11
2010
Starbucks' Formula to Social Media Success
Starbucks has over 705,000 followers on twitter and over 5,428,000 fans on Facebook. I guess you could say that they’re doing something right on the Web. What is it about Starbucks’s social media strategy that makes it so successful?
Let’s analyze Starbucks social behavior across the Web:
1) Starbucks on twitter – Starbucks engages with customers on twitter, answer questions, retweets what people are saying about the brand and creates an open communication channel to speak with the public.
2) Starbucks on Facebook – Starbucks uploads content to their Facebook page such as: Videos, blog posts, photos. The company also invites people to events. Fans have a place to open discussions and comment as many of them do.
3) Starbucks on YouTube -Over 4800 people subscribe to Starbucks YouTube Channel. They upload videos of commercials as well as informational videos explaning the origins of the different coffee blends and some of their charity work videos. They also upload videos showing their history thus enabling people to relate more to the brand. This video showing the beginnings of Starbucks received over 11, 800 views:
Starbucks is also allowing people to embed its videos anywhere they like on the Web. Many companies don’t allow this because they’re afraid that their videos might be places on sites that they don’t want to be associated with. However, from Starbucks’ experience as well as the experience of other brands (such as Dell), this strategy has proven to only increase the positive exposure of brands that allow embedding and not the opposite.
4) My Starbucks Idea – Starbucks’ own version of a social network where customers are asked to share their ideas on anything related to Starbucks. The site gives users the ability to see what others are suggesting, vote on ideas and check out the results. This site is a brilliant and important aspect of Starbucks social media strategy. Users who are part of this network feel that they have some role in the decision making process of the company and it makes them feel a part of it.
5) Starbucks Blog entitled “Ideas in Action” – This blog is written by various Starbucks employees and talks about what Starbucks is doing with the ideas given by users on the My Starbucks Idea site. The blog keeps customers in the loop and in the know regarding what’s happening with their ideas and increases their sense of loyalty to the brand.
Overall Starbucks’s social media strategy integrates many different elements into the mix and combined together, these elements create a social media plan that works beautifully to create millions of fans for the brand and keep them involved in the brand’s doings. The brand has created a digital dialogue with its customers, enabling people to give their feedback and receive a response back from Starbucks addressing their concerns/comments. Starbucks is showing its customers and potential customers – “hey, we care about what YOU have to say.”
I am certain that if each one of these elements was done alone then the strategy would not have been as successful and complete as it is when done like this in integration with the rest of the elements on board. Many brands can learn a great deal from the way that Starbucks conquered the social web. It is really all a matter of priorities. Starbucks put communicating with their customers and potential customers as a top priority. Do you?
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About the Author: Ayelet Noff
Ayelet Noff has over twelve years of experience marketing companies from various industries. She has been involved in the social media world before the term social media even existed. Ayelet opened Blonde 2.0 back in 2006. Before this, she was ICQ’s Marketing Manager for four years and also held various executive marketing positions in different startups. She is also a top blogger and currently writes for three different blogs: The Blonde 2.0 blog, The Next Web, and Socialmedia.biz. She holds an MBA degree from Tel Aviv University, and a BA in Politics from Brandeis University.
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Yep, there's no such thing as a Facebook strategy or Twitter strategy. There's a business strategy that hopefully includes real engagement with customers: listening, sharing interesting information and new thinking with them, and showing them how the brand actually acts upon what they've said. Social networking now enables brands to do this in ways that were never feasible before. Great case study!
The Starbucks brand is strong. I feel in the past few years the brand had lost its integrity and promise.
Bring back the big comfy chairs please.
Andrew F Stewart
@1day1brand @andrewfstewart
Hi Andrew,
There's a great book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.
Read the chapter on Focus.
Ivan
Thanks.
If I were the CEO for Starbucks for a day…
1. How do I get 20 somethings (soon to have kids, time poor etc) to feel that SB is part of their lives, not just a coffee destination?
2. How do I reach out to silver surfers and others that feel excluded and get them engaged?
3. How do I re-position myself , i.e. more than nice, scented coffee beans?
I’m not that impressed with SB, to be honest.
While there is merit (and sense) in serving your active customer base there are many missed opportunities here.
Boeing, imho, is doing a much better job.
[...] Starbucks’ Formula to Social Media Success [...]
Yes, Starbucks shows that it knows the social networks but I think it lacks more integrated campaigns and stronger interaction with costumers.
[...] חברתית של מותגי מזון גדולים היא כבר עניין שבשגרה. תראו את מותג סטארבקס ועלייתו. יש כמובן סטטיסטיקות שתומכות את התיאוריה: נמצאה ההתאמה [...]
[...] a blog post, Starbucks’ Formula to Social Media Success, marketing consultant Ayelet Noff analyzes Starbucks highly-visible social media footprint across [...]
Credit for this particular post, I will certainly add this web site to my own rss feeds, a friend just informed me regarding this a couple weeks ago. this is the greatest.
Yes, Starbucks shows that it knows the social networks but I think it lacks more integrated campaigns and stronger interaction with costumers.
[...] עליהם וחושבים שזה גדול עליכם? הנה פוסט מומלץ של איילת נוף עליהם, והנה [...]
[...] a blog post, Starbucks’ Formula to Social Media Success, selling consultant Ayelet Noff analyzes Starbucks highly-visible amicable media footprint opposite [...]
Ayelet,
I think most would agree that more is better. A diverse social media strategy will be most effective in capturing the largest share of social media users. However, managing multiple platforms effectively takes time and thoughtfulness. You don’t just want to post the same information on each platform. There should be some thought put into the manner in which content is floated on each platform. In some cases the info can be identical, in other cases it should not. As a result, small businesses may not have the luxury of maintaining the full complement of platforms. They would end up spending too much time on social media and not enough time running the business. In such cases I recommend Facebook due to the variety of content supported – microblog/updates, video, photos, events, etc. What do you think of this strategy for time/resource-strapped small businesses that want to be involved in social media but can’t commit to the full slate?
Jesse
socialmediabanking.blogspot.com