Fast Food giants have historically ruled the television and radio airwaves with high-budget ad campaigns – but, in recent years, smart Fast Food companies have taken to social media to reach their audience and engage with their community.
The Fast Food industry is faced with the challenge of navigating through a widespread negative perception towards their industry – unhealthy food and poor customer service – which makes the task of developing and nurturing a great company image even more important – and many Fast Food brands have demonstrated some great examples of doing just that with social media.
Supersize Your Community Engagement.
Chipotle does an excellent job of subverting the Fast Food industry’s stereotype of delivering cold, impersonal customer service, by taking a one-on-one engagement approach with its customers through their social media platforms, responding to most questions within a couple of hours. Chipotle’s twitter team – Joe, Nicole, Myra, Todd and Rusty, respond to all company mentions with an engaging human-tone, and also sign off each tweet with their individual names. It’s clear that Chipotle’s twitter team actually really enjoys engaging with their community on a personal level, therefore building a community around their brand, humanizing their company and creating a loyal customer base.
Tell Them What’s on Their Plate.
Last year, McDonald’s launched a highly regarded campaign to provide complete transparency to its public, including videos of behind the scenes at the restaurants and an open invitation to their community to ask questions on their microsite, “Our food. Your Questions”. The site has received over 5,000 questions and has a dedicated 10-member social media response team to answer the questions through text, photos and video.
Build a Team of Super Customers.
White Castle Craver Fans are strong brand evangelists. White Castle defines a Craver as “going beyond, staying up and driving far. It’s road-tripping two hours just to reach the nearest sack of Sliders. And it’s coaching friends on what to order…”. White Castle has successfully created an online community and culture of brand advocates through providing fun incentives and promotions, as well a platform for Cravers to connect with one another and share stories.
Ask Your Customers What they Want – And Serve it.
KFC asked its community – what occupation would be most extreme where KFC could deliver its new $5 Everyday Meals? After sorting through more than 100 “out-of-the-bucket” occupations (including working at Area 51, changing the lights that top water towers and skyscrapers and trimming trees), KFC decided to send its KFC Colonel up in the air to bring lunch to high rise window washers in Chicago. This campaign created enormous buzz around their brand and significant engagement with their community and fans.
Listen to What Customers Are Saying About Your Menu.
Five Guys listens to social media conversations about their brand to provide better customer service and gain insight into the public’s social media response to their products. They have recently been monitoring sentiment around their new product, “little fry”, to ensure their customers are happy with the new addition to their menu – and as it turns out, “little fry” has been very well received.
