The Importance of Social Media

Two to three years ago, social media was an entity most restaurant brands were still trying to figure out. Now, it's not only a necessity, but consumers expect immediate interaction with their favorite brands.

That's a tall task, considering the number of people using channels such as Twitter and Facebook. To navigate these and other social sites, Scott Mulkey, vice president of Foodservice Strategy and Marketing at Coca-Cola, said it's important to realize social media can't really be controlled, no matter how many resources a company pours into the department.

"Social media is growing and we've got to know that we're not controlling it. At best, we are participating," he said.

Coca-Cola, which has one of the most active social media presences across all industries, had its Facebook page created by fans before the company had any sort of strategy in place.

"We had to think about the path we wanted to take and ended up partnering with our fans," Mulkey said. "It's important to take the handcuffs off and try new things. With social media, be bold; try new things to capture a piece of the energy."

Mulkey said "likes" and followers are important, but the key metric for social engagement is when something Coca-Cola posts is shared.

McDonald's, which has nearly 29M Facebook fans, also tries different things to gauge what gets the best response. According to Rick Wion, director of Social Media for McDonald's USA, the company uses Facebook to entertain and engage, while Twitter is used more for communication. McDonald's rotates its Twitter team, utilizing people from nearly every department to communicate with its followers.

"We take certain aspects of the company and roll it into customer service. On Twitter, everyone is involved," Wion said.