McDonalds, in the hopes of creating a twitter trend though the use of various strategies such as the hashtags #McDstories and #meetthefarmers, ended up failing dismally. The fast food giant received numerous online comments of people who posted very negative stories of problems in the fast food industry. In this era, it is paramount for organizations to understand how to conduct digital marketing campaigns that can connect with their customers who are digitally savvy (Morris 2009). This is mainly evidenced by statistics that show that customers are choosing online shopping for products as opposed to physically visiting the offline locations. McDonalds is a fast food restaurant that receives orders by customers on their physical location sites as well as their different online platforms.
The failure experienced by McDonalds in its digital marketing activities can be attributed to a number of reasons. Incidentally, there was a digital marketing strategy that the company used that was referred to as ‘send to friends’. This facility was however seen to promote different activities and games (Carter 2011). The Australian Communications and Media Authority (AMCA) on carrying out an investigation about this issue found that people received these messages without their consent (Morris 2009). Moreover, it was discovered that the messages did not have the option to unsubscribe. The chairman of the AMCA provided in a statement that companies must ensure that they have the consent of the person receiving their messages and they must not simply assume that consent is given.
One of the main reasons why McDonalds has been unable to successfully implement majority of their digital media campaigns has been due to a lack of connection with its customers. The company was found to have some typing errors in their Instagram page. There were also people who complained that they were being ‘spammed’ by advertisements from the company in their newsfeeds on Facebook.
The company therefore failed in these digital marketing campaigns due to; a lack of establishments of their limits when it came to how they can approach their customers on social media. The company also did not take note of its audience in its different digital marketing strategies (Morris 2009). Putting this in mind before crafting the social media campaigns would have enabled the company to be sensitive to the culture of Australians and their social behavior. As such, it would have come up with marketing ways and messages that resonate with more people.
In the case where the company was sending messages to people without their consent is a type to push communication. It is vital for companies to integrate both push and pull communications as they interact with customers. Pull communication is constructed in a way where the consumers fulfill the goals marketers had put in place willingly (Mandal 2017). Push communication on the other hand refers to situations where the marketers insist that their customers fulfill the goals they have set up.
Another reason for the failure was because the company did not take time to analyze how best to use the different social media platforms. By conducting an analysis of this factor, the company would have been able to identify the reasons why people are attracted to the different social networking sites and they would have crafted messages based on the individual sites (Hanlon & Akins 2012). For instance, the way Instagram can be used in marketing is not similar to that of Facebook. Instagram uses more graphic content while Facebook would use fewer pictures and more stories.
McDonalds customers are mainly workers grabbing breakfast in the mornings and all other people who are interested in their different foods. These people are aged between ten to sixty years old. The goals for McDonalds digital marketing include; to bring increased traffic to their sites and store, to increase sales and profitability, to reach new customers in a bid to create brand awareness, and be able to retain those that already exist (Morris 2009). It is therefore important that the company uses the appropriate digital mediums to reach their different customers.
The company should therefore engage more with their customers digitally. This will bring about an ‘excitement’ as people can have answers to any questions they may have for the company (Sinclair 2015). On the other hand, the company will increase transparency on their various operations and mainly on the issue of food quality.
The company has also not been giving a lot of power to their franchises in Australia. This is in turn reflected in the way the employees interact with the customers in digital media. If the corporate structure could be stripped down and some layers of management removed, the people working directly with consumers could be able to deal with them in a better manner in digital platforms (Sinclair 2015). This is because they have a better understanding of the wants and needs of the consumers and they can be able to have one on one interactions.
The company also lacks a synergy in its online and offline experiences. This is shown in situations where the strategies employed for digital marketing fail to bear much fruits while the actual locations are still bringing in high sales levels. Therefore, it is vital for the situation on the ground to match the information on their different online platforms. Finally, the company has been associated with providing unhealthy foods by different people (Carter 2011). This has made people not to support their online messages because unhealthy foods are associated with diseases such as obesity and high blood pressure.
Different social media platforms can be used in different ways in the marketing process. Facebook can be used in the provision of information about the product with the aim to capture people’s attention, show off products that are on sale, aid in the process of collecting leads and it can also aid in the improvement of a company’s sales (Carter 2011). The strategy of using Facebook should work seamlessly on people’s mobile phones so that they can view the marketing messages in different places. To make use of Facebook in a cost effective manner, it is important for the company to make use of organic reach. This is a situation whereby posts are published for free as shown below.
This is effective only to some extent. Today, due to the increased content in newsfeeds, this method is proving harder to achieve the desired marketing impacts. As a result, the messages posted must stand out against the competition (Hanlon & Akins 2012). This can be achieved by the use of a unique selling proposition which should prove why the product has a competitive advantage. It is also very vital to interact with customers on Facebook to establish a connection and be able to retain customers in the long run. Paid advertising in Facebook is another tool that can come in handy to assist the company in ‘rising above the noise’ and standing out (Faisal 2016).
Twitter is another important social media platform for digital marketing. Twitter requires the company to first present its brand to make it known by the existing and future customers. The twitter profile should be complete to provide as much details as possible about the company. This will help to build a strong foundation for the company in this platform. Different people should then be followed such as the customers, business partners, suppliers, and competitors where appropriate (Sinclair 2015). There should also be a lot of interactions between the company and other individuals as well as groups and invitations for them to follow the company. It is also a great tool that can direct traffic to the company’s website by using compelling messages for people to click on.
Finally, Instagram is another platform that can be used by the company mainly for presenting visuals on the products that the company provides (Mandal 2017). This social media platform creates awareness on the existence of a products and encourages people to try it. The use of high quality pictures makes the product more enticing hence attracting more customers. This platform is mainly targeted for young customers.
herefore, proper use of the different social media platforms is likely to reach more customers. Moreover, by interacting with customers online, this creates a connection that later translates to increased sales.
References
Morris, N. (2009). Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 10(4), pp.384-387.
Carter, B. (2011). Digital marketing for dummies. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Sinclair, L. (2015). Digital at heart of McDonald’s future. [online] Theaustralian.com.au. Available at:https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/marketing/mcdonalds-launches-digital-marketing-push/news-story/94d0c7a757e83884c0c06c4e9bcba8b4 [Accessed 1 Oct. 2017].
Hanlon, A. and Akins, J. (2012). Quick win digital marketing. Cork, Ireland: Oak Tree Press.
Mandal, P. (2017). Understanding Digital Marketing Strategy. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management.
Faisal, A. (2016). Marketing Strategies in Online/Digital Marketing. Account and Financial Management Journal.
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