CASE
STUDY:
Using content, conversation &
community to build a relevant
social       brand.
RELEVANT
SOCIAL BRAND
Part of the conversation
Fresh and hip
Cross demographic appeal
Referenced in local pop culture
Must use social experience
effectively
BACKGROUND
Founded in 2001
Founder: Joe Vuskovich
4 cajun creole restaurants
Indianapolis original
Early social adopters
Media buzz
Best of Indy
PHILOSOPHY
We’re in the people business
We buy in to a social approach
We will create content
We will engage
We will measure
OVERALL GOALS
Stay People focused
Sustainable communication
YATS brand experience oriented
GOALS
YATS as part of everyday Facebook experience
Stay in touch
Replace paid media
Foster brand advocacy
Be part of the community
OBJECTIVES
Maintain high levels of awareness
Maintain traffic to website
Increase participation
Increase interactions
Increase event traffic
Influence daily traffic
COMMUNITY 1ST
We’re a social brand
Our people matter first
The media comes second
Announced Bar Yats decision
to community first
SOCIAL
PERSONALITY
APPROACH
Work off defined personality traits
Friendly, sincere, caring, funny, irreverent
Focused on people, update consistently
SOCIAL BRAND
GUIDELINES (PT 1)
Always be human
Sustainable
Brand relevant
Consumer focused
Organically funny
Irreverent at times
Compassionate
SOCIAL BRAND
GUIDELINES (PT 2)
Respond quickly
Solve problems
Be open
Be conversational
We will not bribe people with free food
Will not overload Joe’s personality in approach
SET COMMUNITY
EXPECTATIONS
Our common values: we all love Indy, we
appreciate original food, we’re a sometimes
irreverent group.

Please be a part of our community. It’s for you and
us.

Tell us how you feel. Tell us what you want. Talk to
each other. Make plans. Be happy.
SET COMMUNITY
EXPECTATIONS
On Facebook, our efforts exist for many reasons:

To exchange information
To understand each other better
To offer access behind the scenes on occasion
To provide special promotions
To solve problems
SET COMMUNITY
EXPECTATIONS
Our community is vital to us. We care about our
community both online and in the real world.

Joe has always said, “We’re in the people business
first. We serve food second.”

Our work is simple. We’re a community
restaurant.
CONTACT PEOPLE
Identified under Facebook Info tab.
CONTENT
STRATEGY
Must be about the brand, the people, the experience
Build in call to actions for conversation
Build community
CONTENT
STRATEGY:
LIVE AUTHENTICITY/
QUICK RESPONSE
Always understand
Try to respond as fast as possible
Be real. Be human.
CONTENT
Use interesting, brand relevant, experience
related content
Social personality to be used at all times
Questions, Videos, UGC
Demo Specific
CONTENT:
QUESTIONS
Dish Wars
Experience (bread, rituals, drinks)
Persona stretch
Requests for food
Life
CONTENT:
VIDEOS
User generated
Created by our team
4 films to date
CONTENT:
USER GENERATED
CONTENT
Photos
Videos
P2P Interactions
CONTENT:
DEMO SPECIFIC
Involve people
Questions and content for teenagers,
students, early 20’s, 30 to 40 somethings
People with kids
People having a bad day
CONVERSATION
STRATEGY
Conversations are critical
Conversations must be relevant
Conversations must be inclusive
Conversations can influence behavior
CONVERSATION
Use content to start
Must be maintained in a timely manner
Probing questions
Ask for different perspectives
Offer incentives
Offer a diversity of moods
CONVERSATION
STRATEGY:
STARTING
Content to affect:
Involvement
Empathy
Affinity
Opinion
CONVERSATION
STRATEGY:
MAINTAINING
Feed it
CONVERSATION
STRATEGY:
ENDING
Overly negative
Haters
irrelevance at times
CONVERSATION
STRATEGY:
RESTARTING
On occasion
Very difficult
You can repost - that can work, but it may
just be played out, not timely & irrelevant
COMMUNITY
MINDED
The community is our people and our asset
We must protect the community
We must water the community
We must meet the expectations we set
COMMUNITY
MANAGEMENT
Regular content / conversation
Mine preferences and behavioral trends
Solve problems
Events updates
Negative is okay
Keep it real
Major news
Promos
Integration
COMMUNITY:
CROWDSOURCE
PROBLEM SOLVING
Understand and empathize
Apologize when necessary
Be open
Involve people with solving problems
OBJECTIVES
Maintain high levels of awareness
Maintain traffic to website
Increase participation
Increase interactions
Increase event traffic
Influence daily traffic
RESULTS:
AWARENESS
1 out of 20 store visitors make social mentions
RESULTS:
SHARE OF VOICE
30 days - vs nearest category competitor
RESULTS
SOCIAL MENTIONS
Overall mentions online
RESULTS:
WEB TRAFFIC
Facebook is #5 source, Twitter is the #9 source
RESULTS:
PARTICIPATION
Facebook Fan Page: 12K+ members
Joe’s Facebook Profile: 2K friends
Twitter (@Yats): 2.4K followers
Twitter (@yatsmenu): 161 followers
Mobile club: 2.5K subscribers
Other assets: roughly 1,500 additional
RESULTS:
PARTICIPATION
7300 in indy & surrounding cities
PARTICIPATION




   Male: Female Split is almost equal
RESULTS:
INTERACTIONS
INTERACTIONS




Post Impressions ÷ Comments and Likes = Feedback %
          Excellent: 1-2% Good: .5-1% Average: .1-.4%
                        consistent use of CTA’s
TWITTER
ANALYSIS
Followers: 2,462
Klout Score: 35
Specialist, Highly Engaged
Used for conversation, some
announcements, traffic to other assets
Sustainable and not overload follower
twitter feed
TWITTER
ANALYSIS
8 am to 9 pm
MOBILE
2,500 subscribers
Promote events
Push slow days
Greenwood
TYPICALLY OVER SUBSCRIBED
FAN VIDEO
PEER TO PEER
INTERACTION
Make plans on Facebook or Twitter
You might be rewarded
PARTNER WITH
ADVOCATES
Retweets
Blogger Dinner
Facebook advocate event
CALLS
TO ACTION
Questions, discussions, and leading questions
ADDRESS
PROBLEMS
No menu posted online
Styrofoam
NO MENU POSTED
Be real
Try harder
Post on Facebook
@yatsmenu
STYROFOAM
Crowd sourced discussion group
Open approach
APP FOR
SUBMITTING
PROBLEMS
There is a process
We have a form
We respond to everything that
is direct
SHARED VALUES
The essence of community is this!

It starts with Cajun food

“Our common values are we all love
Indianapolis, we appreciate original food, and
we’re a sometimes irreverent group of people.”
SHARED MISSION
For a community to get to the next level, it
must have a shared mission.
Solving problems

Community projects
Duncan Alney
@firebelly

Social Media Marketing Case Study: Yats