Facebook Communication Strategies, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Oak Brook, IL-based McDonald’s operates 35,000 restaurants in about 120 countries. The company sells several popular products such as Big Macs and Quarter Pounders. Most of the company’s products are sold through free-standing units that may also have drive-through service though the company’s distribution channels can also be found at as diverse places as airports and retail areas (Hoovers).

Miami, FL-based Burger King operates in more than 85 countries besides the U.S. and has nearly 13,000 restaurants in the U.S. alone. The company offers a wide variety of products including burgers, salads, and breakfast items. Like McDonald’s, Burger King distributes most of its products through free-standing units that may also have drive-through service but the company’s products can also be accessed at other locations such as the airports and shopping malls(Hoovers).

McDonald’s Facebook Communication Strategies

The company’s Facebook platform is arguably the company’s most serious attempt at engaging in two-way communication with customers. This is especially evident by the company’s efforts to respond to all customer posts, especially those concerning negative experiences. There are several benefits to this approach. It helps improve goodwill among customers with good experiences while also reducing the probability of disgruntled customers leaving the company as they feel the company pays attention to their complaints. McDonald’s uses Facebook platform to promote products but it also wants to engage customers in the promotion process. This is why the company often organizes promotional contests such as those encouraging customers to share photos or inviting them to participate in a game challenge. This strategy helps improve customers’ enthusiasm for the brand. McDonald’s may have built its business model on the basis of low prices but the company also wants customers to have high quality perceptions of McDonald’s products. This is evident in the company’s video posts on Facebook that accuse competition of failed imitation of McDonald’s products. Similarly, there are also videos that emphasize company’s emphasis on quality such as experts testing coffee beans.

Burger King Facebook Communication Strategies

Burger King uses Facebook platform to engage in two-way communication with the customers which involves addressing their complaints as well as encouraging them to visit Burger King’s locations more often. The company hopes this approach will demonstrate to customers that the company is interested in their opinions and thoughts whether positive or negative. The company also uses the Facebook platform to advertise new products as well as promote regular offerings. One does notice on Burger King’s Facebook page that there are several posts that depict Burger King products in creative manner, especially french fries. This tactic may be both to entertain visitors as well as convince them that Burger King’s french fries are delicious as well as artful. The promotional content also provides hints that Burger King particularly targets young consumers because most promotional content depicts high school and young college students.

Comparison and Contrast

Both McDonald’s and Burger King use Facebook platform to actively engage with customers but while McDonald’s Facebook marketing team tries to respond to almost every message whether positive or negative, there are posts on Burger King’s page that have been left unaddressed. This may be due to the fact that McDonald’s has suffered various public relations disasters such as those related to low wages and the company is spending more efforts on repairing brand goodwill. While McDonald’s posts focus on both families and young people, Burger King’s posts are almost entirely aimed at young consumers. This may be a hint that Burger King follows more focused approach when it comes to market segmentation as compared to McDonald’s.

While there are several video posts on McDonald’s page that tout the high quality of McDonald’s products, such posts are almost entirely missing from Burger King’s Facebook page. This may be due to the fact that Burger King’s products have higher quality perceptions than McDonald’s, thus, the company doesn’t feel the need to promote quality aspect like McDonald’s does. Both McDonald’s and Burger King use their Facebook pages to advertise new products as well as promote regular product lines.

Conclusion

It is apparent from Facebook profiles of both companies that McDonald’s has allocated more resources to social media marketing as compared to Burger King. One factor may be McDonald’s bigger size. Another factor may be the fact that McDonald’s has suffered several negative publicities and the company sees Facebook platform as a useful tool to repair brand perceptions. Both companies use Facebook platform for both promotion and public relations purpose though McDonald’s make greater efforts to engage visitors such as through photo sharing and gaming contests. While it is not clear what efforts the companies actually make to address the complaints posted by consumers, there is no denying that corporate responses to posts encourage more and more consumers to voice their positive and negative experiences.

References

Hoovers. (n.d.). Burger King Worldwide, Inc. Retrieved July 23, 2014. Web.

Hoovers. (n.d.). McDonald’s Corporation. Retrieved July 23, 2014. Web.