If social media were a science, every company would meld all the right elements to have McDonald’s 2.2 million Twitter followers or the social evangelism of In-N Out’s 3 million Facebook fans.
There is no perfect formula—at least not one we can fully control. But the social-media brands on these pages come as close as possible. Through trial and error, deep understanding of their audience and, in some cases, a bit of luck, they’ve created magic in the ever-evolving world of social media (some more than once).
And their success provides lessons for everyone.
Here are samples of successful restaurant social-media efforts as collected by the editorial staff of CSP's sister publication Restaurant Business.
CONTINUED: Twitter
Twitter has established itself in marketers’ minds as the go-to channel for real-time engagement. With well over 200 million active users and counting, it’s where “viral” happens, making it a leading barometer for the zeitgeist. And recent tweaks to the platform, such as in-depth metrics and more engaging content in the form of gifs, aim to keep brands talking.
BEST IN CLASS: Denny’s
Last year, Denny’s passed the reins of its Twitter handle to its ad agency, a move some may slam. But the result is a more than 130% increase in followers (now 105,000) and a boost to its timing and wit.
Here’s a sampling:
1
. Don’t Do the Expected
Denny’s followers and the media rushed to praise the family-dining chain when it looked as if it might take the high road and forgo the usual April Fools’ tomfoolery so many brands try (and flop). Its tweet, “Prank idea: don’t.” got 1,700 retweets and 1,500 favorites, plus kudos from industry watchers, including Fast Company, which wrote, “Attention brands, you should all act more like Denny’s on April Fools’ Day.” But it was short-lived: Denny’s followed with a barrage of tweets with actual prank suggestions that underwhelmed, with most garnering fewer than 250 retweets.
2. Perfect the One-Liner
By now, humor is a given, but Denny’s has figured out how to combine it skillfully with of-the-moment observation for a share-worthy tweet that looks simpler than it is. In an example Mashable called a “grand slam,” Denny’s tweeted on news that Apple had purchased Beats Music, “Breaking: Denny’s Buys Beets for $3 Billion, Makes Huge Salad” and snagged more than 2,600 retweets.
3. Prep for Any Outcome
Some of the most successful tweets seem spontaneous, but, as Oreo’s post during the Super Bowl blackout three years ago demonstrates, they’re actually well planned. Denny’s had its own “Oreo moment” in January following the BCS Championship when it tweeted to distraught fans of the losing team: “If it’s any consolation Auburn fans, there are 47 chances to win on the way home,” along with a map plotting Denny’s locations between the Rose Bowl and Alabama (see below). Followers retweeted it more than 6,000 times with comments ranging from “Ouch” to “Perfect.”
4. Turn 15 Minutes of Fame into 10,000
When Ellen Degeneres and the Academy Awards came calling, Big Mama’s and Papa’s Pizzeria was ready. Not just with the hot pizzas that it had been called to deliver to the celebrity audience live during the Oscars, but also with a flood of tweets and retweets in the seconds and days that followed. That quick thinking helped stretch the pizzeria’s 15 minutes of fame for at least a week and granted 360-degree coverage of the moment, including BMPP’s lawyer doing cartwheels while watching it all unfold.
5. Never Take the Night Off
Who would have guessed that a sandwich QSR’s winning moment would be the Grammys? With an eye to the red carpet on music’s big night and a perfectly timed nine-word tweet, Arby’s won the Internet. Sure, pop artist Pharrell’s choice of headwear had a lot to do with it. But, for Arby’s, that spot-on message, “Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs,” came from being in the right place at the right time and having the awareness to act in the moment. Twitter users rewarded the brand with a viral 80,500 retweets.
6. Trade Tweets for Real-World Loot
Starbucks made news in when it partnered with Twitter to launch its Tweet-a-coffee program, a first of its kind. The offer allows users to tweet a $5 e-gift to a friend and resulted in a reported $180,000 in purchases in its first couple of months.
CONTINUED: Facebook
Facebook is the king of social media for restaurants and beyond. With 829 million daily active users, it’s got the widest reach of any platform. As such, many operators with social-media strategies consider Facebook to be square one, and indies often use it as the sole form of social outreach. Facebook is still the common measure for judging overall social-media success.
BEST IN CLASS: Wendy’s
The Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain has more than 5 million likes on Facebook, and its wall reads like an open and constant dialogue between the chain and its followers. Here’s some of what fuels the conversation:
7. B
uild Expectations
The Pretzel Love Song campaign showed that a series can help build a following for a menu item and the brand overall. To promote another new sandwich, Wendy’s encouraged fans to write subtitles for its latest “short-film” series, Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta: The Movie. The soundless videos were later posted with crowd-sourced dialogue, bringing guests back to the page to see the result. Wendy’s also has been running its Hollywire series since April, comparing pop-culture figures to menu items, with guests coming back to like, comment and share each time a new one is posted.
8. Take Humor Over the Top
Last year’s attempt to make its Bacon Portabella Melt LTO more approachable by mispronouncing “brioche” in a tongue-in-cheek promo video brought in 50,000 new Facebook fans. That success continued with the viral Pretzel Love Song video series, pegged to the release of its pretzel-bun sandwiches. One of Wendy’s most popular campaigns to date, it reached 85 million people in the United States and racked in 1.7 billion total impressions, the majority through Facebook. Spinning user-generated content, the music videos and soap-opera ballads pulled lyrics and dialogue from Facebook posts and tweets praising the new menu items.
9. Digs are OK, as Long as They’re Funny
While brands experiment to find out just how strong a marketing voice consumers will tolerate in social media, Wendy’s is firmly on the side of serving its marketing messages with a side of humor, so fans don’t feel marketed to. On Facebook, all of its photos and captions relate back to Wendy’s, indirectly promoting specific menu items or overall brand messages, such as value. A simple cheeseburger photo paired with the caption (and knock at a competitor), “Our cheeseburgers aren’t clowning around,” posted Aug. 16 got more than 40,000 likes.
10. Use Facebook for Customer Service
Olive Garden (see below) encourages its 6.2 million followers to chat with guest relations through Facebook as a quick and direct way to interact with the brand. The team responds to 95% of the comments and questions posted on its wall, good or bad. The chain thanks guests for posting, replies to comments and also asks unhappy fans to send direct messages to rectify dissatisfaction.
11. Jack the Competitors’ News
Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. parent CKE Restaurants used McDonald’s nixing of its Angus burgers last June to steal disappointed fans via Facebook. In its “Reclaim your Angus” campaign, CKE CEO Andy Puzder specifically targeted and responded to upset McDonald’s customers, directing them to CKE’s Angus burgers via video messages posted to Facebook as sponsored stories.
12. Simple Is as Simple Does
Panera’s Facebook page is different due to its simplicity. Food photos aim to entice cravings, but they also promote the brand’s freshness image through bright colors and calling out specific ingredients. Panera also posts professional but not off-putting pictures of guests eating in stores, giving fans something to connect with.
CONTINUED: Instagram
In early 2014, Instagram broke 200 million users, and the platform continues to move closer to Twitter in terms of usage and engagement, reports eMarketer. Although restaurants have stronger engagement on Twitter, restaurants will focus more of their energy on Instagram as it continues to grow, according to Simply Measured, a social-media analytics company in Seattle.
BEST IN CLASS: Sweetgreen
Sweetgreen has 27 stores, yet its Instagram followers number over 34,000—about 10,000 more than Panera Bread, which has 1,700 units. The chain shows off its fresh menu with plenty of photos, but the images aren’t limited to still lifes of food.
13. Connect the Dots
Unlike some Instagram accounts, Sweetgreen’s is not an island unto itself. Hashtagged posts take followers back to the company’s Tumblr page (Passion x Purpose) where they can find recipes, limited-time offers, blog entries and links to get back to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
14. Share Your Culture
Sweetgreen’s feed is more than a stream of pretty pictures—it’s a visual reflection of its culture. Photos of a staff farm-to-rooftop dinner, Meet-the-Farmer video outtakes, the company’s school-outreach program and meal and song pairings from the Sweetlife music festival (see below) bring the fast-casual concept’s hip vibe and social consciousness alive.
15. Don’t Skimp on Hashtags
Sweetgreen has created a number of targeted hashtags to tell their story. These include #scratchmade and #sgtestkitchen (celebrations of ingredients), #drinkresponsibly (promoting healthy beverages), #sginschools, #sgfarmtrip, #shareyourgreens (fan photos) and #sweetlife2014 (music festival). Hashtags unique to a brand engage followers, encourage reposts and motivate fans to post pictures using those tags.
16. Turn the Feed Over to Fans
Applebee’s took the pressure off its marketing team by tapping its “neighborhood” of 18,000 followers to build an entirely user-generated Instagram feed. Fans first register at a microsite to allow their pics to be posted—giving Applebee’s the bonus of access to their information. Then everything with a #fantographer or #Applebees hashtag is fair game. Close to 200 posts appeared in the first few weeks. Although Applebee’s is not the first to fill its feed with fan photos, doing so for a whole year is a new strategy.
17. Cultivate a Star
Instagram followers want to feel like insiders—a strategy California Pizza Kitchen embraces. Brian Sullivan, CPK’s head of culinary innovation, shows up in videos and how-to photos, tossing pizza dough, developing menu items, creating special spice blends and highlighting seasonal ingredients through #CPKitchen. Food and cocktail images dominate, but the feed also offers promotions, sweepstakes and ideas for celebrations to keep the content lively for its 7,000 fans.
18. Show Us Your Straw
The signature purple straw at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is its current muse on Instagram. Last July, followers were instructed to cut an inch of the straw’s end and use it as a lens through which to snap smartphone pics. Scenic photos surrounded by a purple haze (right) are now streaming on Instagram with the hashtag #purplestrawcam. The idea not only builds virtual traffic—as of last fall there were more than 24,000 followers—it builds foot traffic. To get the straw, posters have to visit one of the 302 U.S. stores.
CONTINUED: YouTube
YouTube
Over 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month, and restaurants are fınding new ways to get a piece of the action. Many simply replay their TV commercials, but others create original content to educate or entertain viewers. Smaller players use YouTube to share their restaurants’ ethos, but they’re mixing it up with chef demos, pop culture and more.
BEST IN CLASS: Chick-fıl-A
Fans dressed in funny cow costumes get a lot of play on Chick-fil-A’s YouTube channel, but the QSR also shows its more serious side. The mix of how-to videos, inside stories, community interaction and customer testimonials provides something for everyone.
19. Go Behind the Scenes with R&D
The three “tastemakers” responsible for the launch of Chick-fil-A’s chargrilled chicken sandwich take viewers inside the R&D process. The chef who developed the recipe and the inventor and engineer who masterminded the grilling equipment describe the effort that went into creating “a meal worth sharing.” Authenticity sells—as of original press time, about 22,000 fans had watched this and related clips about the R&D behind the new sandwich.
20. Capitalize on Fan Experiences
Chick-fil-A’s longtime campaign to Eat Mor Chikin, featuring the chain’s iconic cows, peaks on annual Cow Appreciation Day. That’s when loyalists around the country dress up in cow costumes and shoot videos—which Chick-fil-A encourages them to share. When the call went up on YouTube for the 2014 celebration, held July 11, it garnered 46,252 views. Along with the chain’s professional cow videos, the homemade uploads keep the mascots near and dear to customers.
21. Pull on Their Heartstrings
Personal testimonials—especially emotional ones about family relationships, sickness or military service—go a long way toward building goodwill for a brand. Chick-fil-A peppers its channel with stories from customers and employees relating how the company has been a refuge and a rock in their lives. “A Second Home,” about a military couple’s marriage, has gotten 4,140 views.
22. Align with the Arts
To win points with millennials, Subway shows off its hip side by sponsoring musicians at the annual SXSW festival in Austin and college filmmakers at NYU and USC. Videos of the Subway Sessions feature up-and-coming singers and bands, while the Fresh Artists’ spots run original films submitted for competition. One of the 2013 films, “Bite Night,” generated close to 10,000 views and a few others racked up several thousand. Viewers coming to replay some of Subway’s TV commercials—also on the channel—get to scout emerging talent.
23. Show Some Character
In a series called “B-Dubs Sauce Lab,” Buffalo Wild Wings introduces its newest flavors. Fans get a “first taste” of limited-edition sauces such as Salted Caramel, Wicked Wasabi, Sriracha Sizzle and Big Easy Bourbon via the taste buds of animated characters. Each 30-second vignette tells a different story with different personalities. In one month, B-Dubs’ “The Devouring,” a tale of terror based on a taste of Ghost Pepper sauce, was watched more than 16,000 times.
24. Teach a Lesson
Red Lobster thinks people shy away from ordering a whole lobster because they don’t know how to eat it. So the chain enlisted its chef, Heidi Lane, to teach Lobster Crackin’ 101—a lesson 19,750 had tuned into by last fall. She quickly demos the step-by-step process of disjointing the lobster and removing the meat from the shell, down to the legs—which she rolls with a bottle to squeeze out the last bits. Lane ends with a subtle plug: She invites viewers in to test their new skills.
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