Here is my social media critique of Wendy’s!
For my social media critique, I chose to discuss Wendy’s social media presence. Wendy’s has gone out of its way to ensure that its social media stands out among the many other fast food restaurants. Wendy’s has gone viral on a number of occasions for its hilarious and timely posts on social media and has developed a reputation for not holding back criticisms and promotions, especially on Twitter. Over the years the brand has built a solid following on a number of social media platforms. I will critique Wendy’s social media through the lens of millennials and Gen Z-ers on the company’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Wendy’s uses its social media platforms in a number of ways, some similar and some different. First, Wendy’s Facebook is mostly used to post promotional material. The most prominent age group of Americans on Facebook today are ages 25 to 34, which encompasses the Millennial generation. Wendy’s has its overall largest social media following on Facebook with about 8.5 million followers. According to Unmetric, Wendy’s paid to promote 60 of their promotional posts on Facebook. This pushes the ads to users’ news feeds. Wendy’s promotional posts on Facebook range from announcing new menu items, new deals, and favorite items; like its other social media platforms, some of the posts on Facebook also reference pop culture. Unmetric discovered that on Facebook, videos received higher engagement than photos. Videos on the companies Facebook page often highlight a new product or deal with an image of the item on a contrasting background. The company’s content is very uniform and consistent across posts. Follower engagement on Wendy’s Facebook page often responds to the promotional ads, with the occasional complaint. Wendy’s rarely addresses complaints in the comments of their posts, and occasionally responds to positive comments. Wendy’s has created a few campaigns asking followers to engage with their content like the #50CentFrostyFilm campaign, as well as live videos with interactive features.
Second, Wendy’s Instagram is run a bit differently from its Facebook page but with some similarities. Of the three platforms discussed, Wendy’s Instagram shows the least amount of engagement with just one million followers. Instagram’s demographics are similar to Facebooks, with Americans ages 25-34 as the most prominent group in the United States. The company saw fit to wipe the slate clean on July 16, 2019, deleting all previous posts. The content posted on Instagram is often reposted content from Twitter or the same type of promotional posts from Facebook. Wendy’s also posts memes and pop culture content on their Instagram page. Unmetric found that on Instagram, photos received more engagement than videos. There is attention to consistency on the company’s Instagram; some consistent posts include #WendysHotTake and promotional photos which all contain consistent colors and crisp images. From scouring Wendy’s Instagram page, it appears that their promotional posts (like those posted on Facebook) receive less engagement than reposts from twitter, memes, and posts that “roast” competitors, which receive far more likes and comments.
Finally, Wendy’s Twitter has become famous, and is probably the most unique social media profile for the company. Although with 3.6 million follower it has less followers than the company’s Facebook, it receives an incredible amount of engagement on the platform. In 2017, the platform’s engagement and followers spiked due to an increase in posts from the account. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, in America, people ages 18-29 make up the largest group on Twitter. Wendy’s Twitter is famous for heckling, roasting, and criticizing both competitors and fans. The account uses common slang, pop culture references, and memes to relate to followers. One of the things that makes Wendy’s Twitter incredibly unique is how often it interacts with fans, far more than it does on other platforms. Many tweets from Wendy’s account directly ask for followers to engage. Most recently, Wendy’s Twitter has asked followers to share stories of being “ghosted” with the hashtag: #DavesSinglesForSingles. This tweet has received an incredible amount of engagement with people sharing their ghosting stories and Wendy’s responded back. Unlike any other Twitter account I have seen, people actively tag the account and request to be roasted. Perhaps most impressive, a follower asked how many retweets to would take for him to receive a year supply of nuggets; Wendy’s requested 18 million. The user received 3.3 million retweets and became one of the most retweeted tweets ever. Finally, on Twitter, Wendy’s responds more frequently to customer complaints.
While a lot of Wendy’s social media strategy is successful, there are a number of ways in which the company can improve its social media presence. Wendy’s target audience on social media seems to be Millennials (Facebook and Instagram) and Gen Z-ers (Twitter), and the company has been mostly successful in reaching these groups. However, Wendy’s should consider making improvements to target the other age groups on these social media sites.
Again, beginning with Facebook, A few improvements could be made to reach different age groups. While a lot of content is geared towards millennials on Facebook, it has been reported that about 75% of all Baby Boomers are on Facebook. This is a huge group of potential customers that Wendy’s must focus on. One way to push this is to focus their content more on deals. While they do promote deals on Facebook, focusing video content specifically on this topic is likely to receive more engagement from boomers, studies show. Additionally, it has been shown that Wendy’s interactive and live streams on Facebook have been widely successful, and therefore they should continue to post this type of content and campaigns.
Instagram appears to need the most attention from Wendy’s team. Based on the most recent posts on the account, we can determine what type of content is most successful on the platform. An April 1 post promoting the Dave’s Single received 7,000 likes and 1,000 comments. A March 17 repost of a Wendy’s tweet received 17,000 likes and 1,000 comments. An April 14 Animal Crossing promotion received 22,000 likes and 1,000 comments. A post from February 25 shows the Burger King king holding a sign promoting Wendy’s breakfast. This post received over 50,000 likes and over 3,000 comments. Looking at these numbers, we can see that product promotion does not do nearly as well as memes, pop culture references, roasts, and Twitter reposts. Instagram needs to push that type of content and post less product promotions. The story feature on Instagram should be utilized more frequently.
Finally, Wendy’s Twitter, while it is arguably the most successful platform for the company, could use some improvements as well. Wendy’s Twitter directs content almost exclusively at Gen Z-ers and younger Millennials. Wendy’s should find a way to engage more with older generations on Twitter. While they are less prominent on the platform, they are still there. Additionally, in order to gain more visibility overall, Wendy’s should engage with celebrities and popular accounts on Twitter. This expands the reach of the account.
Wendy’s should go beyond these platforms and consider getting on other social media sites like Snapchat and Tik Tok. Snapchat is a great opportunity to push ads and promotional content. New Snapchat stories provide a new platform for companies to purchase ad space. Snapchat also makes it easy for Wendy’s to interact with customers. One way to do this is to utilize geotags; Wendy’s could set up geotags in order to do this. Another platform to consider is Tik Tok. This platform has become massively popular in recent days, especially among Gen Z-ers. On this platform it is easy to go viral and to reach a large audience. Tik Tok is also a great way for Wendy’s to keep up to date on social media trends through crowdsourcing.
Wendy’s social media strategy is a very unique one, and clearly very successful. While it does not have the highest follower count, Wendy’s Twitter is likely the most effective social media tool. Wendy’s can easily expand its Instagram and Facebook presence to match Twitter, and further expand the already successful Twitter account. The company can reach new audiences and nurture existing relationships with the advice given.
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