Committed to continued growth, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is currently ranked number two in Forbes' top 10 global fast-food chains. Is this simply because it's “finger-licking delicious”? No, it's not just that. The brand has always been keen to innovate its marketing strategies to more effectively attract customers. Over the years, KFC's marketing strategies have captured the accelerating interest in food in over 145 countries around the world.
KFC Consumer Profile
KFC uses demographic segmentation to serve its target market with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian customer base. KFC's products are targeted at children, youth and almost all age groups. KFC's target audience can be categorized into four groups:
- The kids
- Teens and young adults
- family
- Budget-conscious travellers
The primary customer profile includes teenagers and families, as many teenagers are impulsive and like to dine out with friends or order online and dine with their families, the second customer profile includes adults and the third customer profile is people with a smaller budget.
Types of KFC Marketing Channels
KFC started with an undifferentiated targeting strategy of offering the same menu across the globe. However, recently, they have started localizing their menu to increase market acceptance. KFC's marketing strategy incorporates two types of marketing channels: personal and non-personal.
Personal channels are those that directly communicate with the audience, such as KFC salespeople introducing products to customers in person or over the phone. Non-personal marketing channels include the use of both online and offline media.
- newspaper
- magazine
- wireless
- tv set
- Leaflet
- Billboard
- Poster
- web page
- Promotional Campaign
- event
- Public relations activities
- Social media
KFC’s Digital Marketing Strategy
KFC’s marketing strategies mainly include SEO, content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and video marketing. However, the company places special emphasis on social media marketing and uses the most popular digital marketing platforms to highlight prices and customer satisfaction.
KFC’s Facebook and Twitter pages are highly engaged with customers.
KFC Facebook page
KFC uses Facebook as a medium to inform its customers about new offers, products, discounts, and other schemes. They also use Facebook to address customer complaints. The brand strives to spread product-centric content. They promote online ordering facilities through social media.
KFC's official Facebook page introduces a variety of menu items.
During celebrations, the Facebook page features several animated photos that often generate a great response and help KFC connect with its audience from time to time. The posts have a high engagement rate with over 250,000 likes and over 5,000 comments. On average, the overall page engagement level is around 5%, indicating high-quality interaction and engagement.
The team in charge of KFC's Facebook page is very responsive to customers. They encourage customers to file a complaint if they are unhappy with the store.
KFC Twitter handle
KFC’s Twitter handle is just as interactive as their Facebook page, with the team doing a great job of placating disgruntled customers and engagement levels being incredibly high.
KFC Twitter handle
To take interaction to the next level, the team frequently runs contests that integrate Facebook and Twitter. They also promote new offers and discounts through Twitter. Although these tweets don't get many retweets or conversations at the moment, the brand seems to be focused on growing its business through Twitter as well.
KFC Instagram handle
An Instagram post featuring KFC's latest offers
Apart from their main page, KFC also has several verified Instagram pages for different countries. This digital marketing platform is primarily used to attract customers by posting attractive images of food items from their menu. They also post about their current offers, new product introductions, and other initiatives.
KFC on YouTube
Advertisements displayed on KFC India's YouTube channel
KFC has included video marketing in their list of digital marketing strategies, but they use their YouTube channel only for advertising. Although the videos are short, under 2 minutes, the channel still has a large number of subscribers. The company uses YouTube as a secondary medium to display advertisements.
KFC's Email Marketing Strategy
KFC Restaurants uses AMP technology to create mass emails to target mobile phone users as well. AMP emails differ from regular emails in that they contain interactive elements such as order buttons, product carousels, subscription forms, sliders, animations, and interactive showcases of meals to ensure that the emails do not get lost in the inboxes of potential customers. The company also uses this strategy to segment its audience and personalize email campaigns targeted at specific audiences. The company's brand awareness campaigns later lead to valuable conversions.
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Conclusion
KFC has a strong marketing strategy and actively uses Twitter and Facebook to attract customers, share promotions and initiatives, and resolve customer complaints. YouTube's potential has not yet been fully utilized.
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