Assignment #3 - Amanda Hariri

SpoonRocket was launched in Berkeley this last May, and it has only seemed to grow in popularity. A “gourmet” meal delivery service, SpoonRocket claims it is “revolutionizing fast food” by providing the same speedy meal service one would expect with any fast food delivery service but with fresher and healthier ingredients. The company Facebook page does a pretty mediocre job of social media marketing. While it does do an excellent job promoting its daily dishes, it lacks the extra boost of participation and sufficient promotional material that would incentivize people to try SpoonRocket (or, in some cases, give it a second chance).

Since the Facebook page isn’t that old, I was able to scroll through it completely and found only two posts that involved any premiums – namely, the chance to win an iPad mini and the opportunity to get free candy on Halloween. People could only be entered into the raffle to win the iPad if they had purchased a meal on a certain day, however, so it’s not actually free. The company did promote that they would be handing out free candy in Berkeley for Halloween, so this was one example where they used premiums to engage customer participation. Beyond that, the company offers little to no events or games for users, making it difficult for the customer to feel “close” to the company.

I found no user-generated content on the page, which supports the aforementioned lack of opportunity for SpoonRocket followers to feel connected to the company. However, occasional posts open up a customer service oriented “dialogue” by providing feedback surveys and apologies/explanations for certain service-related issues (e.g., one post apologizes for running out of prime rib due to a high demand, another updates followers of where SpoonRocket is expanding, etc.).

In terms of content flow, the company does a fantastic job at updating its audience about the meals of the day – but so does its website (and isn’t that kind of a basic necessity when you’re a food delivery service?). Overall, I feel that SpoonRocket doesn’t utilize the potential of Facebook enough. I think a good way to set this company apart from competing delivery restaurants is to incorporate users opinions and feedback in a more explicit manner, perhaps by offering more surveys and asking people what they’d like to see next on the menu. Right now, the only useful thing about this page is being able to see what is available to order. Therefore, it doesn’t encourage frequent returns, because it doesn’t engage its followers enough.