This document outlines Starbucks' 2016 social media strategy. The goals are to grow the virtual community and foster long-term customer relationships to increase revenue. Two key strategies are increasing interactive content to encourage conversations and store visits, and developing content across more platforms. The strategy includes social media objectives, brand persona, content strategies, and metrics for measuring success.
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Executive Summary
2. Social Media Audit
a. Social Media Assessment
b. Traffic Source Assessment
c. Customer Demographics Assessment
d. Competitor Assessment
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
3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Our major social media priorities in 2016 are to continue growing our virtual community and
fostering long-term relationships with our audience.
The main goal is to better utilize social in such a way that it drives up revenue; the idea is to
bring more online visitors in stores, securing a relationship with these individuals.
Two social strategies will make these objectives happen:
1. Increase interactive content that encourages conversation and store visits.
2. Develop more content across all social platforms while experimenting with platforms where
we are currently not present, but our consumer is.
4. SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
This is an audit of Starbucks’ current social media presence. You will find an assessment
of social network and web traffic, audience demographics, and a competitor analysis.
Social
Network
URL Follower
Count
Average Weekly
Activity
Average
Engagement
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Starbucks 36,444,340 3-4 posts/ week 5.1%
Twitter https://twitter.com/Starbucks 11,700,000 5 posts/ week 3.1%
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/starbucks/ 11,500,000 7 posts/ week 6.7%
Social Media Assessment: Starbucks is most active on Instagram -- with highest average
weekly activity and engagement. Their largest audience is on Facebook, the potential to
interact with these individuals is what should be focused on for this plan.
5. SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT CONT.
This is an audit of Starbucks’ current website traffic sources.
Source Volume % of Overall
Traffic
Conversion Rate
Facebook 300,000 7% 3.2%
Twitter 450,000 10% 5%
Instagram 750,000 24% 10%
Website Traffic Assessment: Instagram drives the most traffic Starbucks’ webpage in
comparison to Facebook and Twitter. Instagram also holds the highest conversion rate.
Facebook has the lowest percentage of overall traffic and lowest conversion rate.
6. SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT CONT.
This is an audit of Starbucks’ Audience Demographics.
Age
Distribution
Gender
Distribution
Primary
Social
Network
Secondary
Social
Network
Primary Need Secondary Need
70% 18-30 81% Female
19% Male
Instagram Twitter Coffee before work or
class
Coffee for aesthetic
reasons
10% 31-40 70% Female
30% Male
Facebook Instagram Coffee before work Coffee as a learned
daily habit
10% 41-55 90% Female
10% Male
Twitter Facebook Coffee before work Coffee as a learned
daily habit
10% 56-80 100% Female Facebook Twitter Coffee as a learned daily
habit
Coffee as a luxury,
after dinner treat
Audience Demographics Audit: Millennials
and females drive sales in comparison.
7. SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT CONT.
This is an audit of Starbucks’ competitors.
Competitor
Name
Social Media
Profile
Strengths Weaknesses
Dunkin Donuts Instagram:
@dunkindonuts
Posts more regularly and more
consumer photos, effectively directly
engaging with the audience
Posts do not vary or directly
relate to current happenings (i.e.
seasons)
Coffee Bean Twitter:
@thecoffeebean
A great deal of audience interaction
(i.e. retweeting)
Significantly less followers and
original content
Competitor Assessment: Dunkin Donuts poses the legitimate threat and should encourage
Starbucks to remain on top of their consumer interactions on social media along with their own
original posts.
8. SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES
Our primary focus of our social media strategy for 2016 is to increase revenue through driving
more traffic from our social media outlets directly into our store. We plan to do this through
increasing personal consumer interaction with our target audience -- millenials -- sharing
relevant content which can directly engage audiences.
Specific Objectives are as follows:
1. Increase millenial followers on all social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) by
25% by January 2017
2. Increase engagement rate (comments, likes, shares) on Twitter and Facebook posts by 15%
by January 2017
3. Increase original video content (such as Facebook Live) on Facebook and Twitter by 25% by
May 2017
9. SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES CONT.
KPIs Key Messages
1. Number of unique visitors from
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
2. Number of Instagram followers
3. Number of shares/ retweets on
Facebook and Twitter posts
• “To inspire and nurture the human
spirit – one person, one cup and
one neighborhood at a time.”
• A culture of warmth and belonging,
where everyone is welcome
10. ONLINE BRAND PERSONA AND VOICE
Adjectives that describe
our brand
When interacting with
customers we are
• Trendy
• Green
• Quirky
• Outdoorsy
• Cultured
• Helpful
• Excited
• Engaging
11. STRATEGIES AND TOOLS
Paid:
Every Friday boost the most popular Facebook post for the
weekend. The post should have a reach of at least 300,
as well as a minimum of 200 likes or 50 comments.
Owned:
Introduce the use of #mystarbucks to encourage
consumer production of their own original content which
can then be shared to our own social media outlets.
Earned:
Monitor people who use the #mystarbucks and randomly
select 10 people every month to receive a free drink
Tools:
• Hootsuite
• TweetDeck
• Canva
Rejected Tools:
• N/A
Existing Subscriptions/
Licenses:
• Photoshop
• Vimeo
12. TIMING AND KEY DATES
Holiday Dates Internal Events Reporting Dates
• Valentine’s Day
• Saint Patricks Day
• Easter
• Earth Day
• 4th of July
• Holiday season: Nov.-Jan.
• Boys and Girls Club
Fundraiser (March 5th)
• Earth Day Fundraiser (April
22nd)
• Reporting will occur
once a quarter
(February, May, August
and November)
13. SOCIAL MEDIA ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• Marketing Director of Operations: Diego Aguilar
• Manager of Social Media Strategy: Ashlee Langholz
• Digital Engagement: Ryan Turner
• Global Social Media: Stephanie Marx
14. SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
Social Media plays a huge role in the lives of our consumers and that of our company. It provides
us a glimpse into their everyday lives and see them enjoying our products first hand. It is our goal
to post relevant and engaging content that allows our audience to feel a personal connection.
Key rules to help us achieve these goals include:
• Reply to at least 10 comments a day, leaving customers with a smile
• Don’t discuss competitors, especially in a negative light
• Only leave positive messages in posts and comments
• Respond to questions and complaints within 24 hours, offering a positive solution
15. CRITICAL RESPONSE PLAN
Follow if inappropriate posts are detected:
1. Screenshot the post at hand and save for reference
2. Show Ashlee and Diego the situation immediately
3. Discuss what action should be taken with Ashlee and Diego
4. Once action is determined, carry it out as soon as possible
5. Let the PR team know what happened in case the company is contacted in the future about
the post
17. Results Assessment:
The #mystarbucks contributed to growth in followers on both Instagram and Twitter and lead
to more website visits.
Sentiment Analysis:
Direct consumer interaction increased across all platforms but notably on Twitter and
Instagram, with the consumers utilizing the #mystarbucks. Positivity continues to reign
supreme across comment sections.
Proposed Action Items:
Continue to use the #mystarbucks and interactive posts on Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps
develop seasonal hashtags that encourage consumers to share their favorite seasonal drink
concoctions.
MEASURING AND REPORTING RESULTS CONT.