Elisbbqsocialmedia.files.wordpress.com



To: Eli’s BarbecueFrom: Megan ImwalleDate: November 30, 2016Subject: Eli’s Barbecue Social Media Proposal______________________________________________________________________ Introduction Companies and businesses have begun to play an integral role in social media as a key form of marketing. It is vital for businesses to use this tool in order to reach the large and widespread audience of social media users, which expands beyond the younger generations. Because of the importance of utilizing social media, I have analyzed the accounts of Cincinnati local restaurant, Eli’s Barbecue, to interpret how they use social media as a marketing tool. These observations and analysis included the platforms of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and explored content, timing, and strategy of their social media marketing. The following proposal outlines the analysis of the content, a recommendation for improvement, and the execution for that recommendation for three different social media strategies that Eli’s can use to improve and best utilize their social media accounts. Company Social Media HistoryAs of 12/5/16Instagram6First post: February 2014Total posts: 100Followers: 4438Facebook5Began (first profile picture): November 2011Likes: 17718Twitter4Began: August 2011Tweets: 3172Followers: 8336 Eli’s seems to have embraced social media early into the founding of their business, as Eli’s Barbecue started as 100 days of serving barbecue in a booth at Findlay Market and has since expanded to two locations and has become a local Cincinnati favorite.7 After those first 100 days in the summer of 2011, Eli’s jumped onto the social media train, no doubt knowing what it could do for its business, by starting their Twitter account in August and Facebook page in November. Through their social media, the Eli’s employee who controls the accounts has expressed wanting to give the restaurant a personal, non-corporate feel in their social media presence. The tone she expressed is an important one and the purpose and objectives behind it should most definitely stay consistent with the brand they are trying to promote. I have highlighted the following three strategies, addressing Eli’s directly to help better incorporate marketing into your social media (which is why you have it) but still maintain the personal, non-corporate feel that they want. Strategy One: Utilize Social Media for All Aspects of Your Business AnalysisThroughout the months of observing your social media, a clear personal and conversational tone has been established to, as you’ve mentioned “create a non-corporate feel”. While I find this to be effective in connecting to your customers, because you have used it to still promote your restaurant for typical patrons, you can also capitalize on this tone to promote aspects of your business that you have hardly, if at all, mentioned on your social media accounts: catering and online ordering. An example used in No Bullshit Social Media, highlights how a company that manufactures scissors expanded their online presence by joining forums and online conversations on scrapbooking--a community that uses scissors.”The goal was to drive scrapbookers to the site to enjoy the arts-and-crafts hobby in a friendly environment, establish a relationship with these members as a brand to harvest feedback, help test and launch new products, and build a sense of passion around the brand.”1 Just as this company joined the scrapbooking community conversation to expand their business, Eli’s can do so in wedding planning communities for catering, or other online ordering services as they are on the rise, such as UberEats and OrderUp. RecommendationFans and followers are very social media loyal. If they are regular customers, they may have no reason to visit your website frequently, if at all, which is why it is important to make sure that these loyal customers are aware of all aspects of your business. You can see in Figure 1 that the promotion of online ordering has a prominent presence on your homepage, but your regular customers may never see it. I recommend using your social media presence and platform to start and join conversations about your catering and online ordering services.Figure 1: Eli’s Website Homepage3 ExecutionPart of creating a more cohesive feel for all aspects of your business would be to start by putting links to all of your accounts, not just Twitter, on the homepage of your website. This way people finding you through the website for any purpose may feel more inclined to connect with you on social media. Joining Facebook groups or Twitter and Instagram conversations on wedding/party planning and pitching why Eli’s can be an excellent catering choice in an environment where formal dining is shifting to “casual food that feels formal”, you could boost your catering sales. In a culture of people who are looking to do anything and everything they can online, using social media posts to highlight your online ordering is essential. This was an incredibly great business decision that the large follower base you’ve created knows nothing about. Below are some ideas you can use to get the word out, and the potential success of online ordering may lead you to consider partnering with places like OrderUp and UberEats to get your food delivered, without having to deliver it. Instagram: Artsy computer image of your online ordering page. This will promote it while still giving your personal feel, but simply letting people know you offer the service. Twitter: Weekly or bi-weekly tweets talking about comfort/convenience Facebook: General promotional post introducing it Strategy Two: Create a Regulated Social Media Schedule Analysis I observed that much of the content on your accounts has a very personal feeling and tone, which is a great strategy. However, upholding this personal tone can also mean some accounts can slip through the cracks when focusing too hard on one particular account. For example, there are times when weeks go by without an Instagram or Facebook post, but Twitter has several posts per day, or as seen in Figure 2, Twitter will be neglected for many days and it is a platform that should be updated more frequently. There seems to be no set schedule between the platforms.Figure 2: Eli’s Last Three Tweets3 Recommendation I believe establishing a clear purpose for your use of each account can help in creating a regular schedule of updates and engagements within each site. A helpful tool to use is Hootsuite which helps you to connect and keep track of all your social media accounts on one particular site. Creating an account on this site can help be sure that your followers’ comments and questions as well as the updates you would like to post do not fall through the cracks. ExecutionSigning up for Hootsuite is an easy solution to keep track of your posts, but establishing the purpose and what kind of posts you want for each account is essential in effectively using Hootsuite. No customer who follows you on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook wants to see the same exact post three times. Dedicating some time each week to establish what you want to post on each site will be helpful in creating the presence you want without having to check updates on three different accounts non-stop. Setting some goals and objectives and creating a strategic plan is an effective way to be sure you are utilizing social media to its fullest potential.1 Part of this process will include following the purposes you have established for each platform and scheduling out posts that match them. Preliminary Purposes based on Observation: Facebook: General announcements, Cincinnati news/events Instagram: Artsy, personal images of food/Cincinnati areas or eventsTwitter: Engaging customers, supporting local musicians, general promotion, Cincinnati news/events Strategy Three: Create Diverse Media Analysis Within a sea of retweets and engagements, I have found that your Twitter is easy to miss or skim through on my feed, giving the impression that you are less present than you are. There is little content that you as a business have created, and while supporting local music and retweeting events you’ll be present at, I believing creating more of your own media content (pictures, GIFs, videos) can create a positive image within your followers and get more people talking about you. As you can see in Figure 3, out of 3,172 tweets (as of 12/5/16) only 110 included some sort of media created by the Eli’s account, not retweets. Figure 3: Eli’s Twitter Homepage4 Recommendation I recommend using more diverse media for your Twitter and Facebook (and even videos on Instagram) to capture more engagement—and maybe even go viral. Following the popular things happening in social media right now, such as the Jobama memes or the mannequin challenge, and creating your own version of the content can keep people talking about you and your amazing barbeque. Customers not only value content that “appeal to your interests and needs….[or] access to exclusive deals, coupons, and promotions,” but also content that can make them laugh, social media is supposed to be fun after all.2 ExecutionAsk the members of your staff, or even spend some time each week surfing the internet to find out what’s trending and how you can make it your own. Even using upcoming events that are prominent on social media, such as award shows, and brainstorming how to make it your own can be effective. Facebook: Make an updated “Meet the Staff” or “A Day at Eli’s” video to keep users in the loop and engaged about what’s going on at Eli’s. Facebook is a great medium for videos that may be a little longer so something in the realm of these two ideas could be most effective. Instagram: As this platform is already exclusively for diverse media, I believe one simple way to tweak it is to take advantage of the boomerang function which gives a photo “movement” by putting an extremely short video on a loop. Posting a boomerang image of someone cooking or serving food can make Instagram a bit more diverse in media. Twitter: This platform is where I feel you can take most advantage of media. Companies like Charmin, Taco Bell, and Old Spice have taken to Twitter to give their company a light, funny tone.2 Using more of your own images and videos on Twitter through what is trending at the time can get more engagement from your followers. SourcesFalls, Jason, and Erik Deckers. No Bullshit Social Media: The All-business, No-hype Guide to Social Media Marketing. Indianapolis, IN: Que, 2012. Print.Kolowich, Lindsay. Funny Tweets and Social Media Examples from 17 Real Brands. 4 February 2016. 24 November 2016. ’s Barbecue. 2016. 24 November 2016. Eli’s Barbecue. 2011 August. 24 November 2016. Eli’s Barbecue. 2011 November. 24 November 2016. ’s Barbecue. 2014 February. 24 November 2016. Yek, Grace. Eli’s BBQ founder shares his secret for success and great food. 20 March 2015. 24 November 2016. ................
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