Marketing Happy Hour - Utilizing Consumer Sentiment to Inform Social Media Strategy | Taylor Porter of Dutch Bros Coffee

Starting point is 00:00:00 you're listening to the marketing happy hour podcast where we discuss career and industry insights with our peers in marketing we're here to talk about it all like the ups and downs of working in social media how to build authentic relationships in the influencer and pr space managing a nine-to-five and a side hustle at the same time, how to be productive in your life and career without losing your sanity, and more. Ultimately, we're here to build a community with you because we're all trying to navigate the world of marketing together. Are you ready? Grab your favorite drink and join your hosts, Cassie and Erica, for this week's episode.

Starting point is 00:00:55 Hey, Marketing Happy Hour listeners, welcome back. If you're a coffee lover like me, you're in for a treat. This week, we're getting to know Taylor Porter, social media strategist at Dutch Bros Coffee. In this episode, Taylor lifts the curtain on social media strategy for Dutch Bros, revealing the KPIs her team looks for to gauge successful social campaigns, the importance of consumer sentiment, and how the team approaches expansion into new markets like Tampa. Cassie and I are based in the Tampa Bay area, so we're super excited to get our hands on some Dutch Bros goodies when they come to town. Without further ado, grab your favorite drink, maybe a fun coffee to be on theme, and listen in.

Starting point is 00:01:36 Hey Taylor, how are you doing? I am good, how are you? Also doing really well as a just coffee aficionado over here. I am so excited to be speaking with you today. But before we jump into all things Dutch Bros, I do have an important question for you that we ask all of our guests and that is what is in your glass this afternoon or what is typically in your glass during happy hour? Yeah. So as a new mom and fall season is my season to shine. I am a pumpkin girly. So, um, right now Dutch has a new sugar-free pumpkin. So it sounds a little extra, but it's a sugar-free pumpkin cookie brevet, but with oat milk, white coffee and cinnamon sprinkles. So just just it sounds like a lot but just trust me it is so good and iced for sure ice season all year round yeah oh yeah always

Starting point is 00:02:34 iced season for us oh my gosh that sounds so good and we don't have any uh dutch bros down in florida at the moment or at least that i know of near me, but now I'm like really jealous. That someday I'll be able to try it. Um, but I just have a, uh, yes, fingers crossed. I just have a banana cream, Olipop, which I teased in one of our previous episodes that I was very curious to try. So, um, reporting back, I tried it. It is very sweet, which is not something I love. But it does give you that fun banana cream flavor, which is like super interesting to me. So overall, I like it. I feel like I might give it like an eight out of 10. If I had to give a number. What about you, Cass? So I do have two beverages, as I always do. I have water and I have a Celsius, a little second bit of caffeine with me this morning.

Starting point is 00:03:29 But like Erica said, I'm very jealous that we cannot get that pumpkin. Just amazing sounding concoction here in our area of Florida, but super tempted to fly out West now and try it. So we'll see. I don't know if you read further on in our little discussion notes here, but there have been rumors of Dutch bros coming to Tampa and we will address that later. Very exciting. All right. All right. Looking forward to that. But Taylor, yeah, as Erica said, just really grateful that you're here today, sharing your experience with us, all things Dutch bros. Um, but before we kind of dive into the main bit of the conversation here, could you share with us kind of a sneak peek into your background and how you came into the role

Starting point is 00:04:15 that you're in today? Yeah, absolutely. And thank you so much again for having me. I'm super excited to get to chat with you. Um, I actually have my degree in visual communications. I went to FITM in LA. For those that don't know, it's the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. And I went with the intention of being a fashion stylist. And that kind of really quickly changed. I had some social media marketing and PR, digital marketing classes. And I think it was really on that first wave of social media really being an option for

Starting point is 00:04:49 a career. And I didn't know that that was really like in the wheelhouse of directions I was going in. But I've always been passionate about writing and content and just having that eye for all things, you know, creative. So I just kind of quickly jumped over to that left styling in the dust and started interning at Vidim with their social media team. It kind of led me into quite a few different roles and positions within the social media world with different companies, like a plus size fashion brand, in studio yoga house, they did custom like tennis wear, all kinds of different fun things and projects. And LA was a really tough market to be in.

Starting point is 00:05:40 If you know, you know, it's just hard to crack it there. So I decided to take a break. I moved back home. I'm from Northern California, way, way, way up North by the board of Oregon. And there's not much around in the world of fashion and marketing. So I actually took a job with my local Dutch bros, just as a barista to start, just kind of get myself settled back in refresh and they had me take over their local social accounts and so I was just doing content for them I was grabbing local pictures while also working as a barista and then a job at HQ opened up and I said like this is where I'm supposed to be this is my path and so I applied for that and started in February, 2020 as the social media specialist with Dutch. And obviously that was a really rocky time to start with a new

Starting point is 00:06:34 company and just kind of be for everybody. So eventually just kind of found my feet and then moved me into my current strategist role, which has been so amazing. We have a small but mighty team of four of us on social. So yeah, really happy that in the big scheme of things, I ended up back home and then now in Grants Pass, Oregon, the birthplace of Dutch Bros and led me there. That's amazing. Well, I have to know, like, I love that you went to FITM when I was 13 years old, I went to LA and I was like, I'm going to FITM. This is a school. I think I bought like a t-shirt and everything. And so I love that you went there and it's so cool to hear about that experience. But I would love to know, you know, we have a lot of people who start in

Starting point is 00:07:22 kind of one facet of design and creative and transition into a different area, AKA marketing in our case, like earlier today, we had a handbag designer on who now is working in branding and designs experiential and kind of things like that. So how do you feel your experience in the fashion space and in costume design kind of helped contribute to what you do today in this creative world of marketing? Yeah, I was always really obsessed with fashion magazines and like all things, you know, styling and TV shows, project runway, whatever, everything growing up. And I felt like that really helped my creative eye develop to what looks good, what works, what catches my eye on social specifically, captions that are engaging,

Starting point is 00:08:10 what, you know, other companies were doing and how they were engaging with their customers. And so I think that all just kind of helped because now I'm in the QSR space. So it's kind of definitely different to be food and beverage versus fashion, but in that sense where you still have to have the eye of what is going to grab attention, what do people want to talk about, especially with platforms kind of just evolving and new ones popping up all the time and just having that knowledge of what, you know, works for that brand and branding for any business is so essential and making sure you're keeping that brand voice and look consistent. I think that just kind of goes hand in hand so you can

Starting point is 00:08:51 like ebb and flow with what you're doing. Absolutely. And I think whenever you start out in a creative field, you can really hone those skills, transition them to anything across the creative universe that you really want to. So I think that really speaks to that as well. And the handbag designer that we had on the podcast, she also kind of said the same thing where she was like, all of these valuable things that I learned really transitioned super well into what I'm doing today. So I love hearing that from multiple people. We've heard it from so many different people, especially in social. But we'll get into some more social strategy stuff in a little bit.

Starting point is 00:09:30 I just want to hear the behind the scenes of some of your favorite projects that you've worked on with Dutch Bros to date. Yeah, I know that is always such a hard question because it's just constantly campaign planning so many fun things. We do new fun things pretty much every quarter, drink launches and, you know, engaging stuff with our broistas. That's my favorite part of my work is that campaign strategy and like execution from beginning to end. And so I think this year specifically, we have three annual givebacks company-wide that we do.

Starting point is 00:10:05 It's Dutch Love, Drink One for a Day, and Buck for Kids. And so on those days, we give back to our communities in different ways, like with local organizations. And so I wanted to test out different types of content. So we call them our on-the-ground series, kind of like those tiny mic interviews or, you know, we're at the shop, we're down on the ground with baristas or we had some kiddos for a buck for kids, which was really fun. So testing out that kind of more just vertical real style content instead of just a graphic or a lifestyle post. And so

Starting point is 00:10:37 those were really fun to be able to like share the information about our philanthropy efforts, but was specific to social and to those platforms instead of, you know, just kind of challenging our past strategies and seeing how that works. So we just, I'm wrapping up that campaign right now and like getting all my analytics from that, but it was a really fun project just to be able to showcase, you know, those shop givebacks in a different way. Last holiday season too, we did a limited merch drop and if you know dutch bros and we have some crazy og fans who just ride or die dutch um we

Starting point is 00:11:16 used to sell merch like on the websites and so we came back with some teasers. And so I posted some teasers on social kind of asking what people thought we were kind of launching. And so that was a great way to gather feedback on a, like what they wanted us to drop and be what they were expecting us to see. So that just really hyped up that whole drop. We sold out in like minutes on certain products. It was amazing. But that was a really good win on the strategy backend of it. And then also obviously front facing for our customers. So some pretty cool moments the last year. That's awesome. Well, kind of piggybacking off of that. Is there anything that you're seeing today and fairly recently work well in terms of strategy on each platform or a couple of your

Starting point is 00:12:06 favorite platforms for Dutch Bros? Yeah. So we've gone back and forth on some newer platforms and where we belong in those spaces and where we really want to focus 100% of our efforts. Obviously, meta is key for advertising and just business goals overall. So we launched TikTok actually in 2020. And that was kind of my baby project, just really watching it grow. We really leaned in on UGC posts on TikTok. Now we're testing out just more of our own in-house created content as we have the more bandwidth to do that. But, but for Facebook and Instagram, what we're really seeing is different content types. And I like can't stress that enough per platform.

Starting point is 00:12:51 What works on Instagram probably won't work the same on Facebook just because they're two different entities. You might have some of the same overlap of audience, but we know that Facebook customers and Instagram customers are definitely different demos. And I think that kind of rings true for most brands. So for Facebook, we tested out text only posts, just no content attached, just a caption. Those performed so well for us as well as like launch graphics instead of a lifestyle video. Whereas Instagram reels,

Starting point is 00:13:26 obviously kill it on engagement and the algorithm and some carousels, UGC, just different mixed media that really works well for us too. So it's very interesting to do those comparison charts and see, you know, each platform has different things working for it. Yeah. That's really great. How long would you recommend someone testing? Like let's say someone new comes into a team and they're trying to redefine what's going to work on each platform. How long do you recommend kind of testing a set of types of posts before you determine exactly how to move forward? I don't want to say permanently because of course things can always change, but like just kind of moving forward in the indefinite future,

Starting point is 00:14:10 what's that look like for you? Yeah, I think it's, it's might not be a matter of like how long, but maybe pitting up specific content types like buckets against each other. So like a drink launch post, how a graphic performed versus a lifestyle, the next campaign. So I probably take it campaign by campaign and that could run a month or three. And then if it's a full strategy, maybe a year test just to see how that worked out. But I definitely think having the specific content buckets in putting them up against each other would probably be a better indicator of what works. And then, like you said, it changes all the time. And what works one year might not work the next year. So

Starting point is 00:14:56 just kind of mix it up a little, see what really worked and then just kind of hone in on those. Yeah, absolutely. And I wanted to ask you too about content calendars. What do you think is the most important thing to remember when building those out for your social team? And why is it really important to have a content calendar in place? Yeah, we try to plan ahead quite a bit. And we have a bunch of different teams we're working with to get those key focuses in and talking points each month. And so having that set content calendar really lets us see it holistically at a glance, just what's going on and what we're talking about. Are we talking about X, Y, Z enough? Do we need to leave space for a trend post? Do we need to add this in or take this away? Is it too much?

Starting point is 00:15:45 And so being able to see it all at once is really helpful and it helps our other teams have insight to what we're doing to promote their activations, especially with like a loyalty team and e-com. And so we have that cross collaboration there and just really bucketing out your content and just having that list. So we need this many posts for this, you know, merger, this drink launch. And so having that just set up and then you can take away or add to as you need, but having the core is really crucial. That's really great. Well, kind of talking about campaign success again, or post success. I know there's always this question of how do I know if something performed well, or what do I look for in order to determine if a post or a campaign was successful or not? content, but you have these seasonal launches, launches you mentioned earlier, you guys have pumpkin now for fall time. So what are some of the KPIs that you guys measure or look for to ensure something successful, whether it's first individual posts, just an ongoing normal

Starting point is 00:16:58 day-to-day post or for a full-on launch or campaign that you're putting together? Yeah. So we definitely, for just day-to-day posts in pretty much anything we put out on social, we're looking at reach and engagement rates. And we've kind of figured out our median of where our reach and engagement should be per post, what performs well compared to others. And we know that certain things like we have monthly sticker drops, those posts will always outperform. But just kind of finding that meaning for everything else. So we look at those as well as the sentiment of each post just to really gauge how it did with our followers. If it sparked a negative conversation or a really positive one, what was that driver? What really captivates people to

Starting point is 00:17:46 partake if they're given a call to action to share it or comment or tag somebody? Those obviously are engagement drivers. So looking at how those did compared to ones from the past, we look at year over year or month over month, depending on the content type. And then for those bigger campaigns like pumpkin, we had caramel pumpkin really last year as well. And this year, so we're just doing that year over year, how those posts did and how people are talking about them and what they're saying. So a lot of sentiment involved as well. Yeah. Sentiment is huge. Are you guys using any kind of like third party to measure that sentiment or is it kind of just your internal team looking at the posts? Yeah, we use amplify for all of our like backend data and analytics and then Facebook groups,

Starting point is 00:18:38 funny enough, are really big for Dutch bands. And so natively I'm in there just keeping an eye out on what people are saying and pulling in comments or posts that people are talking about. And they're our best advocates. We just kind of sit back and watch and let them chit chat with each other and see what's going on. So those are really great ways to get it organically. And then obviously on our own content, we have those hard numbers. Oh my gosh. So cool. Yeah. I worked for a hair care brand for a while and sentiment was a huge piece of, you know, gathering feedback from the audience, at least with, within the social media sphere. And we did use another tool for that. And I can't even remember the name at this time. But we also had Facebook groups.

Starting point is 00:19:26 And a lot of our sentiment was drawn from those natively as well. So that's super fun to hear. And Facebook groups can be super, super fun, too. You can, like, tease out things before you share it to everyone. You can kind of, like, have that one-on-one relationship with your audience, which is really cool. So it's interesting to hear that you guys are doing that as well. Okay. So I have to ask about this because we talked about it in the beginning. We know that you are expanding into new markets because we've heard all the rumors

Starting point is 00:19:55 about a location in the Tampa area, which I cannot wait for real. So how does your team strategy vary based on the market that you are moving into? Yeah. So we do have like a field regional marketing team and they really tap in and put that emphasis on brand awareness. And that's where a lot of our paid goes to promote grand openings and utilizing our loyalty program to provide incentives specifically to those new areas. For our brand social, like our organic posts, we really just continue to drive that drink education, especially for new customers. Like we have limited option or limitless options. So it could be a little bit overwhelming for a new customer. So just really providing that education and that brand awareness with our

Starting point is 00:20:45 organic posts alongside those paid ads, I think it just kind of lent itself to success hand in hand. And it's really fun to hear when some of our teams go out to grand openings, they ask in line, where did you hear about Dutch? And they're like, I found me on TikTok., like a huge win for our team to have that kind of virality in markets. We don't even exist in yet. And for them to go away in those lines for grand openings, just to try us out. So it's really exciting. That's really awesome. Well, we will be waiting very patiently for that Dutch location here. But in addition to that, what else can we kind of keep our eyes open for with Dutch just as the brand as a whole, what are you guys working on? Anything you can share with us today? I can't give too much away, but it's spooky season. So we do have a lot of fun Halloween

Starting point is 00:21:38 surprises coming out. So definitely keep your eye out there. We do have some product launches, something fun coming back in the new year. That's all I can say there. But, um, and then a new product for us that will launch us into a different place. So really excited to get those. We're working on those now. And I think our customers are going to be really excited to see what we've got. Well, I love that. And we will be keeping our eyes out for that. But we're approaching the end of the interview here, which I feel like it just went by so fast, but we love asking this question on the show. And that is, what do you know now that you wish you knew earlier on in your career? Yeah, that's a really

Starting point is 00:22:19 good question. I feel like there's so many things that you just you think, you know, and then out the window. But I'm a natural born planner. So I wish just ahead of time, knowing how nimble you have to be in the space of social media. I think it's ever evolving. So you're always learning, always taking new courses or platform tools and trying to learn those things. And so just rolling with the punches and adapting to what the world of social is doing. There's trends, there's always something to follow, new platforms coming out. So just don't expect to what worked last year or what worked last time to work again.

Starting point is 00:22:56 Just go with it and adapt and be really mindful of all those things. So yeah, it's a fun, fun, fun world to work in social, but it is always ever changing. So. Absolutely. And adaptability is always a great tip. So thank you for sharing that. Cause I think, uh, we can never have enough of a reminder of that. So, um, well, Taylor, we're super excited to keep up with you and with Dutch and everything going on in your life with, but with also the brand. So on that, do you mind sharing with us where we can follow along with you and Dutch online?

Starting point is 00:23:31 Yeah, you can follow Dutch Bros on any Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. It's always at Dutch Bros, Dutch Bros Coffee. And then on my Instagram, it's just at Taylor Shanley Porter. And you can follow me on LinkedIn as well. Always happy to connect and hear from everybody. Awesome. Taylor, thank you so much again. We always love having someone from a beloved coffee brand on the show with us. So grateful that you shared your insights with us today

Starting point is 00:23:55 and we can't wait to stay in touch with you. Awesome. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. That's it for this week's episode. Thanks much again for tuning in if you enjoyed this episode please remember to subscribe rate and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform for more from marketing happy hour head on over to our website marketinghappyhr.com or follow us on instagram at marketing happy HR. We'll see you next week.

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Marketing Happy Hour - Utilizing Consumer Sentiment to Inform Social Media Strategy | Taylor Porter of Dutch Bros Coffee

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