Week 8 Part B: Your Instagram Hashtag Use

I believe Dora Tapioca Crepe can add a few hashtags related to the restaurant menu and its proposition to offer a high quality diet. Also, include a few hashtags about its geographic location to reach its target customers. A few hashtags to consider would be:

#glutenfree #veganfood #organicfood #healthychoices #plantbased  #encinitas #sandiegofoodscene #doratapiocacrepe

I researched hashtags used on Instagram posts made by fast food competitors and related health food businesses/influencers. I have not created any hashtag specific for our food business, with the exception of the restaurant name #doratapiocacrepe

I tried to add my posts at least one hour before lunchtime on weekdays. As this is still a fictitious business I cannot assure how effective this strategy is.

Hashtags are important on social media as they enable the content of our business to be found by the right people - our potential clients. Using some relevant hashtags can help us deliver the content to our target customer and helps drive traffic to our page so that you can boost views, likes, and shares.

I commented on Tawni Bernard's and Christian De La Torre's pages. 

Week 8 Part A: How to Expand Your Reach on Instagram by Using Hashtags

Choice Juicery           https://www.instagram.com/choicejuicery/?hl=en

Considered as the largest vegan restaurant chain in San Diego County with 6 store locations. Choice Juicery was founded in 2014 in Carlsbad Village. They are most famous for their superfood smoothies and bowls.

Choice Juicery has 12.3K followers on Instagram and 2.311 posts published, with at least two new ones every week. Their last post was made on March 16, 2023. Posts on smoothies and bowls are the ones which get the most responses from followers. On average, they receive from 30 to 120 likes per post, which represents a small percentage – 0.25% to 1.00% of total followers. They also receive comments on almost every post, ranging on average from 1 to 6 comments per post.

They use an average of 10 hashtags on every post. Those hashtags change according to the post subject and are placed at the end of their message. Most hashtags are related to their food business and the location of their stores. These are some examples:

#glutenfree #veganfood #plantbasedfood #organicfood #healthychoices #plantbased #sanclemente #encinitas #carlsbad #delsursandiego #littleitalysandiego #delmar #solanabeach #cardiff #cardiffbythesea #shamrock #superfoodsmoothies #herecomesmarch #secretmenu #sandiegofoodscene #sandiegovegan #sandiegovegans #sdvegans #orangecountyfoodscene #orangecountyvegan

Plant Power Fast Food        https://www.instagram.com/plantpowerfastfood/

One of the first plant-based fast-food contenders, Plant Power was founded in 2016. A vegan version of traditional fast-food drive-thru brands. The concept was first launched in San Diego. The company now owns or franchises 11 restaurants and a food truck operating throughout California.

Plant Power has 113K followers on Instagram and 933 posts published, with at least one new post every week. Their last post was made on March 16, 2023. All posts are made with products listed on their menu, mainly burgers and sandwiches, which are also the ones that get the most responses from followers. On average, they receive from 300 to 3000 likes per post, which represents a small percentage – 0.30% to 2.60% of total followers. They also receive comments on every post, ranging on average from a low 1 to a high 250 per post.

They do not use hashtags very often on their posts. When they do, hashtags range from one to three and change according to the post subject. Hashtags are placed at the end of their message. Most hashtags are related to their food business. These are some examples:

#WorldPlantPowerDay #VeganFastFood #PlantPowerFastFood #TheFutureofFastFood #veganchickennuggets #EatPlantPower  #vegan #veganchicken #superbowlfood #CaliforniaBurrito  #VeganBurrito #veganmilkshake

Einstein Bros Bagels        https://www.instagram.com/einsteinbros/

Einstein Bros is part of Panera Brands, one of the nation's largest fast casual restaurant companies. It offers freshly baked bagels, breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, coffee, and catering services. It has 684 stores in 44 states in the U.S.

Einstein Bros has 36.5K followers on Instagram and 753 posts published, with at least one new post every day. Their last post was made on March 15, 2023. Most posts are made with products listed on their menu, but there are a variety of others such as company events, new store openings and holiday celebrations. They get responses on every post and I could notice a pattern for follower’s preference.  On average, they receive from 100 to 500 likes per post, which represents a small percentage – 0.27% to 1.40% of total followers. They also receive comments on every post, ranging on average from a low 1 to a high 140 per post.

They do not use hashtags on their posts.

Subway       https://www.instagram.com/subway/

Subway is an American multinational fast food restaurant franchise that specializes in submarine sandwiches (subs), wraps, salads and drinks. It has over 41.000 stores in 104 different countries.

Subway has the highest number of Instagram followers in my research: 1.3Million, with 803 posts published, with at least two new posts every day. Their last post was made on March 15, 2023. Most posts are made with products listed on their menu, but there are a variety of others such as athletes (Stephen Curry) and events (NFL’s Super Bowl) sponsored by Subway. They get responses on every post, but one of their recent posts on Super Bowl got an impressive number of responses: 30K likes and 2.2K comments.  However, on average, they receive from 100 to 10.000 likes per post, which represents a small percentage – 0.08% to 0.80% of total followers. They also receive comments on every post, ranging on average from 30 to 300 per post.

They use hashtags on their posts just occasionally on some product promotions and events sponsored such as the recent Super Bowl. A few example follow below:

#NationalPotatoChipDay #SubwaySeriesMenu #sandwich #psa #SubwayVault  #SuperBowlLVII #SuperBowl57 @stephenasmith @tuaman @overtimemegan @ajgreene15

Conclusion:

I believe Dora Tapioca Crepe can add a few hashtags related to the restaurant menu and its proposition to offer a high quality diet. Also, include a few hashtags related to its location that can reach its target customers. A few hashtags to consider would be:

#glutenfree #veganfood #organicfood #healthychoices #plantbased  #encinitas  #solanabeach #cardiff #sandiegofoodscene #sandiegovegan

Week 7 - Part B

I have noticed that some of my classmates' posts are not only informative but they also include some wording and offers inviting visitors to try their product or service. There is a mix of new accounts created for the purpose of this assignment and old accounts of existing businesses.

I believe that service based businesses use Instagram with focus mainly on short videos about how the services are provided and their expected benefits. It may include interviews and user testimonials to support the main idea. It is also very common to include a link with “learn more” or “book now” to the business main website.

Product based businesses seem to have a slight preference for images and static visuals. However, they also use short demonstration videos. Like service businesses, it is quite common to include a link with “learn more”, “subscribe” or “shop now” to the business main website.

I think my Instagram account can make use of more educational posts on how Tapioca Crepes are prepared and the health benefits of a nutrient dense meal. Also, include additional images of our menu with descriptions of ingredients and an “order now” link to the restaurant website.

Visited group members Instagram pages:

Godinez, Luis - Godinez Gym

Carter, Cody – Sparky’s Garage

Shapiro, Sascha – Tuesday & the Gypsy

De La Torre, Christian – Frozen Tower Treats

Week 6 Part B: Creating and Scheduling FaceBook Posts

 

Dora Tapioca Crepe has scheduled three new posts on its Facebook page. 

The first is about the Vegan Food Popup. An event on organic and gluten free food that Dora Tapioca plans to participate in and which target customer has the same demographics and psychographics of our potential clients.

Post number two is an article on the health benefits of the Tapioca starch. I believe that people want to know what healthcare and diet experts and practices have to share. This will help to raise our target customer awareness of issues which they may be unfamiliar with as well as educate them on the related benefits of our product.

The third and last post is a video made during the Rio Olympics about the traditional Brazilian breakfast and use of tapioca crepes. By providing a testimonial video on the variety and health benefits of a nutrient rich meal, it gives prospective clients the opportunity to experience the emotional impact of curiosity and desire to try something new. An authentic and engaging way for people to try our product and be our customer.

Note: My use of  Facebook's Manage Page functions is still basic. I am not certain that some of my configurations and options are correct or have caused the expected results. This is common with the learning by doing process.

Visited Group 3 Members - Facebook Page

McRoy, Anthony                     Dirt Diamond Fitness

Farmer, Logan                        Car Accessory Plug

Hernandez, Brianna                Vintage B

Week 6 Part A: Engaging Your Customers - FaceBook Strategy

Businesses that can serve as strategic connections to our Casual Healthy Food Restaurant. All are related to health, food and dining. I believe they have correlation with Dora Tapioca’s business and have some content that I can share with my followers.

https://www.facebook.com/veganfoodpopup

https://www.facebook.com/elanaspantry

https://www.facebook.com/verywell/

https://www.facebook.com/drmarkhyman/

https://www.facebook.com/FoodNetwork

https://www.facebook.com/jamieoliver

Vegan Food Popup is a free event that displays some of the best vegan foods in SoCal, featuring a rotating lineup of diverse vendors. All locations are family-friendly and dog friendly and feature music and free parking. We plan to participate in the monthly Vegan Food Popup Event in Encinitas, where we expect to obtain valuable PR coverage. Their target audience has the same demographics and psychographics of our product. Vegan Food Popup has been featured on CBS News, Fox News, The San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Reader and ABC News. It is also a great venue for sharing our product offerings with the community. Their posts include mainly images and videos on their events, vendor’s offerings, products and customers having a great time. There is not much writing. They have 3.6K followers with some short interaction.

Elana’s Pantry or Elana Amsterdam is a powerful influencer in the wellness space. A lifestyle guru, she has been on the cutting edge of healthy living advocacy for over thirty years.        Elana’s perspective on health and the environment landed her on the cover of Paleo Magazine and inside the pages of: Fortune Magazine, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. She has also appeared on numerous television networks. Her Facebook posts are mainly images with short descriptions and links to her website, where more detailed written information is available. She has 253K followers and she seems to cause some interaction with followers on every post.

Verywell Health is an award-winning resource for credible, fact-based, and up-to-date information that readers can use to make health choices. They have created with industry experts an extensive article library on diet and nutrition. They have a lot of content and their website is always at the top 5 lines of Google's search engine. Their posts cover all aspects of health and not only nutrition. Their Facebook posts are mainly images with short descriptions and links to the website, where you can find extensive and rich articles related to the post topic. They have 382K followers. Not much interaction and engagement.

Mark Hyman, MD, is a practicing family physician, a fourteen-time New York Times bestselling author, and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in his field. He is the Head of Strategy and Innovation at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. He is also the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine, a medical editor of The Huffington Post, and was a regular medical contributor on many television shows including CBS This Morning, Today Show, Good Morning America and CNN. His Facebook posts include images, videos and interviews. There are all types of written sections and it is common to see inserts from his articles and books. He has 1,128 followers. Intense interaction and engagement on all posts.

Food Network is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment whose portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and Oprah Winfrey Network. Their Facebook posts include images, videos, TV shows and interviews. Most written sections are introductions to the post subject with links to their website where additional information is available. They have an impressive number of 33 million followers. Intense interaction and engagement with likes and comments on most of the posts.

James Oliver is an English chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants. Oliver reached the public eye when his series The Naked Chef premiered in 1999. In 2005, he opened a campaign, Feed Me Better, to introduce schoolchildren to healthier foods, which was later backed by the government. His TED Talk won him the 2010 TED Prize. In June 2003, Oliver was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for "services to the hospitality industry". His Facebook posts include images, articles, but it seems that his TV cooking shows are the highlights. Not many written sections. Short messages. It is mainly his videos on food and cooking topics. He has 9.8 million followers. Intense interaction and engagement with likes and comments on most of the posts (videos).