Social Media Monitoring Project #1: Chick-fil-A

 Introduction

    Chick-fil-A is one of the largest American fast food restaurant chains that specializes in chicken sandwiches. It was originally founded in 1946, as the Dwarf Grill near Atlanta, by S. Truett Cathy. Over 70 years later, with 2,605 locations across the world, many of the company's values are still influenced by the religious beliefs of its late founder, including restaurant closure on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Sundays.

Chick-fil-A focused on good quality food, a simple menu, and good customer service. The capital A in its name indicates the served chicken is "grade A top quality." The fast-food chain has been serving chicken raised without antibiotics since 2014, makes it the first and only quick-service chain to commit to a 100% "chicken raised with no antibiotics ever" standard for poultry. Since 2016, the company annouced a plan to use only cage-free eggs for the next ten years. Unlike other fast-food chains, Chick-fil-A doesn't expand its menu to attract new customers. The brand focuses on chicken only. The restaurant's excellent customer service has earned the company the top spot in the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey, and it continues to be Gen Z's favorite fast-food chain, according to Business Insider.

Social Media Presence

    Chick-fil-A is active on all popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Its Facebook page generated the most attention, with 7.5 million followers, and the account is very responsive to customer complaints. The picture on the right shows a customer commented on one of the company's post with a picture of an unsatisfied order. The official account quickly responded to the issue and offered ways to help solve the problem.

    To promote the delivery service and responsible staffs, many of Chick-fil-A's recent Instagram posts share stories of its staff, it seems very personal and warmhearted. Below is a story about a worker at the restaurant chased a customer's car to give them the forgotten icecream from the drive-thru order.

    Overall, each of the accounts serves a different purpose for the brand. The contents on every platform don't seem very repetitive.

Analytics

    As shown in Google Trend graphs, the overall internet interest in Chick-fil-A is comparatively steady, except for a period of time between Marcha and May. This was when the COVID-19 breakout started, and most people had to eat at home. To cope with the situation, Chick-fil-A offered a make-it-yourself chicken parmesan meal kit in April, which contains food pre-cooked food for two adults, and customers can have a meal ready in less than 30 minutes. A new product might have something to do with the increase in internet interest. 

    

    On Social Mention, we can see people's attitude towards Chick-fil-A is overall positive, some are holding negative opinions, and most of them are neutral. Below is an example of a positive opinion when asked to compare Chick-fil-A and KFC. More people chose Chick-fil-A because of food quality and service.

    Another popular comparison is between Popeye's spicy chicken sandwich and Chick-fil-A's. Here's a Reddit user posting a video comparing the two, and  Popeye's wins for better taste.

    One frequently appeared topic is around the slow drive-thru line at Chick-fil-A. The news show two opposite attitudes towards the same issue.

  

Perhaps Chick-fil-A should improve their drive-thru service for better customer satisfaction, and attract more potential ones.