Using Social Media to Promote Your Franchise

In many ways, it seems that the food industry is only just picking up on the power of social media as a tool.

This April, McDonald’s appointed its first Director of Social Media, Rick Wion, to use social media to build the business, manage customer problems, and beef up outreach to target groups. When asked why McDonald’s was appointing a Social Media Director now of all times, Wion responded that “it's time to have [someone] dedicated 100 percent of the time, rather than someone who's got a day job on top of a day job".

At the same time, Domino’s Pizza has introduced its widget for social network sites, allowing any user with a blog, Facebook or MySpace account, to promote Domino’s Pizza and receive a cash reward every time an order is placed through the widget.

Georgina Wald, of Domino’s Pizza, explains the thinking behind the idea: “We generated a lot of Facebook fans and we know we have a strength among groups like students, and thought this was a great opportunity to build brand loyalty.”

MORE THAN A FAD
But is social media really the way forward? It’s getting a lot of attention now, but it wouldn’t be the first time industry has run after a fad that amounts to nothing.

David Buttress, the Managing Director of Just-Eat.co.uk, has no such qualms. “It is far more than a gimmick now,” Buttress tells us confidently. “Facebook primarily is a key driver. The interesting question is ‘Why is everyone doing it?’”

Just-Eat is the first service in the UK to allow people to order their take-away online from a range of different restaurants. Buttress says: “I think industries like travel and hotels have paved the way for consumers and have educated the consumers that e-commerce is a safe and efficient way to buy and order things.”

As the Internet becomes the place most of our transactions take place, it’s natural that social media will become a key part of any business strategy. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done badly.

Wald explains: “A Facebook page says here I am come and talk to me, and if you’re not prepared to talk to the people who come to that Facebook page there’s no point in having one.”

“I think some businesses do it just because they feel that they have to,” Buttress admits. “That isn’t smart, because if you do that, those consumers you’re talking to in real time, if the content and communication you’re using is irrelevant, not interesting or online social spam, you’ll just irritate your consumers. It’s counter-productive if they’re thinking ‘get off Facebook, stop annoying me’.”

If you do get it right however, the rewards are great: “If you get it right there’s an enormous prize. So what we’ve tried to do with Just-Eat, we’ve got over 40,000 fans in the UK now. That’s organic growth we’ve just built up over the last 12 months. We’ve done that by trying to engage our consumers by making the content fun and relevant.”

The key, Buttress believes, is to realize that Facebook can be used to receive as well as transmit. “What makes a difference is knowing your customers,” he says. “Businesses have to be more emotionally intelligent than they have ever had to be before. It’s not a case that you can have an offering, tell people about it through various channels and then just wait for them to order.”

It’s an approach that’s yielded some useful ideas. “One thing that came back from that was customers says, ‘Tell me what the best special offer in my area is tonight’ and of course, that’s logical, that’s a way you can put up great content on,” Buttress says.

As well as suggestions, it’s also essential to respond to criticism. “You have to allow your fans to express themselves, and that means taking the bad with the good,” Wald says.

Buttress tells us: “I think it was Steve Jobs who said that it’s ‘terrifying and exciting in equal measure’ and I think that’s a fair summary of where we are. I don’t think any business historically has been able to get such instant feedback. The speed and the velocity with which you respond is absolutely critical, because a day is a long time on Facebook.”