A Social media strategy for Taco Bell

1. Social Media Strategy
Allison Cole
02.19.2017

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Executive Summary
2. Social Media Audit
a. Social Media Assessment
b. Website
c. Audience and Competitors
3. Social Media Objectives
4. Online Brand Persona and Voice
5. Strategies and Tools
6. Timing and Keys Dates
7. Social Media Roles and Responsibilities
8. Social Media Policy
9. Critical Response Plan
10. Measurement and Reporting Results

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• For 2017, our major social media priorities will be to continue to
add a consistent following to our current social media networks
and to utilize more social networking resources.
• These goals lend to our overall goal of generating revenue by
driving traffic to both our website and our mobile app by
focusing on customer interaction and engagement through
relevant posts.
• Two strategies will support this objective:
• To create innovative and engaging posts that our targeted audience will
relate to.
• To concentrate more social media posts on the reliability and
convenience of the mobile app.

4. SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
The following information is an audit of Taco Bell’s media
presence as of September 2016. This audit includes a
social media assessment, website traffic, audience
demographics, and competitor analysis.

5. Social Media Analysis
Social Media Assessment
Currently, Snapchat receives the highest amount of engagement, followed closely by Twitter. Facebook
has the most followers. YouTube and Google+ have the least amounts of interactions-closure of these
channels are recommended.

6. Website Sources Traffic Assessment
Monthly Average: March 2016-September 2016
Traffic Summary:
Again, Snapchat drove more traffic to the website, followed by Twitter.
Social Network Volume Percentage of Overall
Traffic
Facebook 5,000 unique visits 3%
Instagram 2,000 unique visits 2%
Twitter 4,000 unique visits 2.5%
YouTube 700 unique visits .15%
Snapchat 7,000 unique visits 5%
Google+ 100 .02%

7. Audience Demographics Assessment
Data based on InfoScout Survey
Age
Distribution
Gender
Distribution
Primary
Social
Network
Secondary
Social
Network
Primary Need Secondary
Need
<24………….2
0%
25-
34………18%
35-
44………17%
45-
54………17%
55-
64………15%
65+-
………..10%
Female: 52%
Male: 49%
40% Facebook
30% Instagram
30% Twitter
40% Instagram
30% Facebook
30% Twitter
To find
something
quick and
cheap to eat
To have a
place to go
with friends
Audience Demographics Summary:
Most Taco bell customers are under 34 years old, with the largest majority being under the age of 24. Most
customers are primarily looking for a quick, cheap meal, with a secondary interest of being able to have a
place to go with friends.

8. Competitor Assessment
Competitor Name Social Media Profile
McDonalds twitter.com/McDonalds
Burger King twitter.com/BurgerKing
KFC instagram.com/kfc/
Chipotle Mexican Grill facebook.com/chipotle/

9. SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES
In 2017, our primary Social Media Objective will be to drive traffic to our
mobile app and generate more revenue through Mobile Ordering. Our
secondary objective will be to further drive traffic to our website. We will
accomplish these objectives by deepening existing relationships with
customers and working to form new customer connections.
Some specific objectives include:
• Increase monthly traffic to mobile app by 35% utilizing:
• Snapchat for mobile app promotion
• Increased mentions across all platforms, specifically Facebook and Twitter.
• Improve Instagram presence by:
• Posting unique content at least once per day
• Boosting following by 1,000 monthly
• Increase volume of posted content published on Facebook
• Increase customer interactions on Twitter by 20% within 6 months

10. ONLINE PERSONA AND VOICE
• Adjectives that describe our brand:
Innovative Adaptable
Bold Engaging
Delicious
• When interacting with customers we are:
Solution-Orientated
Creative
Caring

11. STRATEGIES AND TOOLS
Strategies:
• Paid:
• Run a monthly Snapchat filter promoting mobile ordering, and encourage customer engagement. The filter
would be considered successful after an attained reach of at least 30,000.
• Run a sponsored Facebook campaign incentivizing customers to order food via the mobile app. Sharing
the post and placing an order on the app will enter them for a chance to win a year’s worth of free burritos.
• Owned:
• Introduce ”How I Taco Bell”, a promotion on Instagram that encourages customers to share how and/or
where they eat Taco Bell, with an incentive of being featured on the website feed. This can also be utilized
as a hashtag on Twitter, and photos can be linked from Instagram for cross-social media promotion.
• Earned:
• Integrate a tweet feature within the food ordering system that tweets when an order is made using the
mobile app. For every 10 orders and tweets, the customer will receive a coupon for a BOGO item.
Tools:
Approved Rejected Existing
Hootsuite N/A TBD
Buffer

12. TIMING AND KEY DATES
Holiday Dates
Valentine’s Day
Cinco de Mayo
St. Patrick’s Day
Memorial Day
Reporting Dates
Reporting will occur once a quarter in February, May, August and
November. Precise dates TBA.

13. SOCIAL MEDIA ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• Marketing Director- This person will manage social media
marketing campaigns and day-to-day activities including: Develop
relevant content topics to reach the company's target customers.
Create, curate, and manage all published content (including images,
video and written).
• Social Media Manager – This person will manage all social
networks and work with Marketing Director to create targeted
campaigns fitting for each network
• Social Media Coordinator – This person will assist the Social Media
Manager in developing social media campaigns. Also will handle
Social Media customer relations. First Point of Contact for Critical
Response Plan
• Supporting Social Media Team Members-Assists Social Media
Team in whatever is needed. Responsible for the day-to-day
activities on all platforms.

14. SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
Taco Bell’s Social Media Policy is founded on the principle that EVERYONE deserves to be treated
respectfully and professionally. This treatment extends to our customers and should be carefully followed.
Remember: when in doubt, don’t Tweet it out!
• Use common sense
• Stay out of trouble (don’t start a fight or post something that’s illegal)
• Be polite, not rude or insensitive
• Create solutions, not problems
• Be a helpful presence when interacting with customers
• Do not post on behalf of Taco Bell, or attempt to resolve customer conflicts on behalf of Taco Bell. If you notice a
problem, bring it to our attention-that’s what we are here for!
• Keep in mind that you represent the brand even in your personal life. O, feel free to #spreadthelove about Taco Bell, but
do so professionally and in your own words.
Any violation of Taco Bell’s Social Media policy is subject to corrective action, up to and including
termination. Taco Bell also reserves the right to take legal action in situations of breach of policy if
necessary. If you have a questions or concerns about the Social Media Policy, please see your
Manager or a member of the Social Media team for clarification.

15. CRITICAL RESPONSE PLAN
• Scenario 1-Local Taco Bell store serves spoiled meat and makes 10+
customers ill.
• Action Plan
1. When marketing is told of the situation, alert Social Media Coordinator. If news media
is alerted, Social Media Manager will handle.
2. Social Media Coordinator will work with SMM team to push messaging to social
channel where the news broke first. Continue to monitor the spread of the news to
other social channels and push messaging there as necessary.
3. Social Media Manager and Coordinator will continue to monitor the situation until
resolved. Will reach out to affected community members as necessary.
• Scenario 2- Non-SMM Employee sends several offensive tweets on
behalf of Taco Bell to customer.
1. Find the channel that media was posted to.
2. Alert Social Media Coordinator and post message apologizing on behalf of the
employee and Taco Bell.
3. Social Media Manager, Marketing Manager, and Coordinator will meet to discuss
impact of tweet and discuss further action, and if any follow up posts are needed.
4. Have SMC reach out to affected customer. If SMC is unavailable, Social Media
Manager will handle.

16. MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING RESULTS
Quantitative KPIs
• Website Traffic Sources Assessment
Timeframe: Monthly average, November 2016 to January 2017
Source Volume Percentage of Overall
Traffic
Growth
Facebook 8,000 unique visits 8% +5%
Twitter 9,000 unique visits 11% +8%
Instagram 3,000 unique visits 4% +2%
Snapchat 20,000 unique visits 18% +13%

17. Social Network Data (as of January 2017)
Social Network URL Follower Count Average Weekly Activity
Facebook facebook.com/tacobell 11,000000 5
Instagram instagram.com/tacobell/ 1.5 million 4
Twitter twitter.com/tacobell 2.3 million 43
Snapchat tacobell 4 million users 500,000 users per filter
• All social media channels have seen tremendous growth and show no signs of stopping.
• The Social Media Management team has been consistently posting on all media channels via
Hootsuite and Buffer, keeping them all up to date.
• Snapchat has seen wonderful growth through targeted filters.

18. QUALITATIVE KPIS
• Customer Comments
• Customer comments on new interactions have been overwhelmingly
positive.
• Customers particularly enjoyed the #HowITacoBell campaign, and over
6,000 Instagram uploads with the Taco Bell mention were created.