The Dunkin’ Twitter Guide
Before I get started, I absolutely love Dunkin’. For starters, they’re not Starbucks. (Nothing against Starbucks, I just prefer the existence of competition.) Also, after the great recession that lasted from 2007–2009 Dunkin’, along with other companies such as McDonalds decided to focus on selling various coffee beverages. Much of this movement in the industry was based on the idea that coffee is almost recession-proof.
Consumers have been known to still buy coffee during times of economic downturn, according to the International Coffee Organization. Dunkin’ Donuts offically became Dunkin’ in January of 2019 to focus on selling coffee. Dunkin’ is still the country’s largest donut retailer, so selling donuts is important too. This change still isn’t shown in the Twitter handle or on the company website.
Dunkin’ does best on Facebook with 15.8 million followers. The company also has 2.2 million followers on Instagram and 1.2 million followers on Twitter. As Dunkin’ performs well on Instagram and Facebook, I’ll focus on their Twitter account.
Dunkin’ has 1.2 million followers, but is receiving less than 1,000 likes per post on average. Also, Dunkin’ tweets receive fewer than 500 comments and retweets on average. There’s definitely room for improvement when it comes to engagement.
Here area some basic guidelines to follow:
Consistency is key. Post regularly on Twitter, and with the same persona. Dunkin’ posted zero tweets on the 17th and the 15th of January, and seven tweets that were part of a campaign on the 14th of February. Those tweets were great, but they should have been split up from February first through Valentine’s Day. Currently, the tweets are split between one persona who drops in a few witty words as a tweet and another who posts pictures of donuts and coffee and other promotions.
Try to find a way to make the Twitter handle match the company name. Right now, it’s DunkinDonuts, but it should be Dunkin. If someone is trying to hold the handle for a payout, as is common with domain names and handles, the option exists to create a new handle with up to 15 characters.
#UseTheHashtags. Why post on Twitter without taking advantage of the very thing Twitter invented? Ten hashtags in twenty days. Each Twitter post from Dunkin’ should have at least a couple hashtags. Tweets with hashtags receive double the engagement, so don’t leave engagements on the table. Don’t use too many hashtags, but please use hashtags.
Listen to the consumers. Complaints on social media should be addressed. Apparently Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t listen to DMs. That has to change. Even if it’s just listening to the complaint and asking for the store number. Consumers want to be heard.
Where are the contests? I keep looking out for a contest from Dunkin’. Get a sprinkled donut, count the sprinkles on it, ask the Twitter community to count the sprinkles and give out a prize to whoever is right. This increases engagement as Dunkin’ will receive more retweets, more comments, and more engagement overall.
These tips will help increase Dunkin’s online presence and engagement with Twitter users. Additionally, it will allow for better customer relations, which I believe to be the most important benefit.
I love Dunkin’, and I hope that Twitter will love Dunkin’ soon as well.
