Life at the top isn’t just good – it’s downright tasty. The #1 greek yogurt brand – Chobani – transcends the competition by way of high-quality active cultures and a strong social presence. Consumers are CHObsessed.
Founded in 2005 by Hamdi Ulukaya, the little yogurt brand that could is now seeing monumental success. Ulukaya grew up in Turkey and was shocked at the lack of greek yogurt options when he came to the U.S. Taking out a loan to buy a closed yogurt plant, he then relied on less conventional (and less expensive) marketing methods to share his product.
“We knew we had a great tasting, good-for-you product, now we just needed to get people to try it. Sampling and word-of-mouth was huge for us, especially at the start, as we had no money for traditional marketing or advertising.”
This led Ulukaya to social media. The Chobani brand demonstrates the ideal way to build a social presence: enthusiastically and organically.
With sharing as the cornerstone of social media connections, the networks helped identify influencers and engage customers. Whether it’s a comment on Facebook or a customer service tweet, the brand is always responsive. In fact, Entrepreneur reports that they now have a team of five to monitor digital communications and social media.
One social media best practice to pick up from Chobani is voice consistency. The brand has enveloped an entire lifestyle in relation to their product, and they promote it across all platforms. Their most recent initiative is the “Go Real” campaign, in which they strive to demonstrate the value of “simple, pure food.” Below, we examine Chobani’s Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest social media marketing success:
Chobani posts include a mix of product promotions, company insights, consumer questions, and recipes containing their yogurt. They keep their copy simple by way of updates such as “Milk + cultures + real fruit = math we’ve mastered.” The transparency in their products is clearly appreciated, and the brand makes a point to listen to consumers. In fact, Black Cherry – a bestselling flavor – began as a consumer suggestion.
Other brands can follow suit in this Facebook success by focusing on authentic engagement – don’t just respond to consumers when doing damage control. If someone tells a positive story about your brand, thank them for it and encourage sharing! Offering value – such as Chobani’s tips for baking with yogurt – give consumers a reason to interact with you. Ensure to include trending, timely content as well, like this St. Patrick’s Day post.
As shown in the following image, Chobani also embraces the importance of the cover photo. (More viewers notice the cover photo than the brand profile picture!)
Chobani’s current Twitter bio is updated around their “Go Real” initiative: “Real makes every bite a big deal. So peel it open. Stir it up. And raise a cup to the real. #tastereal.” The brand tweets actively – a variety of promotion, humor, inspirational quotes, recipes and health tips – and utilizes unique hashtags such as #justaddgood.
Trending content is critical on Twitter – think conversational topics such as #spring – and creativity is encouraged. About half of total Twitter usage is on a mobile device, with many users looking for the latest news and entertainment. Your brand tweets can be educational or silly, but make sure that they are easy to read and leave room for interaction (and pictures!).
A match made in heaven, Chobani and Pinterest are producing viral results. With 25 boards ranging from “Get Real” and “Baked with Chobani” to “Flavor Inspiration” and “Kitchen CHObsessed,” the brand has something for everyone. An important takeaway is the integration of topics that are not immediately relevant to yogurt. For instance, they also have “Fit with it” and “You So Crafty.”
The types of boards created are vital because they take in mind the brands demographic on Pinterest: health and fitness-conscience consumers, home cooks and parents. Understanding your audience in terms of their overall interests is key on this image-based platform. Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube combined, so you want to ensure your profile is optimized for consumers. Don’t forget to take advantage of the pin descriptions for search indexing!
After looking at their boards, you’ll start asking: what can’t you put yogurt in?
After a brand analysis, we’ve determined that Chobani has room for improvement when it comes to using social to influence search engine optimization. That being said, Chobani is an excellent example of successful social media marketing.
Have any questions about social media marketing or digital marketing solutions? Contact ZOG Digital today.