the different
social media platforms. Its followers are definitely part of the marketing
experience. Starbucks does a great job of maintaining their brand personality
on the different channels. Their brand personality is friendly and playful and
their tone is personal. Their brand voice connects with customers on a human
level. They promote a lifestyle that portrays coffee and the experience of
drinking coffee as an essential part of daily life.
Overall, I think Starbucks does a great job using social.
They really understand their consumer and keep people coming back for more. They do a great job at making the customers
feel important by emphasizing the use of user generated content. I think that
is one of the things they do best. Their two best social sites are Pinterest
and Facebook. Each is used for different reasons, but both appeal to the
consumer, and both have great content. They really embrace the quality not
quantity rule. There content appeals to
their customers because it promotes their love of coffee and celebrate their
common bond. Starbucks definitely increases brand awareness and loyalty. Starbucks
uses other channels besides social media to reach their customers and maintain
their brand. They email their customers, advertise in magazines and on TV,
offer promotions, and send campaign graphics to all the Starbucks locations. Starbucks uses multimedia channels to carry their marketing communications to
their target audience. They send a consistent message. This is one of my favorite commercials from
this summer. I think this shows exactly how Starbucks is a brand that tries to
be a part of their consumers every day life! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB4mMV3-5a0
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