A look at the top online brand: Starbucks. Insight into high Starbucks use social media as a form of engagement with there customers and how it is built into their culture.

1. Daniel Williamson
Starbucks - What B2B companies can learn
from their digital strategy

2. Arguably the worlds leading social marketers having
been ranked number one in online engagement,
number one on Facebook and the number one
Tweeted brand.

3. They were the
first to have over
ten million fans
on Facebook,
with the number
still growing
(over 16million to
date).
Facebook

4. Starbucks have
just over one
million followers
on Twitter and are
the most tweeted
about brand.
Twitter

5. However, their digital marketing
efforts go far beyond Twitter and
Facebook

6. • Starbucks use social media as a tool to get their messages out
• Their marketing efforts create content that can be integrated throughout all the
Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, PR and advertising activities, and through
their retail teams
• Starbucks’ key in creating a message is to be authentic and to not outsource
their voice
• Agencies can act as good eyes and the ears of a company, but the voice will
have to come from the brand itself.
The Message

7. • This campaign was released around
April Fools Day
• The message here is that Starbucks
is a fun brand that doesn’t take
themselves too seriously
• This will resonate well with its
customer base as they too want to
see themselves as fun people and
part of a fun brand
• This campaign was shared online
and help increased their online
profile by as much as 20%
Coffee from a USB stick

8. • Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, says that ‘the key is to connect directly to
the most loyal customers who will drive future growth’
• Starbucks decided to take a risk and invest in their most dedicated customers to
see what the outcome would be
Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks
Making a Commitment

9. • ‘My Starbucks Idea’, is an
online community where
customers can go and
suggest ideas
• The site took off with great
success; generating
thousands of ideas, with
hundreds of them being put
into action
• The first idea that was put
into place was free Wi-Fi
throughout the coffee shops
• This community is now built
into the Starbucks culture
My Starbucks Idea

10. What can B2B Companies Take
Away from Starbucks Digital
Strategy?

11. • Starbucks outline the use of social media as a way of engaging with their
audience and developing their relationship with them, rather than marketing
towards them
• Relationships are just as important for B2B companies as they are to B2C
companies
• By engaging your audience and making them feel part of the brand; you are
building a long lasting connection with that organisation
• This in B2B is important for ongoing business services
Engagement

12. • Starbucks say that when choosing content you have to be good at saying no
• The only content that should be released should be that which will add value to
Starbucks’ relationship with their customers
• B2B companies have to use engaging, interesting content which relates to their
audience and can again further develop their relationship with their brand
Say ‘NO’

13. • Starbucks believe that the most loyal customers are going to drive the future
growth of their company
• B2B organisations need to have strong relationships with frequent clients and
possibly reward them for that exact reason
• This would increase regular running profit and help maintain a healthy business
position
Enhancing Relationships

14. • Starbucks use analytics to gain insight into future content strategies
• They believe that the art of good content is to say ‘no’
• The only content that should be released should be that which will add value to
Starbucks’ relationship with their customers
• Insight into the market through analytics allows specific content to be created
which is relevant to their customers, rather than spamming them at every
opportunity
• Starbucks also like to point out that they don’t take analytics from just one
platform. They incorporate the analytics from across all platforms to offer a full
voice of results to their leadership
• This gives the top level management reliable information to go on, before making
any decisions about what direction to take the company in the future
Analytics

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