This February IHop added a new item to its menu – Chicken and Waffles. And as far as I can tell, the newsworthy push has largely been online. Though their video has only received just over 5,000 hits on YouTube, they have recently boosted the video to display prominently on its website homepage and Twitter has taken note. But have they?
IHop has been a continuous advocate of video-based social sharing, having their largest presence on YouTube. Their channel boasts both celebrity appearances and quality production techniques but has only amassed 39,000 channel views since 2006. So why hasn’t this well known and visited chain gained more traction?
For one, their cross-channel promoting sucks. Their YouTube presence doesn’t link to their Facebook page, and their Twitter account….well, it doesn’t exist. But just look at the conversation happening on twitter about Chicken and Waffles and compare that with the conversation happening on YouTube. Do you think the company made the right platform choice?
Exhibit 1 — YouTube. 1 Comment Ever.
Exhibit 2 — Twitter. 1 Comment Every 15 Seconds.
We think not. Sure, Facebook and Youtube logos are linked and displayed on their website homepage, but their is no link on these social accounts to each other. Not only is this bad SEO practice, it also limits customer engagement. Clearly, YouTube isn’t working out nearly as well as they hoped and instead of promoting it further by cross pollinating with other social channels, they neglect them all equally — especially their large twitter base.
So just why does IHop waste so much money producing movies nobody will see when there is engagement to be had on twitter? And why don’t they use twitter and their steady facebook following to gain more views and drive more sales via YouTube? Well, that’s just poor social strategy. Don’t let your company fall prey to these easy-to-fix scenarios. Make sure you engage your audience where they are and spread the love by advertising cross-channel.
