Taco Bell Social Media Strategy

By Nicole Kocian

November 19, 2017

Table of Contents1. Executive Summary2. Social Media Audit

Social media assessment Website assessment Audience assessment Competitors assessment

3. Social Media Objectives4. Online Brand Persona and Voice5. Strategies and Tools6. Timing and Key Dates7. Social Media Roles and Responsibilities8. Social Media Policy9. Critical Response Plan10. Measurement and Reporting Results

Executive Summary Our major social media priorities for 2017 will be growing

our online presence and following. The primary focus will be to increase revenue by

directing more consumers to our social media accounts by drawing more attention to our unique products such as the Quesalupa, increase customer engagement by offering more secret promotions, and establishing a deeper connection with the lives of our followers.

Two major social strategies will support this objective: 1. A plan to increase the amount of direct interaction between

account managers and customers 2. Encourage employees to start more conversation on social

media about our brand

Social Media Audit As of Nov.30, 2016

The following is an audit of Taco Bell's social media presence to date. It includes an assessment of all social networks, web traffic, audience demographics, and a competitor analysis.

Social Media AssessmentSocial Network

URL Follower Count

Average Weekly Activity

Average Engagement Rate

Twitter Twitter.com/tacobell

1.8M 7 posts 6,200

Facebook Facebook.com/tacobell

10,449.121 likes

3 posts 17,804

Instagram Instagram.com/tacobell

1M 1 post 30,000

YouTube Youtube.com/tacobell

59,131 1-3 posts ~370k

LinkedIn Linkedin.com/tacobell

37,243 4 posts 70

At present time, the highest number of interactions per post occurs on YouTube. There is little to no engagement on LinkedIn, and therefore that channel is not necessary to the progression of the company.

Website Traffic Sources Assessment

Source Volume % Overall Traffic

Conversion Rate

Twitter 9k 22% 3%Facebook 52k 5% 5%Instagram 5k 14% 2%YouTube 300

subscribers1% 2%

LinkedIn 200 followers

0.30% 0.30%

Facebook drives the highest volume of traffic to our website and has the highest conversion rate.

Audience Demographic AssessmentAge Distribution

Gender Distribution

Primary Social Network

Secondary Social Network

Primary Need

Secondary Need

75% 18-30

56% Male 60% Facebook

50% Instagram

Quick and cheap food

Tasty Tex-Mex

10% 31-40

44% Female

21% Instagram

20% Twitter

9% 41-55 11% Twitter

22% Instagram

6% 56+Most of respondents are in the age group 18-30. This group is motivated by Taco Bell's cheap, quick and tasty Tex-Mex food. Twitter is the secondary social network and should be one of the primary social media focuses after Facebook.

Competitors AssessmentCompetitor Name

Social Media Profile

Strengths Weaknesses

Chipotle FB:Chipotle Mexican Grill

Fresh ingredients, good portions and variety, high following

Health Scares, Lawsuits about Non-transparency in calorie info

Moe’s IG:Moes Southwest Grill

Quick food, fun atmosphere, strong social media presence

Not a huge social media following/interactions

Costa Vida TW:CostaVida Fresh food made “from scratch,” stays fairly up to date on social media

Very small following

Chipotle and Moe's are much more established on social media and have some following, but Costa Vida is clearly in the last place for engagement and interaction.

Social Media Objectives Overall Business Goal: We want to increase our following

and engagement as well as our conversion rate. While many people love the products, we are still aware that it's thought of as lesser quality to brands such as Chipotle. We want to change this through more transparency.

SM Objectives to Support Business Goal: To engage our followers and increase conversion rate we need to increase our social media presence and transparency. We can do this by 1. Linking content from other platforms to posts platforms to

posts and reviewing conversion rates 2. Taking more accurate picture representations of our food to

increase transparency and review interaction in 5 months3. Start a "behind the scenes" campaign to show followers how

our food is made and prepared for the customers we care about and review interactions in 5 months

KPIs (Quantitative) Conversion Rates Number of Instagram posts and followers Number of interaction on twitter

KPIs (Qualitative) More personal interactions between established

followers and their Taco Bell adventures More transparency about the quality, look, and

source of Taco Bell’s ingredients Key Supporting Messages

Transparency improvements Taco Bell adventure sharing between company

and consumers

Online Brand Persona/Voice Adjectives That Describe Our Brand

Fun, Adventurous, Genuine, Imaginative Examples of Brand Voice in Social Media Interactions

"Hello _____. As a loyal customer, we value your opinion. We're very sorry to hear that your experience was not up to the standards that we hold so dearly. Contact (customer service number) here, and we will help you to the best of our ability. Feel free to give us feedback on our customer service! Thank You!”

"Hey there____. We love hearing from YOU as much as we love our new Naked Chicken Chalupa, and that's a lot! Thanks for the feedback!"

Strategies and Tools Paid

Use Facebook Ads each Friday to reach more online users and enhance engagement

Use Snapchat Partners to optimize ads and target audience Owned

Introduce #TacoTuesday to engage customers in a fun and interactive way. Users will send in a funny/crazy picture or scenario of themselves with a Taco Bell product on Tuesday. The winner will be picked within the week and receive some sort of prize.

Introduce behind-the-scenes vidoes of employees engaging in food prep and post on social media channels. This will increase transparency about the quality of food customers are buying while promoting the brand through employees.

Earned Try Instagram Story Takeovers with high-profile individuals or big fans of

Taco Bell to produce fun and fresh content on our Instagram platform. Extend giveaways to users who share our behind-the-scenes videos

Tools (Approved) Buffer, Hootsuite, TwiiterDeck

Existing Subscription/Licenses Canva, Adobe creative Cloud

Timing and Key Dates Key Dates

Cinco de Mayo Valentine’s Day Fourth of July

Internal Events National Taco Day (October 4)

Reporting Dates A report will be done in March, June, September, and

December leading up to year's end.

Social Media Roles and Responsibilities Social Media Director: Rob Poetsch

Manages public relations and branding as well as brand reputation on social media.

Social Media Manager: Erika Johnson Create content, deliver voice of Taco Bell to online

followers, monitor trends and influencers, schedule photo shoots for social platforms

Social Media Coordinator: Chris Crawford Create content, management of social platforms in

community

Social Media Policy Be respectful to everyone, including competitors

and those you disagree with Avoid rude or inciting commentary, nothing illegal Be happy and helpful toward customers Be positive about our brand and social messages

Action to correct violation of these guidelines will be taken to the degree of the offense. If you break the law, you will also be subjected to legal action. We reserve the rights to take corrective action. If, at any time, you feel uncomfortable with something you've seen or if you have questions, please speak to a Manager immediately.

Critical Response Plan Scenario 1: Inappropriate Tweet Sent from

@TacoBell Action Steps 1. Document tweet via screenshot2. Delete Tweet 3. Alert Social Media Manager 4. Social Media Manager and Director to discuss

situation and adopt a plan 5. Social Media Manager to send apology Tweet if

appropriate6. Social Media Manager and Director to take

corrective action with employee

Scenario 2: Customer dissatisfaction expressed to Taco Bell on social media Action Steps1. Alert owner/manager of store 2. Alert Social Media Manager to evaluate social media

post and contact customer, if necessary 3. Social Media Manager to push transparent messages on

behalf of Taco Bell, if necessary 4. If deemed necessary Social Media Director and/or

operator of store will offer compensation

Pre-approved Messaging: "Taco Bell values your loyalty and time as a customer. We are sorry that you've had an experience that doesn't meet your expectations. Customer relations and the store you visited have been made aware of the issue. Please accept this coupon as part of our apology."

Measurement and Reporting Results

Social Network

URL Follower Count

Av. Weekly Activity

Av. Engagement Rate

Twitter Twitter.com/tacobell

1.8M+10% growth

7 posts +9% increase

5%

Facebook Facebook.com/tacobell

9.8M+12% growth

9 posts +200% increase

5%

Instagram Instagram/tacobell

1M + 13% growth

5 posts + 300% increase

7%

Quantitative KPIs Reporting Period: 3 months as of December 31,2017

Social Network Data

Website Traffic DataSource Volume % Overall

TrafficConversion Rate

Twitter 6k unique visits

14% 1.60%

Facebook 7k unique visits

30% 2%

Instagram 800 unique visits

2% 0.03%

Results Assessment The increased use of employee content on Twitter has

caused our amount shares and conversion rate to increase.

Our transparency efforts and behind the scenes videos on Facebook have caused our follower count, activity and conversion rate to increase.

Instagram contests and #TacoTuesdays have increased our following and engagement.

LinkedIn was not assessed as we found in earlier studies it was marginally beneficial and more detrimental to our social media presence

Qualitative KPIsAnalysis of feedback on each social network showed 1. Much excitement about #TacoTuesdays contests2. Gratitude and positivity about the behind-the-scenes

videos

Proposed Action Items1. Continue #TacoTuesdays contests2. Continue behind-the-scenes employees

Facebook videos 3. Discontinue use of LinkedIn as brand

enhancer