Social Media Marketing, B2C Marketing
When Morgann Book had a break in her shift at her family’s Dairy Queen, boredom sparked an idea: create a TikTok making a DQ favorite. She’d made ice cream treats countless times before and thought this would be no different. Except, it was — her videos amassed millions of views and launched her into TikTok stardom in one day.
Quick-service restaurants (QSRs) of all kinds have seen a similar fate on the social media app. Brands serving cold treats, hot meals and unique drinks are booming on TikTok thanks to both their loyal customers and employees.
Videos from employees at brands like Dairy Queen, Subway, Domino’s and more have earned millions of followers on the app simply for recording their efforts at work. And of course, the channel has offered them a strong platform to post on — TikTok’s engagement is the highest of any social platform.
QSRs have such a following on TikTok that many restaurants have created their own category of videos based on their respective brands. Most often it includes the brand name and the word “Tok” attached at the end.
And of course, for restaurants like the one where Books works, it's working well. Book currently has a total of over 155 million likes across all of her videos. The majority of them document what it's like to work in her store. In addition, over 78 million views have been totaled across videos that have #dairyqueenworker tagged in the caption.
Viewers ask questions about specific brand items, what it’s like to work at Dairy Queen, and past experiences Book has had while fulfilling orders. In addition to answering questions and showing her day-to-day adventures, Book also informs viewers about new and returning treats.
For Book, the fascination with videos like her own comes from the human desire for transparency and personalization.
“I think overall people like to see behind-the-scenes content. When you go grocery shopping and you get a box of cereal you don’t know how it’s made, but with all of these videos, you can go somewhere like Dairy Queen and pick up your favorite cake and you know what happened before it got to you,” Book said.
As the excitement with her videos grew, so did the number of customers visiting the store solely based on Book’s TikTok content. While some of her videos are random behind-the-scenes shots of customer orders, many are direct requests from customers who desire to see their DQ treats online.
“In 2021, things really took off. People would order cakes from the store and would say ‘Hey, we want Morgann to film it’,” said Book. “It got so busy sometimes that I’d have to separate standard orders from TikTok requests.”
The TikTok fan base requested so many cakes that Book and her family developed a specific system around those orders. They required customers to show them what the cake in the video looked like, what the caption was and what day it was posted on.
It’s also important to note that Book’s family chain is located in Canada, a country with a colder climate. One could assume that the residents may not normally spend their days dreaming of cold treats, but Book was making up to 20 ice cream cakes a week to satisfy her customers. This was a major increase in orders.
Book eventually stopped taking cake orders in an effort to focus on school. The videos, on the other hand, aren’t slowing down anytime soon. Book’s most recent TikTok was viewed by over 70k DQ lovers in just 17 hours.
