Coffee chains Starbucks and Costa Coffee have come out on top in a list of how well brands engage with their UK social media users. 

The latest Food and Beverage Social Media Benchmark from eDigitalResearch measured the number of ‘likes’ brands received on UK social media pages and the coffee giants were found to be leading the pack with more than a million followers each.

The benchmark also found that food and beverage brands are also starting to post a lot more throughout the weekend period. Traditionally, the research had found that brand activity died down on Saturday and Sunday but now they seem to be posting similar levels of content every day.

Derek Eccleston, commercial director at eDigitalResearch, said: “There has been a real emphasis over the past couple of years on listening to and engaging with your customers. Social media platforms are a fantastic starting point for brands to connect with customers on both a global and local level.

“However, our benchmark results reveal that food and beverage brands appear to place more of an emphasis on engaging with customers on social media rather than listening – and those brands that do utilise Facebook and Twitter as part of their customer service strategy, often only respond to customers who have had a bad experience.

“Instead, brands need an effective tool to listen to all social media users, alerting customer relations teams when a situation arises or when a customer has had a great experience – this way, they’ll not only be able to listen and engage with their entire social media following, but also users on an individual level, as well as using feedback to improve their brand experience.”