Tijuana Flats Social Media Strategy

Trevor Youshak

Feb. 21, 2016

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary, February 2016

2. Social Media Audit

a. Social Media Assessment, February 2016

b. Website Assessment

c. Audience Assessment

d. Competitor Analysis

3. Social Media Objectives

4. Online Brand Persona and Voice

5. Strategies and Tools

6. Timing and Key Dates

7. Social Media Roles and Responsibilities

8. Social Media Policy

9. Critical Response Plan

10. Measurement and Reporting Results, February 2016

Trevor Youshak Feb. 23, 2016

Tijuana Flats Social Media Strategy

Executive Summary ¤  Our major social media priorities for 2016 will be growing our

online following on all social media platforms. Facebook is the social media outlet with the most “likes” on the page, so we would like to grow the other outlets to show similar success to the Facebook page. ¤  The primary focus will be to build more followers through more

views on our page. This will be accomplished by producing more shareable content, creating new hashtags and building deeper relationships with our customers.

Two major social strategies will support this objective 1.  Sharing new deals through less-used social media platforms 2.  Become more discoverable on social media by posting

snackable content.

Social Media Audit

¤  The following is an audit of Tijuana Flat’s social media presence to date. It includes an assessment of all social networks, websites, audience assessment, and a competitor analysis.

Social Media Assessment

As of February 21, 2016

Social Network URL Follower Count Facebook https://

www.facebook.com/tijuanaflats/?fref=ts

122,036

Twitter https://twitter.com/TijuanaFlats

21,400

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tijuanaflats/

8,961

LinkedIn http://bit.ly/21bF5c3 1,314

Social Media Audit

Website Assessment

Traffic Summary:

At present time, it is evident to see Facebook leads all other social media networks in followers. However, I was not able to analyze the conversion rates of each source because there was no readily available data to analyze.

Source Volume Percentage of Overall Traffic

Facebook (FB) N/a N/a

Twitter (T) N/a N/a

Instagram (IG) N/a N/a

LinkedIn (LI) N/a N/a

Social Media Audit

Audience Demographics Assessment

According to Tijuana Flats, “Being a Tex-Mex chain has its advantages. Tijuana Flats’ demographic is all over the map and ranges from the soccer mom to the college student and everyone in between. ’There’s really no limit, so from a marketing perspective, we really don’t discriminate at all,’ Blackwell said. ‘Sure, if we’re going to pick a radio station to do promotions with, we’ll pick the alternative rock station because it’s in line with our ‘anything goes’ approach, but as for my efforts when I’m out in the field visiting people to talk about Tijuana Flats, I have no preference, personally.’”

Social Media Audit Competitor Analysis

Competitor Name

Social Media Profile Strengths Weaknesses

Chipotle Mexican Grill

FB: https://www.facebook.com/chipotle/ T: https://twitter.com/ChipotleTweets IG: https://www.instagram.com/chipotlemexicangrill/ LI: http://bit.ly/1QnvJZ4

Chipotle used a crisis to its advantage by giving free food to all of its customers while it was closed for staff training. Strong social media presence on Twitter, frequently tweets back to customers.

Chipotle is currently undergoing change due to a recent issue with E. Coli. (Could’ve affected follower count). Chipotle doesn’t frequently post on Facebook or Instagram.

Moe’s Southwest Grill

FB: https://www.facebook.com/moessouthwestgrill/?fref=ts T: https://twitter.com/Moes_HQ IG: https://www.instagram.com/moessouthwestgrill/ LI: http://bit.ly/1SUXCIx

Moe’s is very responsive on Twitter to its customers. Semi-regularly posts on Instagram. Quadruple the amount of followers on Facebook than Tijuana Flats.

Moe’s does not regularly post on Facebook, but when it does, it posts frequently in the same day.

Social Media Objectives ¤  In 2016, the primary focus of our social media strategy will be to drive customers to

Tijuana Flats through the use of many platforms and ads. In order to do so, we need to gain followers/customers on our other platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, whose numbers are not nearly comparable to that of the Facebook page.

Some specific objectives include:

•  Increase Instagram followers by 4,000 people in 6 months •  Increased frequency in Instagram posts, which will be regularly scheduled.

•  Increase unique visitors to Twitter by 30% in 6 months via: •  Deals and promotions published exclusively on Twitter •  Use of Twitter ads to drive customers to the page

•  Increase connections on LinkedIn by 10% in 6 months. •  Increased frequency of posts that are relevant to customers

Online Brand Persona and Voice ¤  Adjectives that describe our brand

¤  Caring ¤  Comedic ¤  Fresh ¤  Engaging ¤  Determined

¤  When interacting with customers we are: ¤  Friendly ¤  Patient ¤  Quality driven

Strategies and Tools ¤  Paid

¤  Every Tuesday and Thursday boost most popular organic posts. The posts must have a minimum reach of 50, as well a minimum of 10 likes or 5 comments.

¤  Owned ¤  Introduce the use of #FreshFromFlats to company Twitter and Instagram posts. Encourage

adoption by customers and regram at least one customer a week using the new hashtag. Promote hashtag across all social media platforms to show customers that Tijuana Flats is the place to go for fresh food.

¤  Offer 10% discount to customers that check-in/post on social media with the hashtag #FreshFromFlats while the customer is at Tijuana Flats

¤  Earned ¤  Monitor Twitter for keywords and terms: taco, burrito, flautas, enchiladas, Taco Tuesday. ¤  Encourage more staff photos with professionals who dine at Tijuana Flats, with signed

memorabilia.

Tools

Approved Tools Rejected Tools Existing Subscriptions

Buffer N/A Constant Contact

Hootsuite Photoshop

Timing and Key Dates

¤  Holiday Dates ¤  Valentine’s Day

¤  St. Patrick’s Day

¤  Halloween

¤  Christmas

¤  Hanukkah

¤  Internal Events ¤  Tuesday – Taco Tuesday

¤  Thursday – Throwback Thursdaze

¤  Reporting Dates ¤  Reporting will occur once a quarter in March, June, September and

December. Precise dates TBA.

Social Media Roles and Responsibilities

¤  Marketing Director – Peter Piper

¤  Social Media Manager – Trevor Youshak

¤  Social Media Coordinator – Ashley Schwartz

¤  Supporting Social Media Team Members ¤  Steve Spitz (ad support)

¤  Rebecca Wallace (customer support)

Social Media Policy ¤  Social media is a deeply ingrained concept in the daily workings of Tijuana Flats. We

use social media to promote deals, reach new customers, and engage with old ones. Additionally, we promote our hashtags throughout all of the platforms used on social media. As an employee and representative of Tijuana Flats, you are expected to demonstrate best practices in your use of social by following some simple guidelines:

¤  The customer is always right

¤  Never fight with a customer

¤  Never post anything vulgar or offensive on our social media platforms

¤  Ask before you post

¤  Always support the customer – retweet, like and favorite their comments that mention Tijuana Flats

¤  Don’t belittle other companies, such as Chipotle and Moe’s

¤  Remember to preach freshness, because everything is #FreshFromFlats

Tijuana Flats is serious about the appropriate use of social media by our employees. Violation of the Tijuana Flats social policy may result in corrective action, up to, and including, termination. Should you have any questions or concerns please speak to your team supervisor or anyone on the HR team.

Critical Response Plan

¤  Scenario 1: Inappropriate content posted on Tijuana Flats accounts ¤  Action Plan

¤  When content is discovered, it will immediately be deleted. ¤  Take screenshot first ¤  Approach social media consultant who posted the content

¤  Social media team collaborates on an appropriate message to send out to customers, apologizing for the incident and vowing to ensure it does not happen again.

¤  If media outlets have picked up the post, immediately speak to Trevor. Together, the team will formulate a proper response to give to the media, which can include apologizing and ensuring further action is taken with the employee.

¤  Decide with HR staff and managers to decide the future of the employee.

Pre-approved message: There will be no message, staff will decide upon the basis and severity of the issue/content.

Critical Response Plan ¤  Scenario 2: Food Issue

¤  Action Plan ¤  When an issue with food is discovered, immediately apologize to customer.

¤  Document the food, and obtain client information ¤  Offer customer free meal or their money back. ¤  Look into the recent shipping orders, to ensure that other ingredients are still fresh.

¤  Close store if need be and apologize to customers. ¤  Offer free promotion where customers can get a free meal once we reopen.

¤  Emergency training for staff to discuss implications of safety hazards with chefs and employees.

¤  If media picks up the incident: ¤  Make a statement on behalf of Tijuana, which will probably be organized by

social media team, led by Trevor. ¤  Announce the closing of stores while we fix the issue. ¤  Free promotions for the customer’s inconvenience, when we reopen.

Pre-approved message: Tijuana Flats stands by the notion that everything you order is always #FreshFromFlats. This food that was not served was not up to the high standards that Tijuana Flats holds for its food and customer base. We profusely apologize for the issue and ensure it will not happen again. Customers should always trust Tijuana Flats for the best Tex-Mex; we strive to please.

Measurement and Reporting

Source Volume Percentage of Overall Traffic

Facebook N/A +5% growth N/A

Twitter N/A +10% growth N/A

Instagram N/A +3% growth N/A

LinkedIn N/A +2% growth N/A

Website Assessment

Social Network Data Social Network URL Followers Facebook https://www.facebook.com/

tijuanaflats/?fref=ts 127,000 +10% growth

Twitter https://twitter.com/TijuanaFlats

24,000 +5% growth

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tijuanaflats/

9,500 +3% growth

LinkedIn http://bit.ly/21bF5c3 1,750 +1.5% growth

Measurement and Reporting ¤  Each social media platform experienced a growth in followers,

however Facebook had the most growth. Although that was not the primary objective, we are satisfied with the growth of all of our platforms.

¤  Twitter deals were a success, seeing as the deals attracted more unique visits to our Twitter account, which resulted in a growth of followers.

¤  Unfortunately LinkedIn was not the success we anticipated. Its follower count only minimally rose, but that is okay. This is not our main way of communicating with customers, but we would like employees to promote our company a little more in the future.

Measurement and Reporting ¤  #FreshFromFlats Hashtag Performance

¤  Between February 2016 and December 2016, the hashtag was mentioned 4,000 times on Twitter and 2,000 times on Instagram.

¤  50 Instagram posts contained far more comments and likes than anticipated.

¤  Through this campaign, customers have became aware of the fact that Tijuana Flats only uses the freshest ingredients in all of our food.

¤  Proposed Action Items ¤  Continue #FreshFromFlats Campaign

¤  Consider another hashtag campaign to encourage customers to eat at Tijuana Flats

¤  Consider menu adjustments to make food sound more appealing and inviting to customers.

¤  Consider backing off the use of LinkedIn to focus on other social media platforms that are seeing more success.