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Starbucks: Engaging with customers drives social media revenue

January 09, 2013 | Hotel Marketing

How can brands turn their social media fans into revenue? For Starbucks, success through social media begins with a commitment to relationship-building, not sales. Starbucks treats its fans to a steady stream of special deals and a richer experience than they’d get solely by going to a store.

Many companies concentrate social media efforts on getting as many fans as possible, but focusing just on the number of fans misses their true value – they are loyal customers who have raised their hands to say they want a relationship. The real win is achieved by engaging with customers.

An Ad Age study found that only 1% of the Facebook fans of major brands engaged with the brand pages in a given month. One-time promotions to increase the number of fans rarely produce long-term benefits. IBM’s Yunchun Lee writes, “That isn’t to say that CMOs shouldn’t strive to build a fan base. The issue is how to do this in a productive way. There are no short cuts. Winning a loyal customer begins with matching a great product or service with a flawless and repeatable customer experience.” Social media marketing requires a long-term commitment to enriching the customer experience.

Starbucks is a great example of a company taking the right approach. In an interview with Adweek, Starbuck’s Alexandra Wheeler said that the firm’s social media strategy “isn’t a marketing initiative. It isn’t a PR initiative. It’s cultivating and creating great consumer value and great consumer relationships.” Starbucks treats its fans to a steady stream of special deals and a richer experience than they’d get solely by going to a store, including interesting background stories on coffees and great photography of merchandise. Starbucks also encourages fans to share all of this with their friends, which spreads the good will and increases the likelihood that posts will appear more widely in newsfeeds.

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