6 Insanely Powerful Food And Beverage Brands On Social

If there is one industry out there right now that seems to have taken on social media with gusto it’s the food and beverage (F&B) industry. Restaurants and food and drink retailers know how to get the most out of social media. In fact, the very first example of modern ‘celebrity’ on TV arguably began with celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay. So it’s no surprise that some of the best social media practices can be found in this industry.

However, the industry is also notoriously competitive. So if you are in Food and Beverage, take a look at some of the following examples of good practice. Maybe it will give you a few insights into how to raise your game a little. It’s important to have a good foundation on social, but if you’re going to make it in F&B, here are the details…

These guys know how to serve tasty food but how do they fare on social media? Pretty well, as it happens.

Nando’s has particularly excelled with Twitter. The company is very aware of who their target audience is, and this shows through the instances they have both instigated and ‘jumped in’ on. For example, one of their most famous techniques on Twitter was to send out a tweet that asked diners in their restaurants to post their table number and location while they were eating. Then, the company would send a tweet ‘shoutout’ to that diner. This made the diner feel pretty special, and it worked a treat when it came out, encouraging interactivity.

On top of that, they are spookily on the ball, literally picking out issues on Twitter in minutes and responding with excellent customer service.

Seriously. Spooky.

Standout Tweet:
https://twitter.com/NandosUK/status/623128157625913344

These guys are all about the fast food, but they also have a very strong and loyal group of customers who are devoted to the Subway experience.

They adore the food, and will do anything to wax lyrical about it. Similar to Apple, the company has a devotion to visual branding, and the Instagram account for the company is full of photos of the subs themselves.

But the very best example of social media branding that Subway has produced is a short video that simply shows the ‘unboxing’ of a sub. It’s a cheeky swipe at Apple, and it gained well over 1,000 likes.

Standout Example:
https://instagram.com/p/4pRj23Rkqr/?taken-by=subway

Domino’s has always been pretty savvy when it comes to social media. The brand is bright and colourful, and it is very difficult to find someone on this planet who hasn’t at least heard of it, if not tried their product.

When it comes to Twitter, Domino’s has it locked down. It has consistently developed a Twitter presence that speaks to fans and encourages engagement. But it has also worked hard to dive into Twitter culture.

For example, it works with hashtags, and the results are textbook. By choosing hashtags that are about pizza (but not created by Domino’s) and finding the right moment to use hashtag with relevant conent, the people at Domino’s prove to be current and entertaining with hashtags. This is not an easy thing to do, and many companies jump on hashtags like it’s a free-for-all. Note how in this example, the hashtag usage seems absolutely 100% natural and unforced. It’s all about the love of pizza, and it feels just like what Domino’s should be doing.

Standout Example:
https://twitter.com/dominos/status/622620132251013121

We aren’t going to look at the man himself too much (he’s pretty much everywhere anyway) but we are going to focus on his restaurant business. He has created a number of restaurants and by all accounts his food is pretty special. But his Facebook page for one of his restaurants is exceptional, and it shows that his team know exactly what the audience wants and how it wants it.

The restaurant doesn’t post a lot, but this doesn’t seem to matter. It has a huge fan base on Facebook and the thing it does more than anything else is post photos of happy customers, celebrities and Gordon himself, (who obviously drops in now and then to check on things).

This use of photos is made even better by the fact that most of the images are completely natural and behind the scenes stuff, but some are just high quality shots of people smiling at the camera.

If you’ve been to this restaurant and you enjoyed your experience, it would be exactly what you would want to see on Facebook, in other words.

We’ve tried to not spoil this one for you. Just watch it:

Standout Post:
https://www.facebook.com/RestaurantGordonRamsay/posts/

This brand has been around for a very long time, and they jumped on social media quickly, offering a high quality approach that spoke directly to the fans of their drinks.

Some of the best stuff they have done is around special offers. Starbucks knows that, while they don’t sell the most expensive stuff in the world, people always like a special offer, especially if they have been loyal enough to follow the company on social media.

So that is what they do. They pick out specials and they dress them up with extremely high quality and frankly mouth-watering photos. The result is a loyal fan base that quickly takes advantage of the special offer and thus adds even more in revenue.

On a less cynical note, it’s just good social media. And it shows that food and beverage is often about rewarding loyalty online.

Even better, Starbucks has recently become very good at getting people to come into their stores. This is perhaps best illustrated with the Facebook post linked to below, which, if you follow the instructions, should mean you end up in a Starbucks restaurant without realising you wanted to go there in the first place.

Standout Example:
https://www.facebook.com/Starbucks/photos/a.152298483056.110092.22092443056/10152992776738057/

This is a restaurant that is in the USA. It has a fantastic Twitter presence that could probably teach other businesses a thing or two (or ten). For example, it tweets a lot, and while this would often be seen as a bit of nuisance, the way the company carried it off is charming.

There are hundreds of gorgeous photos of the wonderful culinary delights the restaurant offers, and again this helps to connect the company with its patrons. But on top of all of that, the Sunda brand almost leapsout off the page and grabs you by the lapels. It practically pulls you into the restaurant with its focus on telling you about deals (constantly) and encouraging people to come and eat at all times of the day. Add to this a healthy approach to ensuring that customers get involved online with quizzes, and you have a Twitter account that is probably the most ‘alive’ one we could find in the food and beverage industry.

It’s Almost as if Sunda realised how competitive the industry was and just went out to ensure it won the game on Twitter.

We think they’re doing pretty well.

Standout Tweet:
https://twitter.com/Sunda/status/621811535422357504

Social media for companies in the food and beverage industry is as competitive as the industry itself. There is always someone out there who is a little more energetic and aggressive than you, and everyone wants a piece of the pie (sorry).

But if you take a look at what these guys are doing, it all makes sense. For example, you could ensure that:

There are ways to get traction for your business immediately on social, but if you’re in for the long haul and you want to build some good work, the above ideas are a great place to start. It’s a jungle out there in F&B, and the very biggest guys in the game are doing the above.

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