Hiba Nasir

PSYC 325 Unit 5 Individual Project

Colorado Technical University

May 15th, 2022

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 Social Media Audit

Starbucks has been in the forefront of leveraging a variety of social media platforms to

engage customers and increase sales. They are reaching customers all around the world thanks to

their millions of followers and likes. They have a large target audience and take advantage of all

available opportunities to reach them. To keep up with current trends, Starbucks has continued to

adapt to technological advancements and innovate their existing applications.

Social Media Evaluation

Furthermore, Starbucks also has a substantial social media presence and uses a variety of

platforms. Starbucks has over thirty-five Facebook pages, twenty-seven Twitter handles, fifteen

Instagram accounts, five separate YouTube channels, and one LinkedIn account, according to

Unmetric statistics (Unmetric, 2022). Also, according to the same statistics, Starbucks has over

36 million Facebook fans with whom they engage and market on a regular basis (Unmetric,

2022). According to Starbucks' official page, the brand has over 17 million Instagram followers

who can view Starbucks' stories and posts at any time at the company's discretion (Instagram,

2022). In the comment section, they can also express their thoughts, criticisms, and suggestions

for great engagement for the consumer and the company. Starbucks also joined Twitter in 2006

and currently has over 11 million followers who get the brand's tweets and can retweet, direct

message, or comment on the company's Twitter profile, making it another wonderful venue for

Starbucks to communicate with its stakeholders.

In addition, Starbucks developed its own app, which customers can download and use to

pre-order their purchases. “We continue to leverage the advantages of our mobile app to elevate

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 the personalization of the customer experience and deepen customer engagement. As a result,

mobile orders represented 26% of US Company-operated transactions in Q2 [2021], up from

18% a year ago. As we have seen each quarter, our digital channels convenience has proven

successful in driving demand,” says Kevin Johnson, CEO of Starbucks. According to Tricia

McKinnon's article titled How Starbucks is Using Mobile Apps to Significantly Increase Sales,

Starbucks built its first pickup-only store in the United States in 2019.” These locations are small

and often do not have seating and are meant to cater to customers ordering using the Starbucks

app who want to grab and go. Starbucks is in the process of building out its network of pickup

only locations. (McKinnion, 2022). "Our vision is that each large city in the US will ultimately

have a mix of traditional Starbucks cafés and Starbucks Pickup locations," said Starbucks in a

statement.” stated Starbucks in a statement," McKinnion quoted in her article. Starbucks has

shown that apps are the way of the future, and that convenience is fundamental to profits and

engaging their target audience.

Thus, Starbucks caters to a diverse demographic. Starbucks is a well-known brand, and

their menu offers items that will appeal to both youngsters and adults. In particular, Starbucks

targets "High Income, High Spenders," "Urban-ish, On-the-Go," "Technology Early Adopters,"

"Socially Conscious Customers," "Flexible to change” and "Healthy-ish Professionals,"

according to an article written by Barbara Bean-Mellinger titled Who Is Starbucks' Target

Audience (Bean-Mellinger, 2019). Bean-Mellinger went on to state “Starbucks' target audience is

laid back but driven. They know that getting ahead requires adaptability and, like their favorite

coffee store, they embrace the changes that come with growth.” (Bean-Mellinger, 2019). All in

all, Starbucks is taking numerous steps to reach their target markets.

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 In fact, in order to appease and engage with their technological adopters Starbucks

launched the first augmented reality experience in Shanghai shared by Linda Dahlstrom an

author for Starbucks Stories and News. Customers must first download an app to gain access to

this experience. They can use their phones to navigate the roaster by pointing to important

features like the cask, which will display new information. Customers can explore the venue

while earning virtual badges. Customers that purchase everything to share receive a special

roastery social media filter to share (Dahlstrom, 2017). In the same article Dahlstrom quoted the

Senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Starbucks China Emily Chang. "We wanted

to create an entirely new brand experience for our customers," said Chang. The senior VP went

on to state “Even before the first drink, coffee is a powerfully sensory experience: from hearing

the distinct sound of beans being freshly ground to smelling that rich aroma and sipping your

exact mix, brewed to perfection. We wanted to take that customer experience even further.”

Yet, there are opportunities for this company to use their social media apps in new ways.

A blog series on Lean Plum evaluated the entire Starbucks app with an article titled Starbucks

App Engagement Analysis: Coffee, Lattes, & Loyalty, commenting on what worked well and

where adjustments should be made to boost user satisfaction while making purchases using the

app. The series wrote that a few opportunities for improvement suggested that new users who

sign up for the app had a better chance of opting in for push alerts. "By asking for push

permissions once users hit particular engagement milestones, there's a better chance they'll trust

the app and say yes." The article went on to say that the software allowed users to generate "in

feasible orders," citing a screenshot of a pumpkin spice latte with "99 pumps of pumpkin spice"

as an example to ease workers frustration and increase collaborate attitude with mobile ordering

(Lean Plum, 2021). Overall, Starbucks does an outstanding job of keeping all their social media

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 applications up to date, including their in-house app, to stay in touch with all their stakeholders.

To maintain their social media success. Starbucks social media managers must maintain a careful

eye on the market to stay on top of trends and new apps being developed to dominate the

industry.

In conclusion, Starbucks has a large target audience and communicates with them

through all accessible media. Their millions of likes and followers enable them to communicate

with customers all around the world. Starbucks has been a trailblazer in utilizing a variety of

social media tools to engage customers and increase sales. Starbucks has continued to adapt to

technological advancements and innovate their existing social media applications. “From a

development perspective it is awe-inspiring to be able to work on something that millions of

people use every day, and it’s fun to work for a company that is as serious about technology as it

is about coffee,” - Justin Shorney an iOS developer for Starbucks.

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 References

Yang, C. Y. (2014, August 1). Demystifying Japanese management practices. Harvard Business
Review. Retrieved May 8, 2022, from https://hbr.org/1984/11/demystifying-japanese-
management-practices

Starbucks. (n.d.). Starbucks Coffee Instagram. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from
https://www.instagram.com/starbucks/

Starbucks, T. (n.d.). Official Starbucks Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from
https://twitter.com/StarBucks

McKinnon, T. (2022, March 3). How Starbucks is using mobile apps to significantly increase
sales. Indigo9 Digital Inc. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from
https://www.indigo9digital.com/blog/starbucksmobileapps
.
Bean-Mellinger, B. (2019, February 5). Who is Starbucks' target audience? Small Business -
Chron.com. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/starbucks-
target-audience-10553.html

Dahlstrom, L. (n.d.). Starbucks' first in-store augmented reality experience. Starbucks Stories
and News. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from
https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/starbucks-first-in-store-augmented-reality-
experience/

Lean Plum, (2021, July 6). Starbucks app engagement analysis: Coffee, Lattes, & Loyalty. Lean
Plum. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://www.leanplum.com/blog/app-engagement-
starbucks/

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