Article

Big brands capture big social media share, but smaller brands get the love

It's no surprise that Chipotle grabs the lions' share of social media attention among top fast casual brands, but smaller, regional eateries inspire the most passion among fans.

October 22, 2014 by Brenda Rick Smith — Editor, Networld Media Group

Which FastCasual.com Top 50 restaurant has the most powerful voice in social media?

It should come as no surprise that Chipotle comes out on top, according to a one-year study conducted by NetBase.

NetBase spent a year analyzing the top 50 brands identified in theFastCasual.com Top 100 Movers and Shakers, ranking them in terms of social media mentions.

Of the Top 50 FastCasual.com brands included in NetBase's study, Chipotle was mentioned the most on social media (more than 15 million times in one year), capturing 61 percent share of voice. Chipotle, which landed in the No. 2 postion in the FastCasual.com Top 100 ranking, also led across each of the five geographic regions NetBase analyzed.

Chipotle's closest competitor was Panera Bread (No. 28 on the Top 100 list), which was mentioned a 3.2 million times and grabbed 13 percent share of voice.

Rounding out the top five:

• Wingstop (No. 36 on the Top 100), 2.4 million mentions and 10 percent share of voice
• Five Guys (No. 37), 1.6 million mentions and 6 percent share of voice
• Jimmy John's (No. 42), just over 1 million mentions and 4 percent share of voice

But the biggest brands on social media didn't necessarily garner the most passion from fans.

On a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the most passionate, Sweetgreen (No. 20 on the Top 100) and Blue Lemon (No. 26) garnered the most love from social media fans with a score of 92. By comparison, Chipotle's passion intensity index was just 59.

Other fast casual brands with passionate fans:

• Which Wich (No. 48 on the Top 100), with a passion intensity index of 90
• Zoes Kitchen (No. 8), with an index of 86
• Giraffas (No. 24), with an index of 83

NetBase also offered tips for building brands' social media impact:

• Use social media to get immediate feedback on product launches. Mine keywords for mentions and gauge sentiment. Ask fans to tell you what they think.
• Keep an eye on the competition. Analyze the effectiveness of your campaigns vs. your competitors. How do you stack up?
• Improve customer care. Respond to questions, comments and complaints quickly and consistently.
• Track response to advertising and marketing campaigns.Measure baseline, then look for spikes in mentions and traffic. Adjust media buys accordingly.
• Know where your audience is hanging out.Marketing to moms? Pinterest is probably the place to be. Want to grab millennials? Gotta be on Instagram. Be aware of platform preferences for groups you are trying to reach.
• Capitalize on purchase intent.Be on the lookout for mentions of your brand or your category (example: burritos, sandwich, pizza) and look for opportunities to engage.
• Keep an eye on your partners.Monitor franchisees for great ideas that are gaining traction, then leverage them system-wide.
• Connect with consumers. Reward your fans with special offers. Look for opportunities to turn a fan into an advocate for your brand.

Cover image courtesy of Pixaby.

About Brenda Rick Smith

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Brenda has more than 20 years of experience as a marketing and public relations professional. She invested most of her career telling the story of entrepreneurial non-profit organizations, particularly through social media.

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