With the advance of mobile technology and the recent changes to the timeline in Facebook I was curious about how brands are taking advantage of today’s technology. I came across Starbucks and they are clearly using modern technology to their advantage. Let’s take a look at how Starbucks uses Facebook and Mobile to get their message across and create engagement with their customers.
- The new timeline has enabled photos to appear a lot larger on the page so the images of coffee beans and beverages have become much more enticing to the visitor.
- The carefully crafted captions above the photos also capture the visitor’s attention.
The new tabs advertise the Starbucks gift card and Starbucks around the world. You can send a Starbucks egift right to a friend’s wall, and with a facebook app manage your Starbucks card and review your Starbucks Rewards.
In essence the coffee company truly believes in the importance of reaching their customers where their customers are and facebook is where their customers are to be found.
Are your customers on Facebook? If so have you thought how you are going to provide an opportunity to both showcase your products in such a subtle way and provide value to your visitors that keeps them coming back?
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Mobile
Another example of how Starbucks has embraced modern technology is their use of smartphone capability. About a year ago Starbucks first created a mobile platform that allowed users to buy Starbucks gift cards via a free mobile app on their smart phones.
The result: their app has processed over 26 million transactions on iOS, BlackBerry and Android. 1 in 4 Starbucks transactions now take place via mobile.
- The mobile phone app can be used to reload, transfer balances and manage a Starbucks Card account, find nearby stores and find out more about Starbucks offers and products.
- In fact, you can build your own virtual drink and share it through Facebook and twitter.
- The app also enables users to send a friend an egift and track their loyalty points in the ‘My Starbucks Reward programme’.
Ian Cranna, director of Starbucks Marketing UK said “Customers are looking for extra value. This scheme allows us to be more personal, rewarding the most frequent customers with extra benefits. We also know that fewer customers want to use cash, so putting My Starbucks Reward on mobiles offers a faster, easier way to pay.”
Has your business gone mobile yet? If not do you have plans to do so soon? What do you want to offer your customers to engage them more in your business?
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