round 2 winner · round 4 winner: vs. instagram is the platform that captures the smallest audience...
TRANSCRIPT
Round2winner:
VS.
Bothbrands’Facebookpagesreachthemostamountoffollowersincomparisontotheirothersocialplatforms.WhenanalyzingthedifferencesbetweenChick-fil-AandZaxby’sinregardstoFacebook,itwasaveryclosetie.Zaxby’sandChick-fil-Abothhaverelevantprofileandcoverphotosthatreflecteachoftheirbrandsinapositivelight.AlthoughChick-fil-Acomesoutasthewinner,Zaxby’sdoesagreatjobpostingengagingcontentfrequently.However,oneofthemainpointsthatsetsChick-fil-AapartisthewayitputstousemanyofFacebook’sofferedtoolsandfeatures.Forinstance,Facebookusedthe“pinnedpost”feature.Becauseofthis,Facebookisabletocapturealargeraudiencewithitsposts,whichleadstomuchmoreastoundingresults.Althoughnumbersdonotalwaysresemblesuccess,inthiscasetheydo.Chick-fil-Ahasover7millionlikesonFacebook,whichisalmost7timestheamountZaxby’shas.Italsohasanaverageof372sharesperpost,incomparisontoZaxby’swhichonlyhasanaverageof51sharesperpost.Whentakingthesenumbersintoconsideration,itisrealizedthatChick-fil-AfarsurpassesZaxby’swhenitcomestousingtheinstrumentsofFacebook.UnlikeZaxby’s,Chick-fil-AalsopromotesitsnewapponFacebook.Chick-fil-Adoesthisinanon-abrasiveway,whichallowscustomerstodownloadtheappattheirownfreewill.
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Followers 748K
Tweets 70.5K
Following 8,039
Likes 6,952
Lists 2
Followers 90.8K
Tweets 14.8K
Following 1,209
Likes 12.7K
Lists 1
AverageResponseTime
~2.13hours
AverageResponseTime
~ 13.02hours
Twitter:
TheaverageresponsetimeistakenfromaveragingthetimetakentorespondtotweetsthroughoutthemonthsofSeptemberandOctober2016.
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Twitter:Althoughseveralbrandsstruggletoprovideconsumers
withexceptionalcustomerserviceinthedigitalspace,Chick-fil-AhasbeenabletomaintaintheircommitmenttocustomerserviceviaTwitterbyutilizingthisplatforminawaytoconnectwithcustomers“realtime”.Chick-fil-Aemployeescloselymonitorandrespondtobothpositivecommentsandnegativecomplaintsquickly,oftenre-directingpeopletotheirwebsiteforfurtherhelp(seephotosontheleft).
NotonlydoesChick-fil-ApinimportantpoststothetopoftheirpageliketheydoonFacebook,buttheyrecognizetheimportanceofsimplicityintweets.Chick-fil-Adoesn'tpostlengthyandirrelevantpostsonTwitter,becausetheyarewellawareoftheintendeduseofthisparticularplatform.Instead,theytakeadvantageofTwitter’sbrevityandpoststraightforwardreminderstoeffectivelycreateawareness.
Chick-fil-AalsolinksitsTumblraccounttoitsTwitterpage,whichisanotherwayitdirectstraffictoitsothersites.
OnethingthatChick-fil-Acouldimproveon,inregardstoTwitter,isbuildingalarger“followback”audience.Asseeninthechartonpage16,outofits748Kfollowers,Chick-fil-Afollowslessthan1%ofthemback.Byuppingits”following”count,Chick-fil-Acouldbuildanevenstrongeraudiencebyencouragingengagementfurther.Lastly,consideringTwitteris”realtime”andusersareconstantlycheckingit,Chick-fil-Awouldgreatlybenefitbyincreasingitsnumberofposts.TheChick-fil-Aaccountsometimesgoesmultipledaysatatimewithoutpostingasingletweet.
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Twitter:Zaxby’sutilizesTwitterinoneofthemainwaysitis
intendedtobeused.Thatis,itredirectstrafficbacktoitshomewebsite.Zaxby’sTwitterpagehasthewebsitelinkembeddedontheleft-hadsideofitsaccount,andalsopostsmanytweetsleadingcustomersbacktoitswebsite.
Zaxby’salsohasadecentfollowertofollowingratioincomparisontoitscompetitors.ByfollowingcustomersbackonTwitter,Zaxby’sisabletobuildastrongerfanbase.Zaxby’salsopostsatleastonetweetperday,ifnotmore.ThisshowsthatZaxby’sisusingthisspacewiselyandtakingadvantageofhowquicklytheircustomerbasecanbereachedthroughthisplatform.
Zaxby’sisrelativelyefficientwhenitcomestorespondingtocustomertweets.However,themajorityofZaxby’srepliesareinresponsetonegativecommentsfromcustomers.Theiraverageresponseratetocustomersisalsoextremelylow,meaningtheytakemuchtoolongtorespondtocustomers.ThesearebothareasinwhichZaxby’scouldimproveupon.Byreachingoutandengagingwithconsumersduringbothgoodandbadtimes,Zaxby’shasthepotentialtogrowbrandloyaltyandcustomersatisfactiontohigherlevels.
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Round3 winner:
VS.
AlthoughZaxby’sdoeshavetheupperhandintheTwitterrealminseveralaspects,forinstancepostingcontentmoreconsistentlyandredirectingtraffictoitswebsite,Chick-fil-Astillwinsforround3.ThereasonforthisbeingthatChick-fil-AtrulyunderstandsthepurposeofTwitter.Chick-fil-Ausesthisplatformasameansofenhancingitscustomerservice.Chick-fil-Aisalreadyknownfortheirsuperiorcustomerserviceintheirrestaurants,andtheywantthiscustomerservicetopermeateitsonlineplatforms.Theyrespondcharismaticallytobothhappyandunhappycustomers,whichshowspeoplethattheycare,notjustinbadtimes(seephotosonpage17).Chick-fil-Aalsoismoretimesensitivewhenitcomestorespondingtocustomertweetsinatimelymanner.Theydon’tleavecustomershangingfortypicallyanylongerthanaafewhours.Theyhaveexperiencedgreatersuccessinrespondingefficiently,leadingthemtoberecognizedasanactiveandpresentbrandonthisplatform.
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Posts 669
Followers 549K
Following 51
Posts 437
Followers 21.7K
Following 171
Average# ofLikes
~12.2K Average#ofLikes
~410
Instagram:
TheaveragenumberoflikesandcommentsaretakenfromaveragingthenumberoflikesandcommentsonphotospostedthroughoutthemonthsofSeptemberandOctober2016.
Average# ofComments
~338 Average# ofComments
~10
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Instagram:FacebookandTwitterserveslightlydifferentpurposesthanInstagram.
Instagramisallaboutthecontentofthephoto,andthisisanareathatChick-fil-Aexcelsin.Chick-fil-Acapitalizesonthefactthattheyhavereallygoodfood.SinceChick-fil-Ahasseveralseasonalmenuitems,theyuseInstagramtopushtheseitemsclosertoitscustomers.
However,Chick-fil-Aalsorealizestheimportanceoftheconsumer.Becauseofthis,theyoftenpostinnovativephotosofthingstheyknowtheircustomersvalue.Chick-fil-Ahasnoticedthatthesocialpoststhatreceivethehighestlevelofengagementtendtobeseasonalorinresponsetosomethingtrendingthatconsumerslove.Forexample,oneofthetop-performingpostslastyearpicturedchickennuggetboxes intheshapeofaChristmastreefortheholidayseason(seephotototheleft).Chick-fil-Aisfocusedoncombiningtheirproductwithwhatpeoplelove.However,inmyopinion,Chick-fil-Acouldpostmoreaboutwhatpeoplelovewithoutalwaysattachingtheirbrandtoit.
Chick-fil-AalsostandsoutonInstagramduetothefactthatavastmajorityoftheirfranchisesalsohavetheirownInstagramaccounts.TheseaccountsreallytakeadvantageofprovingtoitscustomerswhatChick-fil-Aisallaboutbygivingthembehindthescenesphotosofwhatthe“everydaylife”ataChick-fil-Arestaurantlookslike.
Lastly,somethingthatIbelieveChick-fil-Acouldimproveonismaintainingaconsistentcadenceinregardstoitspostingfrequency.Withinthelast2months,theyhaveonlyposted6photosonInstagram.
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Instagram:Zaxby’sdoesanexcellentjobatfillingitsInstagramspace.
Notonlydotheypostphotosfrequently,buttheyareknownforpostinghighqualityphotosthatcustomersenjoy.ThesephotosencompassthejoyonefeelswhenexperiencingZaxby’sthroughtheuseofvibrantcolors,whichinturnboostssalesforZaxby’swithoutusinganysortofpushapproach.Zaxby’salsohasbeenknowntointermixcuratedcontentwiththeirownoriginalposts.Forinstance,thephotoonthebottomleftisanexampleofhowZaxby’sre-postsanimagethatwasuploadedbyoneofitsfans.Notonlydoesthisincreaseengagement,butitmakescustomersfeelspecialandcaredfor.Unfortunatelythough,thisisn'tdoneveryfrequently.
Asnotedonpage20,Zaxby’shasverylittlecustomerinvolvementonitsInstagramaccount.IfZaxby’scouldbothincorporatecuratedcontentmoreoften,whilealsolearningtorespondtoandengagewithitscustomersthroughcomments,Itrulybelievetheycouldincreasetheirfollowing,numberoflikes,andnumberofcommentsdaily.
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Round4winner:
VS.
Instagramistheplatformthatcapturesthesmallestaudienceincomparisontoeachbrands’FacebookandTwitteraccounts.ThroughoutthemonthsofSeptemberandOctober,Chick-fil-Ahasposted6times.Thisisanareathatcouldbeimprovedupon,whichcouldleadtopotentiallyhigherlevelsofengagementonthisplatform.
However,thequalityofChick-fil-A’sphotos,aspreviouslydiscussed,iswhatmakesthemsuperiortoZaxby's. Zaxby’sphotosdon’thaveasmuchmeaning.Inotherwords,thecontentisnotasintentional.Itisnotthattheydon’tpostenticingphotos,becausetheymostdefinitelydo.Rather,Zaxby’scontentisn’tasconsumer-focusedasChick-fil-A’sInstagram.
Chick-fil-Aalsohasasuperioramountoflikesandcommentsontheirpictures(seechartsonpage20),whichshowstheengagementlevelofthebrand.CustomersseemtolikeandtalkaboutChick-fil-AmoreonInstagramwiththeirfriendsthantheydoZaxby’s.Thisisveryimportantintermsofgrowingitsbrand.
AlthoughChick-fil-Ahaswon,yetagain,onInstagram,oneaspectthatbothZaxby’sandChick-fil-Acouldimproveonisutilizingthisspacetobetterinteractandrespondtoitscustomers.
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Evolution:Inregardstotheevolutionofdigitalmarketing,onebrand(Chick-fil-AorZaxby’s)ismoreevolvedthantheother.Inordertosucceedinthedigitalspace,eachbrandneedsto:
1)haveadigitalpresenceviaacompanywebsite2)publishcontent,forinstancecreateablog3)promoteitsbrandviaemail4)engageonsocialmedia5)integrateitsbrandviamarketingautomation
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Evolution Chick-fil-A Zaxby’s
Website ✔ ✔
Blog ✔ (Tumblr) ➖
Email ✔ ✔
Socialmedia ✔ ✔
Marketingautomation
✔ ✔
Evolution(cont’d):Althougheachbrandseemstobein-tunedwithmostofthesestepsofdigitalmarketingevolution,itisapparentthatone
brandisdoingaslightlybetterjob.Inthiscase,itisChick-fil-A.Chick-fil-AalwaysseemstobeastepaheadofZaxby’s. MostwouldattributethissuccesstoChick-fil-A’sadvantageofmoreexperienceduetoolderage.Chick-fil-Ahasbeenaroundlongenoughtoexperimentwitheachofthesestepsandimproveuponthem,therefore,theytendtobeslightlymoreadvancedintheevolutionprocess.
Chick-fil-A’swebsite includeseverydetailinregardstowhat,howandwhytheydowhattheydo.Customersareabletonotonlycometothewebsitetofindimportantinformation,buttheyareabletocontactthecompanyaswell.Chick-fil-A’sTumblrblogservesasaplacetopublishcontentabouttheirlatestnews,whileatthesametimeexpressingcreativity.Here,theycanrespondandinteractwithcustomersonadifferentlevel,gaugingconsumerlikesanddislikesaboutthebrand.AnotherwayChick-fil-Apromotestheircontentandgainsmorereachisbyaddingcustomerstotheiremail list.TheChick-fil-Aemailisconsistentwiththeoveralllookofitswebsitewhichallowsforfamiliarityandagreaterunderstandingofthebrand.Italsousesitsemailtodirectcustomerstoitssocialsites.Chick-fil-Ausesavarietyofsocialmedia platformstocategorizeitscustomersintosegments.Theyrecognizetheimportanceofusingeachplatforminaslightlydifferentwaytomakestrongerconnections.Lastly,Chick-fil-Aintegratesallofthesestrategiesinordertoenhanceitsperformanceacrosstheboardthroughmarketingautomation.
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TheChickenChampion:
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Althoughbothbrandskeepaconsistentimageandemphasizethesamemessageacrossallplatforms,thereisaclearwinnerinregardstowhoisdoinganallaroundbetterjob.Whendeclaringthechickenchampion,itallcomesdowntothenittygrittyoftheactualcontentposted.Inthiscase,Chick-fil-Aisdoinganoverallmoreeffectivejobatengagingitscustomersacrossalldigitalmarketingplatforms.
Chick-fil-Adoesanexcellentjobofmaintainingconsistencyacrossplatforms,whilealsousingeachplatformtocreatedifferentcontent. Theyunderstandtheimportanceofconformingtoeachindividualchannel.TheconsistencybetweeneachplatformhelpstocreateaunifiedsocialmediastrategythatbuildsuponandenhancesChick-fil-A’sbrandimage.AlthoughChick-fil-Aisconsistent,theircontentwithineachplatformvariesslightlyinhopesofincreasingengagement.Ifconsumersweretoexperiencethesamecontentthroughouteveryplatform,thereisahighpossibilitytheywouldbegintoloseinterest.Forinstance,Chick-fil-AunderstandsthatFacebookismeantforpostingarticles,videosandmoredetailedcontent,whileTwitterisforshortremindersandisawareness-based.
Chick-fil-Aalsointeractswiththeiruserbase,soitisnotjustaone-sidedconversation.Ratherthanrespondingsolelytocomplaints,Chick-fil-Aengagesinfriendlyconversationswithitscustomersaboutpositivecommentsaswell.Becauseofthis,Chick-fil-Aseemstohaveanoverallbetterunderstandingofitsconsumerbasewhichallowsittofarsurpassotherbrandsinregardstosocialmedia.Overtheyears,Chick-fil-A’scontenthasbecomeareflectionofitscustomers.Byfocusingmostoftheirattentiononconsumerwantsandneeds,theydoanexcellentjobatkeepingitsbrandtop-of-mind.
SuggestionsfortheRunner-up:
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Zaxby’shasplentyofroomforgrowth,whichwouldallowittoexpanditsoverallreach.Zaxby’sshouldlookforwaystoimproveinthreeareas:strategy,followers,andcontent.
1) Zaxby’sshouldcontinuetouseFacebookasitsoverarchingplatformanduseittodirecttrafficbacktoitswebsite.TheyshouldalsocontinuetouseTwitterasacustomerservicetool,butlearntodecreaseresponsetime.OnInstagram,Zaxby’sneedstobothincreaseitscuratedcontentandengagemorewithcustomersthroughcommenting.Altogether,Zaxby’smustincreaseengagementacrossallplatforms.Inordertodothis,Zaxby’sneedstore-evaluatethecontentthattheypostandfocusmoreontheircustomers’needsandwants.
2) ThefactthatZaxby’shasasignificantlylowernumberoffollowersacrossallplatformscomparedtoChick-fil-Aspeaksvolumes.Zaxby’scouldbeusingtheseplatformstocapturealargeaudience.Therefore,ifZaxby’sdoesn’tattempttoboostitscontent,thesesocialplatformsbecomeawastedopportunity.
3) Tore-iteratetheabovesuggestions,Zaxby’ssuccesscirclesbacktocreatingcontentthattheconsumerwantstosee.
Bibliography:§ https://www.facebook.com/ChickfilA/?fref=ts
§ https://www.facebook.com/Zaxbys/
§ https://twitter.com/ChickfilA
§ https://twitter.com/Zaxbys
§ https://www.instagram.com/chickfila/
§ https://www.instagram.com/realzaxbys/
§ http://www.chick-fil-a.com
§ https://www.zaxbys.com
§ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaxby%27s
§ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick-fil-A
§ http://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/10-things-you-didn-t-know-about-chick-fil
§ https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchirico/things-you-didnt-know-about-chick-fil-a?utm_term=.jbbLP9q50#.tgk7
§ http://www.gafollowers.com/13-amazing-facts-didnt-know-chick-fil-a/#_
§ http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2016/03/zaxbys.html#2
§ http://www.myajc.com/news/business/zaxbys-co-founder-sold-his-drums-to-start-chicken-/nfRM2/
§ http://www.ibtimes.com/how-chick-fil-social-media-marketing-translated-twitter-facebook-instagram-success-2265588
§ https://www.behance.net/gallery/4086941/Zaxbys§ https://emmabparker.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/chick-fil-a.pdf
§ https://johnrfmcewen.wordpress.com/tag/zaxbys/
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