Essay: Get an In-Depth Look! Analyze Mcdonalds and Shake Shacks Social Media Marketing Audit Report



   

Social Media Marketing Audit Report

By: Rafael Garcia and Kelly Nguyen

Mkt: 3800-02

Table of Contents

Brief description of industry…………………………………………………………………3

Brand focus (Mcdonalds)…………………………………………………………………………………4

Introduction………………………………………………………….………………..4

Social Media Presence…………………………………….………………………..4

2 Platforms Audience Trends…………………………………………………….. .5

Brand Image on Social Media……………………………………………………. .5

Social Media Marketing Assessment……………………………………………. .6

Recommendation…………………………………………………………………….7

Brand focus (Shake Shack)……………………………………………………………………………..8

Introduction………………………………………………………….……………….8

Social Media Presence…………………………………….………………………  9

2 Platforms Audience Trends……………………………………………………… 9

Brand Image on Social Media…………………………………………………….. 9

Social Media Marketing Assessment……………………………………………..10

Recommendation……………………………………………………………………12

Brand comparison…………………………………………………………………………..13

References…………………………………………………………………………………..14

Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………..15

Brief Description of the Industry

   The industry we were assigned was fast food which has has distinct origins. Although the first usage of the phrase “fast food” appeared on the Merriam-Webster dictionary in the year 1951, there have been prior examples of fast food existing throughout history. One such example has been seen through a text from the Han Dynasty in China which dates back to the second century according to the website History of Fast Food. There were noodle stands that stood outside for quick and convenient food all night.

   As first, there were just a few major players in the fast food chain, many of which are recognized on a global level. Some of these chains are Mcdonalds, Burger King, Dominos, and Kentucky Fried Chicken which are located worldwide. As competition increases, there have been more new major players which are starting to grow at a large level such as Chick Fil A or Shakeshack which continue to expand to this day.

   Current trends show that although the fast food industry seems to be in decline as opposed to prior years in the United States or other developed nations, it is expanding in developing countries. As people become more health conscious and there is an increase in other competition which is healthier, fast food chains must adapt to changing trends to survive.

   In order for fast food chains to remain relevant in these changing times, they now rely on social media to advertise and promote themselves to broader markets. If a fast food franchise is well known or established, it is almost guaranteed that they are active in most if not all major social media platforms. Fast food chains tend to be active with marketing especially social media marketing which continues to grow with users and interactions. It is now easier than ever before for a customer to interact with a fast food franchise through social media platforms. Due to social media marketing being more inexpensive as opposed to other forms of marketing, fast food chains are taking full advantage of this recent form of marketing to their favor.

Brand Focus: Mcdonald’s

Description of Industry

   One of the brands which will be focused on is Mcdonalds which is arguably the largest and most easily recognized fast food chain in the world. The fast food franchise traces its origin back to the Mcdonald’s brothers named Dick and Mac as they seeked business opportunities in California after little success back in New England according to the Mcdonald’s story page. They built their first restaurant to include the speedy service system (fast food) in 1948 with 15 cent burgers. In 1961, Ray Kroc bought Mcdonald’s from the Mcdonald’s brothers for 2.7 million dollars which was surrounded with controversy. The mission of the franchise in its early years was to make fast, affordable food efficiently. As of recent, it has been to be committed to the people and communities they serve to have a good experience while eating in their restaurants. To define who Mcdonald’s is targeting, their target audience is spread everywhere. According to John Dudovskiy from the Research Methodology, their main target audience is working and middle class individuals who reside in mainly urban areas between the ages of 8-45. These individuals seek a fast meal at an affordable price as their income tends to be limited, along with their time since they tend to be mostly busy either school or work.  

Overview of Social Media Presence

   Mcdonald’s being the largest fast food chain not only in the United States but globally as well has a major presence across all their social media platforms. Whether it be large social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. or other less known social media platforms, their presence is there. To show the magnitude of Mcdonald’s presence on social media platforms, on Twitter for example, Mcdonalds currently has over 3.5 million followers (most followed) while the second most followed fast food franchise is Subway with 2.3 million followers. Due to Mcdonald’s being a global fast food franchise which is universally recognized by almost everyone, it makes sense that they are at the top with having the most followers on most if not all social media platforms. When it comes to social media zones, Mcdonald’s tends to focus more on social community and social publishing. For social community, they are committed to building relationships with their followers and engage with one another through conversation. For social publishing, Mcdonald’s is active in media sharing sites such as Instagram to promote their created content whether it be images or videos.  

2 Platforms Audience Trends

   The 2 social media platforms which which were monitored during the 4-week audit period were Twitter and Instagram. Currently on Twitter there are 3,513,540 followers and 3,323,489 on Instagram. As the charts show based on the 4 weeks of monitoring,   

there tends to be gradual growth. During these 4 weeks, there have been seasonal occurrences which could have increased user follows such as the Halloween season and the limited availability of the Mcrib. The one thing that stands out occurred at the end of week 4 on Twitter that results in a drop of around 38,000 followers. My explanation of what possibly occurred was that Twitter deleted fake user accounts that were following during that time period. Excluding the number from week 4 on Twitter, the growth from each platform tends to be around the same number of followers gained per platform. The one thing that differs is the average number of followers gained per week with Twitter on average gaining 1500-3000 followers while Instagram boasts larger gains on average 3000-5000 followers per week. This makes sense since Instagram is becoming more popular and more users are joining on a daily basis.  

Brand Image on Social Media

In Mcdonald’s case, their brand image in social media is unique in the sense that it is widely followed, yet there is a lot of negativity associated with the fast food chain. To make up for their bad image, Mcdonald’s is capitalizing on being a part of the community and offering fast convenient food. The company also makes sure to have promotions with deals such as the 1,2,3 dollar menu or combos that cost 6 dollars along with actively promoting them on their social media platforms. To make sure the people that eat and work in the restaurants feel connected and have a relationship, Mcdonald’s offers ways to jump start workers with their career aspirations. There is also a connection with people who eat there by offering scholarships and help to local

organizations.

Social Media Marketing Assessment

   Strengths: When analyzing how Mcdonald’s uses their social media platforms specifically Twitter and Instagram, there appears to be a lot of strengths. The brand’s Twitter account was more active and posted more often on a daily basis. It also was more engaging when users would leave a comment about their food or service not being at good standards and Mcdonalds would respond asking for more information or location. Based of Twitter, the content that seemed to work the best was content marketing specifically their videos. An example would be a short video mentioning how the Mcrib (seasonal limited time item) would be making a comeback generating over 26k views, over 350 likes and over 150 comments. The creation of hype seemed to work as the hashtag #Mcrib was trending on the day it was announced to return with mixed reaction both good and bad. As we learned in marketing, there is no such thing as bad attention since it will still lead to people talking about the item, in this case the mcrib. On Instagram, there were posts which were similar to the ones on Twitter but some posts seemed to work more. One of the best examples occurred on Instagram in which a series of photos were uploaded involving simply pictures of customers along with their stories. In total it was 12 pictures with 24 different stories of customers with some of their life story along with favorite moments in Mcdonald’s whether it be the food or experience. These pictures on average have over 7,000 likes which is higher as opposed to other content uploaded and are a great example of content marketing. It gives followers a sense of being connected and of possible shared memories with the different stories being told. On both social media platforms, Mcdonald’s takes advantage of limited time items and even seasons such as Halloween to promote and share content.

Weaknesses  

   With strength, there comes weaknesses of which Mcdonald’s falls victim to just like any other fast food franchise. On Twitter, with the announcement of the Mcrib, reception was both good and bad especially in the comments. Many of the negative comments received would say that the Mcrib is “disgusting” or “disappointing.” Promoting the mcrib constantly led the followers to feel a sense of repetitiveness so the number of likes and comments would decline as more similar content was posted. Content that informs people of things they already know also tends to not be as attractive to users such as promoting items that already exist. Another weakness on Twitter is the complaints of bad service or food not being up to standards in all content posted. There is always at least one comment saying that and the user of the Mcdonald’s only offers general information to report which usually makes the user more mad. On Instagram, the biggest weakness was the lack of content being uploaded. On average there are only 1 or 2 posts uploaded per week during the 4 weeks with the exception of 1 week in which 12 posts with the stories were uploaded. Not uploading at least once a day can be bad as you are trying to stay relevant to your followers and show that you want to provide content to them. Also on Instagram engagement between Mcdonald’s account and followers is minimal with very little replies to followers comments.

Recommendations   

   The type of content I would recommend to be uploaded more would be short videos as they generate the most engagement. Whether it be to inform or entertain, videos tend to be more appealing to followers. I would also recommend more stories from people who eat at Mcdonald’s since they can be relatable and are positive to the brand. As for the Instagram account, I would recommend it being more active and engaging with at least 1 post a day along with responding more to comments to show that you are listening to them. On Twitter I would recommend responding with more than just a generic response but rather try to find a way to make it up to the customer such as a coupon or discount as it will build a positive relation in the platform.

Individual brand focus Shake Shack

Brief introduction to the brand

As every burger lover knows, Shake Shack is on the list of having the best burgers. The restaurant which is valued at about $1.6 billion started as a hot dog stand in New York’s Madison Square Park. The company has since then grown into 63 restaurants all over the world and is planning to expand to over 400 new locations.

Shake Shack was founded by New York restaurateur Danny Meyer and his Union Square Hospitality Group. It is inspired by roadside stands that offer simple food like hamburgers, hot dogs, shakes and fries but made with premium ingredients.  In 2001, Shake Shack began as a Chicago-style hot dog stand in Madison Square Park in Manhattan to support the Madison Square Park Conservancy’s first art installation. The car was successful that fans lined up daily for three summers. In 2004 the first permanent store opened. On January 2015 it made its initial public offering on Wall Street. This burger chain is famous for its ShackBurger that is made with 100% all-natural angus beef patty, frozen custard and crinkle-cut fries.

Every day, their mission is to Stand for Something Good. They incorporate this slogan to everything they do. This includes having premium ingredients in their food, being green and recycling all bottles and plastics, creating unique, creative restaurant designs, each individual store donating to their local charity, and volunteering their time to serve meals to the homeless, mentor students, and clean up parks.

     The target audience for Shake Shack are the following. Fast casuals tend to attract more millennials than other demographics. More than half of the fast causal consumers range from financially dependent teenagers to married homeowners with children. Also people who value freshness and nutritional ingredients in their food. Most of the consumers are in middle-class, who value variety, speed and customization. They also value corporate social responsibility of fast casuals.

Overview of social media presence  

Shake Shack’s social media presence is on the following platforms: Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Giphy, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Overview of audience trends on the 2 platforms

Instagram and Twitter are two of Shake Shack’s strongest social media channels. They have the most followers on these accounts. They have 520,000 followers on Instagram and 347,949 on Twitter. Their audience is made up of mostly millennials who use Instagram and Twitter as their main social media networks. Shake Shack’s audience chooses that brand because they are looking for a satisfying meal at a reasonable price that will also be fast enough to coincide with their busy schedules. They are longtime fans of the food. Many are always constantly wanting new stores to open up around their area. The responses to the posts are generally positive. Users generally tag their friends in the posts which generate more traffic to the post. On Twitter they are able to retweet the post to share with their followers. The following count on Instagram steadily grew due to promotions that resulted in consumers tagging their friends and using their hashtag. On Twitter, the following count grew from week 1 to week 2 drastically because they had a promotion where if you retweet a certain tweet and followed you were given a voucher for a buy one get one free burger coupon.

Brand image on social media

Shake Shack’s brand personal are described as delicious, quick, quality and fun. Their brand voice is social media interactions and responses are friendly, easygoing, young, punny, and solution-oriented. The very distinctive identity helped launch the fast-casual chain as a $1.6 billion brand. The graphics they use are neon-line and retro and contemporary. They are known for fine casual dining chain but offers premium fast-food. Their brand values are natural ingredients, excellent taste, and humanitarian. Their positioning strategy is that they are an engaged fast casual restaurant.

Social Media Marketing Activity Assessment

· Strengths

Over the course of these past 4 weeks Shake Shack remained very active on both of the platforms I audited. For Instagram the content that was posted ranged from photos, gifs, or videos. They received the most interaction on this platform compared to Twitter. Each photo ranged from at least 1,000-8,000 likes and each video had about 6,000 views to 22,000 views. Every post included a #shakeshack hashtag. This generated a lot of responses as every time users post about them they include the hashtag as well for a chance to be featured. On October 16 Shake Shack posted about their new location opening up in Oak Brook. To celebrate the grand opening they offered the first 100 guests a custom beanie while they wait. This promotion got the most comments totaling to over 1,000 comments of users tagging their friends to let them know about the offer. To follow their pattern of offering incentives this proved that it was working very well for them. To celebrate the opening of the 200th store, at the first location ever, the first 200 guests would get a free voucher on their next visit and also be entered to win free Shack for a year. Users were excited and the turnout was successful. This generated a lot of traffic for the store opening because thousands commented and tagged their friend to inform them about the event. Another pattern was taking advantage of hashtags and user generated content by introducing #standforsomethinggood on their posts. The audience is encouraged to use that hashtag in their own posts for a chance to be featured on their social media accounts and a change to win money to give to a charity of their choice. For example, on election day, Shake Shack encouraged everyone to stand for something good and vote. By showing their “I Voted” sticker to a team member at the restaurant or using the code “ivoted” on the app, they offered free fries with any purchase. This generated positive user reactions because users like the company they supported also spoke on such an important issue. Many commented saying that now they were going to vote to get the free fries. Friends were tagging one another planning to go to Shake Shack after hitting the polls. Another post that received a lot of attention was continuing their pattern of their mission of to Stand for Something Good. Randy Garutti, CEO of Shake Shack created a day that 5% of sales from all U.S locations will go to Shake Shack’s Women’s Initiative. This internal group is made up of males and females and is dedicated to identifying and pursuing opportunities to ensure the success of women in their company. Users applauded the CEO for this celebration. The company was able to celebrate and empower strong female leaders and encouraged everyone to do the same. Customers replied positive responses like “on behalf of women everywhere, thank you shake shack”, “fearless and inspired leadership”, “so great!”, and “amazing company.” Every day they posted on Instagram and Twitter. They monitor their social media sites for the use of their hashtags and also repost and respond to them to make sure their audience members feel as though they are part of their community as well.

Weaknesses

By posting content every day this generates traffic for their brand and keeps them relevant. However, out of the thousands of posts, many of them receive little to no attention at all. For example, when the post pictures of their burger and fries over and over again, eventually people stop commenting and liking the picture. Comparing this post to a promotion post the likes and comments drastically drop from 8,000 to only 1,00 likes. Also many people commented and responded that their meat was actually undercooked or the food wasn’t to customer standards. When a response like that is detected employees are to notify the communications team. They then send out a pre-approved message to the angry customer. The pre-approved message is written by the company and states “We’re so sorry to see the [NAME]. We try our best to have our food live up to the highest standards, but unfortunately time to time we do make mistakes. Please check your inbox for a message from one of our team members about how we can go about solving this problem. We would love to offer you a gift card as compensation and we would also love to have a representative meet with you in person to give you your gift and discuss more about your poor experiences. We are committed to fixing this mistake, thank you for bringing it to our attention!”. Employees then are to follow up with the customer regarding the situation and make sure they leave the interaction with positive comments about the customer service. In another incident, Shake Shack had posted about a new location opening up and how excited they were to hire such a great team. However, in the comments customers informed them that they received terrible customer service from one of the Shake Shack employees. Again, once the post is detected the communications team is notified. The team responds promptly issuing an apology using another pre-approved message. The statement is “We are sorry to hear that [NAME]. that kind of behavior does not coincide with the Shake Shack policy. We are working on getting this issue straightened out as soon as possible, but in then please accept this gift card as an apology. We hope you forgive us.” Management then tracks down the employee who exemplified the rude customer service and have them send a personal apology to the customer. Then employees follow up with the customer to make sure they are satisfied with the service. This response pattern is effective because it shows that the company actually listens to the customers and make them feel heard. In a post they had a collaboration with the dating app bumble. If users downloaded the app and start swiping, they will eventually land on a surprise promo in the app. They offered a buy one get one free coupon which works perfect because they can use it on a date with someone they swipe right to. However, in the comments many users said they had trouble and kept receiving errors. Another commented, “so you’ll treat people to free burgers, but you won’t refund loyal customers when there’s a roach in their food?”. Management was again notified and issued a pre-approved message. More customers were commenting about the promotion not showing up for them and they have been swiping both left and right for hours. The communication team issued a pre-approved apology.

Recommendation

The type of content that Shake Shack posts that receives a lot of attention are those with incentives, promotions or new locations opening up. They should continue to post those initiatives but also incorporate in new hashtags. Hashtags are a very effective way to increase publicity. Since all of their posts have the hashtag #shakeshack, consumers use the hashtag as well when they post their own photos. By seeing the company use new hashtags, consumers should follow suit and do the same. This works as a domino effect and is proven to be very successful. Some hashtags that users already frequently use are #shakeshacklove, #shakeshacking #shakeshackisbetter, and #shackfan. If the brand itself starts using the hashtag, more users can see it and start using it to. This will improve the brand’s social media presence and generate more quality interactions.

Brand Comparison

   What Shake Shack can learn from Mcdonald’s is to upload not just pictures of the food but include content in which people can relate. Possibly include stories of people who eat Shake Shack and why they like it or what made them try it for the first time. Since Mcdonald’s has existed for much longer than Shake Shack, it can serve as a learning tool as to how to create hype by getting rid of a popular item and then bring it back for a limited time to get people talking about them on social media.

Compared to McDonald’s, Shake Shack is a whole different brand. McDonald’s can learn to use hashtags when they post. Also they can post more content of their actual food on their profiles. Consumers like to see what they are paying for. They can also incorporate their great customer crisis response. It takes McDonald’s a lot longer to respond an consumer because they a significantly larger amount of comments than Shake Shack. It is more difficult to catch every complaint. Exemplary customer service is key to keep your customers loyal to your brand.

When comparing the two fast-food chains McDonald’s is definitely more advanced in their social media presence. With such a high following count of 3,300,000 million followers, their social media strategy has proven to work. McDonald’s focuses on their seasonal promotions whereas Shake Shack rarely has new food items. However when it comes to connecting with the communities this is where they have common ground. Shake Shack’s role in that is their Stand For Something Good mission slogan.   

References

Dudovskiy, J. (2016, February 09). McDonalds Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. Retrieved December 2, 2018, from https://research-methodology.net/mcdonalds-segmentation-targeting-and-positioning/

Hayes, A. (2018, October 29). The Story Behind Shake Shack's Success. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/041615/sto ry-behind-shake-shacks-success.asp History. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2018, from https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/history.html

Klein, M. (2016, July 13). Shake Shack Social Media Strategy | Falcon.io. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.falcon.io/insights-hub/topics/social-media-strategy/shake-shack-social-media-strategy/

The History of Fast Food. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2018, from http://www.historyoffastfood.com/

Shake Shack. (n.d.). Stand For Something Good. Retrieved from https://www.shakes hack.com/stand-for-something-good/

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