Social Media Marketing - How Einstein Bros Bagels Got it Right
Einstein Bros. Bagels wants to be your Facebook friend...and they're giving out free bagels in return! It's true, bagel franchise recently launched a nationwide Facebook coupon campaign which, according to the company, is the first instance of a Facebook advertiser providing a free offer though instant digital coupons. Here's how it worked, between January 25-31, anyone who became a fan of the Einstein Bros Facebook page received a digital coupon for a free bagel with shmear.
Is FREE the social media currency of the future?
Since joining Facebook in December, Einstein Bros. has already accumulated over 350,000 fans translating into thousands of people actually going to the store to redeem their coupon. Not only are these fans printing coupons, they are actively engaging in conversation on Einstein's Facebook page.
Just how successful has Eisnstein's been in their coupon campaign?
Since joining Facebook in December, Einstein Bros. has already accumulated over 350,000 fans translating into thousands of people actually going to the store to redeem their coupon. Not only are these fans printing coupons, they are actively engaging in conversation on Einstein's Facebook page.
Just how successful has Eisnstein's been in their coupon campaign?
Fan Page went from around 4,000 fans to well over 400,000 fans since launching the Facebook campaign in January 2010After the success of their initial online coupon campaign, Einstein Bros. has now added an "offers" tab to their Facebook page, adding new discounts and coupons almost every week. Einstein's has leveraged online promotions to engage their audience and really lift their brand awareness as well as convert online coupons to offline revenue.
Comments
Nice coverage Kyle. Brings back memories as I used to be a baker at Einstein’s when I was in high school. Interesting to watch a company grow and evolve over time.
I like the idea of giveaways, but often find clients hesitant to part with profit margin. Do you guys face hurdles pitching this type of thing? With Einsteins, I can tell you the bagel itself has very little cost, the cream cheese is actually where most of the cost is. Still pretty low though considering the brand awareness you are gaining… and in fact if the person buys a coffee or soda to go with the free bagel + shmear you could make the case that its a profitable visit.
I’m curious as to their conversion rate. 400K fans—> X coupons—> Y redemptions. Repeat for each subsequent offer. How does that compare with other media?
I became a fan, and became annoyed that I had to search around for the coupon. I ultimately never redeemed it.
Einstein Bagles did a great job with their Facebook Fan page. Now, what will be interesting is how they will get involved with location-based marketing. Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc, are great services they can use to connect with local customers.
Go forward three months and what has Einstein’s done with their Facebook page? Nothing but give away FREE bagels every so often. Yes, the brand got it right with building scale on Facebook, but what do they do next? How are they activating the this space? How are they engaging with consumers on a daily basis?
I would love to know the in-store conversion rate as well. Also, total $$ spent and new customer acquisition rates to determine ROI. I don’t expect you have the answer, but those are the metrics management will consider to determine success.