A social media strategy that I created for Starbucks, a world leader in coffee products.

1. Taylor Paitsel
Social Media Strategy
2/20/16

2. Table of Contents
1 .....Executive Summary
2 .....Social Media Audit
5 .....Social Media Objectives
7 .....Online Brand Persona and Voice
9 .....Strategies and Tools
10 .....Timing and Key Dates
11 .....Social Media Roles and Responsibilities
12 .....Social Media Policy
13 .....Critical Response Plan
16 .....Measurement and Reporting Results

3. Executive Summary (1)
• The main social media priorities of 2016 will be to increase the amount of positive
interactions on our social media sites and to also encourage more traffic to our main
website, www.starbucks.com, to increase online purchasing revenue.
• The strategies that will support this objective:
1. A plan to increase the amount of posts on our social media sites with a link to our main
website or incentives to visit the website.
2. A plan to revise the type of content posted; adding more interactive material such as
encouragement to ask questions, post pictures, use hashtags, etc.
3. To devise a system where staff members can monitor fan activity on websites and like,
retweet, share and comment on their material.

4. Social Media Audit: Social Media Assessment (2)
Social Media URL Post frequency
(~ means
“about”)
Followers
Facebook http://on.fb.me/1oTcQkm ~ 3 per week 36,133,132
Twitter http://bit.ly/LXFpdh ~ 7 per week 11,635,502
Instagram http://bit.ly/1Prhbqb ~ 10 per week 7,700,000
Pinterest http://bit.ly/1GDTqBo N/A 237,468
Google+ http://bit.ly/1SICGUC ~ 7 per week 4,506,268

5. Social Media Audit: Audience (3)
• Our largest audience is males and females aged 25 to 40. Our second largest is males
and females aged 18 to 24.
• The amount of followers we have on Facebook is the largest. It is followed, in
decreasing number of followers, by Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and then Pinterest.
• The amount of people in general who use these social media sites coincides with
the number of followers that we have on each site. For example, Facebook has over
70% of its users aged 18-40 and our largest following is on Facebook. Twitter, on
the other hand, only has about 40% users in this age group, and Twitter is not our
largest following.

6. Social Media Audit: Competitor Analysis (4)
Competitor Social media Strengths Weaknesses
Dunkin’ Donuts Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Pinterest,
Google+ (all under the
name Dunkin' Donuts)
Cheap; good place for
breakfast
Not a large variety of
products; not as many
locations
McDonald’s Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Pinterest,
Google+ (all under the
name McDonald's)
Cheap; many locations;
serves a large variety of
products
Product quality isn't as
good; perception that
employees aren't nice
Panera Bread Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Pinterest,
Google+ (all under the
name Panera Bread)
Serves a large variety of
food and bakery items;
clean atmosphere
Expensive; not as many
locations

7. Social Media Objectives (5)
• One of the primary focuses of our
social media efforts is to support
revenue goals by increasing traffic on
our main website via our social sites,
and to also encourage more
interactivity on our social sites. To do
this, our priorities will be to post more
engaging content and to also include
our link to our main website in more
posts.
• Our specific objectives include:
1. Increase the amount of clicks on links to
our main website via social media by 25%
in six months
2. Increase the amount of interactive posts
on our social media sites by 30% in the
next six months
3. Have our brand interact twice as much
with our consumers on social media within
the next year by liking, commenting,
sharing or retweeting fan content

8. Social Media Objectives (continued) (6)
KPIs
• Number of clicks from our social media
sites that are redirected to the main
website
• Number of posts with photos, positive
word-of-mouth, hashtags, pins, comments,
likes, shares, or retweets from customers
• Sentiment analysis to understand the
attitudes of our consumers
Key messages
• “Inspiring and nurturing the human
spirit -- one person, one cup, and
one neighborhood at a time.”
• Amazing coffee for amazing
people.
• We brew with you in mind.

9. Online Brand Persona and Voice (7)
Adjectives that describe our
brand:
• Sophisticated
• Trendy
• International
• Cozy
• Fun
When interacting with
customers we are:
• Professional
• Friendly
• Determined
• Solution-oriented
• Understanding

11. Strategies and Tools (9)
Paid, Owned, Earned
• Paid: Boost popular Facebook posts every Sunday,
with the minimum organic reach being 1,000.
• Owned: Post pictures on social media sites and place
posters in stores encouraging fans to participate in
#Starbucksdate, where clients take photos at
Starbucks locations with friends, family or a
significant other using the hashtag and posting it on
social media.
• Earned: Partner with five celebrities or athletes to
develop a mutually beneficial relationship.
Tools
• Approved: Hootsuite, Buffer, bit.ly,
SocialMention, Overvideo
• Existing licenses and subscriptions:
Photoshop, Google Analytics
Premium, InDesign

12. Timing and Key Dates (10)
• Holidays: most stores are closed on these days; some stores may open late and close early on these holidays.
• Easter Sunday
• Christmas day
• Internal Events:
• March 1-7, 2016: warm clothing drive
• May 2016: employee donations to charity of store’s choice
• August 12-19, 2016: employee school supply drive
• December 9-11, 2016: Toys for Tots weekend
• Reporting Dates: Reporting will occur once a quarter. Precise dates TBA.

13. Social Media Roles and Responsibilities (11)
• Adam Brotman, Global chief digital officer, Digital Ventures
• Melanie Allen, Vice President of marketing
• Stephanie Marx, director of Global Social Media
• Kelly Broili, Social Media group manager, Global Digital Marketing
• Ryan Turner, Vice President of Global Digital Engagement
• Julie Eisen, Vice President of Global Planning and Marketing

14. Social Media Policy (12)
• We use social media every day. We use it to inform clients about new products, ideas and promotions and spread our company
message. Employees are expected to be ethical, professional and use best etiquette when responding to clients and posting
information. Employees are expected to follow these guidelines:
• No client question or concern is stupid.
• Treat every client with respect and kindness.
• Do not engage in fights or answer a client angrily.
• Make sure all clients have the correct material to resolve any issues.
• Don’t use jargon.
• Do not talk about the competition.
• You are not required to speak about Starbucks on your social media sites, but if you want to, you can in a positive manner.
• If you are unsure about something you are posting, ask someone. Never be afraid to ask questions!
• Any Starbuck employees who violate the policies listed above are subject to corrective action and possible punishment or
termination. Any questions should be directed to your manager or to HR.

15. Critical Response Plan (13)
• SCENARIO 1: Inappropriate tweet, Facebook post, or
Instagram picture post from official Starbucks account.
1. When post is detected, take screen shot. Delete the post.
Contact the director of global social media, Stephanie
Marx. If she is unavailable, contact one of the vice
presidents of marketing, Kelly Broili or Julie Eisen.
2. Have Stephanie meet with Kelly/Julie to discuss the
impact and reach of the post to know what action to
take.
3. Stephanie should have backup post, Kelly/Julie should
approve before sending.
4. If media sees post, have Kelly/Julie get in contact with
the media. If not, have the CEO contact media (Howard
Schultz).
5. Stephanie and Kelly/Julie should find the employee and
decide what action should be taken.
• Preapproved messaging in this scenario depends on
the severity of the post. If the post was inexplicably
distasteful or offensive, a formalized post may be
added to Starbucks social media accounts and to the
media. An example is shown below:

16. Critical Response Plan (continued) (14)
• SCENARIO 2: Client is injured at a Starbucks location or
becomes fatally ill from product served at Starbucks.
• Alert CEO (Howard Shultz) and VPs of Marketing,
Julie or Kelly.
• Howard, Julie/Kelly and Stephanie should get
together and determine the amount of social media
reach the incident has received.
• Marketing VPs should handle all contact with the
media.
• Stephanie should monitor where the news is spreading
to and where she should push messaging.
• Stephanie and Julie/Kelly should decide if longer
messaging is necessary.
• Continue monitoring and decide if more social media
employees are needed.
• Pre-approved messaging depends on the
severity of the situation at hand. Some
examples are shown below:
• Twitter: We at Starbucks sincerely apologize
to anyone who has been affected by our
products. We are currently investigating the
incident.
• Facebook: We are deeply troubled to hear
about (incident). We are working with the
customers involved and are investigating
how to prevent this from happening again.

17. Critical Response Plan (continued) (15)
• SCENARIO 3: A Starbucks employee treats a customer
poorly, displayed a customer with an offensive message in
a product, a store had a offensive display or an employee
blatantly stole sensitive information from a customer.
1. Apologize to customer and work with them to
come to a workable conclusion or take down the
display.
2. Contact Stephanie and Julie/Kelly to monitor reach
of news and to contact media if media becomes
involved.
3. If situation seems to be getting out of control,
contact CEO Harold Schultz.
4. Send out a formal apology for employee action if
reach is large enough or if situation is severe
enough.
• Pre-approved messaging depends on the situation. Below
are some examples:
• Twitter: We apologize for (incident) and we will strive to
never let this happen again.
• Facebook: We at Starbucks sincerely apologize for
(incident). We try to make each customer experience a
positive one, and we will strive to never let an incident
like this one happen again.

18. Measurement and Reporting Results (16)
Quantitative KPIs Reporting Period: 3 months; Data as of February 20, 2016
• Our social media followings increase steadily over the three month period.
• The social media and marketing teams do a great job of posting frequent, visual and engaging content. We have surpassed our goal to be more
engaging on social media and for our users to visit our main website.
Qualitative KPIs
• Sentiment Analysis
• An analysis of the interactions on our social media websites revealed the following:
• Mostly positive sentiments about customer visits and excitement about new products.
• The biggest negative sentiments come from those who believe we do not support our troops and for those who had bad customer experiences.
Proposed Action Items
• Continue #Starbucksdate
• Consider more hashtags for engagement content
• Deal with bad customer experiences as soon as they arise.