Strong Vs Weak Organizations
Two organizations that have an impressive social media strategy are McDonald’s and Starbucks.
McDonald’s
McDonald‘s is an American-based fast-food chain founded in 1940 and has grown to have franchises worldwide. On social media, McDonald’s large audience has almost 70 million followers across all countries, regions, and platforms.
Mcdonald’s target market is children and their families. Part of their marketing strategy to attract young children on social media is to use brightly coloured signage in the advertising. They have bright yellow golden arches in their signage. Food packaging and advertising have primary colours such as red, yellow, green, and blue. The face of McDonald’s is Ronald Mcdonald dressed as a clown in bright colours. Their packaging for children has bright red colouring. They provide small toys in their Happy meals.
McDonald’s is active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They are very active on Facebook and Instagram. They listen and follow the latest trends that attract children and youth on these platforms. They ask trivia questions to encourage engagement. Movie stars are used to promote their brand and lure youth into downloading their app. Graphic images of gaming, team sports, advertising holidays, and birthday parties held at Mcdonald’s all used to be involved, and create conversation and engagement with their following. When posting on Twitter, they talk about company policies and the latest company news.
They are honest and transparent and address their weaknesses. An example of this is their audience has expressed concerns about the healthiness of their food. They responded by being transparent and explaining where their food comes from to consumers and media and what is in it. They have indicated they are always looking for new ways to source food products. They have staff who quickly engage and respond to positive and negative questions on social media.
Reference:
https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/downloads/IngredientslistCA_EN.pdf
https://www.businessinsider.com/i-went-to-a-mcdonalds-factory-and-saw-how-the-burgers-are-really-made-2018-10
https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/mcdonald-s-launches-food-transparency-campaign/295395
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/style/celebrity-fast-food-partnerships.html
Source:
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/how-mcdonalds-wins-social-ranking-number-one
https://www.food-service.de/international/int-news/social-media-strategy-how-mcdonalds-is-staying-ahead-on-social-media-channels-48836
Starbucks
Starbucks‘ target market is middle to high-income earners. They are more than just a coffee house. Early on in 2002, when they began, they provided sitting areas so that customers in the tech industry could work on their computers and drink their coffee. They became known as the “cool” place, attracting people who loved to play with their gadgets when it was not yet widespread. They provided free wifi to keep them in the store longer. They set up couches at some locations so customers could socialize. Their app makes it easy for busy professionals to preorder. Starbucks also targets healthy professionals by providing wellness teas, almond milk and other food products.
The brand continues to build hype around seasonal events and related drinks with unique ingredients, such as pumpkin spice latte and Frappucino for Halloween. For Christmas, Chestnut Praline Latte and Santa Claus Frappuccino. They have created their unique signature hashtags, such as #PumpkinSpiceLatte, #ChestnutPralineLatte.
Resource:
https://econsultancy.com/30-brands-with-excellent-social-media-strategies/
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/starbucks-target-audience-10553.html
Domino’s
Domino’s is one organization that would benefit from implementing a better social media strategy. In 2020 they received backlash for offering free pizzas to “Karens.” The pizza chain asked anyone with the name Karen to tell Dominos in 250 words why they’re “nice.” In return, they would get a free pizza.
This social media campaign was criticized online for rewarding more privilege to a very privileged group in society. According to the BBC, many feel the term Karen is mostly “privileged white women,” according to the BBC. Karens are known for complaining about service to managers about low-wage workers. Domino apologized, but their reputation took a hit. They need a social media strategy and rebuild their brand. Their posts are always the same; they talk about pizzas and free giveaways. They need to address more current trends, holidays etc. and tie these trends in with their products. On Instagram, they are not engaging their audience.
There are a lot of complaints posted on Instagram and Twitter about the customer service and their products. Domino’s does not seem to be listening and monitoring and does not address many of these complaints. They have devoted more time and have more posts around events on Facebook, e.g. Gay pride month, Dominos posts pictures of their food with the gay pride signature colours. On Facebook, there are fewer complaints and more engagement from their followers, likes, and shares. They need to respond to more complaints, get more information and address the issues in posts.
Source: https://www.smperth.com/news/2020-social-media-fails/
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 
It completely makes sense why McDonald’s has been around for so long. A lot of their success has to do with how strong there marketing is and media presence whether is advertisement or on social media.