Teapigs sprang into life in 2006, which makes this feel-good tea brand older than Facebook! Founded by Nick and Louise out of a love for quality tea, they pride themselves on providing the best cuppa while staying sustainable, ethically aware and environmentally conscious.
Teapigs hold high quality and ethics at their core, which is what sets them apart from other tea companies. In 2019, they had a turnover of £11m and a profit of £4m, which just goes to show that it pays to do the right thing. Their green credentials are huge; Teapigs are a certified B-Corp, which means they’ve been found to meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance. They were also the first tea company to be awarded the Plastic Free stamp from A Plastic Planet, as their packaging is completely free from conventional plastic. As if that wasn’t enough, they’re also members of the Ethical Tea Partnership, hold tea-tasting days which donate profits to charity and support communities around the world. Phew!
Teapigs and Social Media
It’s no wonder Teapigs are big on social media. They’re mainly active on the three big platforms – let’s take a closer look:
Facebook: 50k likes, 50k followers
Twitter: 45k followers
Instagram: 60.5k followers
Teapigs are VERY good at social media. They post to their main platforms regularly, have a great approach to community management and most importantly, manage to grow and keep new audience members effectively. But how do they do it?
Staying Environmentea-lly Friendly
When a brand is doing something well, it makes sense to shout about it on social media. Teapigs, although not perfect, are forging ahead with their eco-friendly efforts. With regards to packaging, their tea temples, inner bags and outer packs are all compostable or suitable for food waste collections.
Climate change and the environment is a huge topic that’s always current and relevant. Their brand appeals to people who not only love tea, but also want to do their bit to help conserve the planet – which is why tapping into this for their social media content is such a great idea.
Their sustainability and environmental content is done in two ways. Firstly, they spend time educating their followers on exactly how ethical their products and packaging are by showcasing them across all three platforms. Secondly, they’re great at encouraging their audiences to be more environmentally friendly, and to think about the lifestyle choices they’re making. They regularly remind people how they can dispose of Teapigs tea temples once they’re finished with. They also spread awareness by promoting national days relating to the environment and linking to blog posts with tips for greener living.
Creating a Communi-tea
While they might be at the top of their game environmentally, if there’s one thing Teapigs do well on social media, it’s community management. These guys are on fire.
Their tone is friendly, approachable and on the lighter side – but they still manage to be informative and educational. It’s a great balance to have, and they’ve absolutely nailed it. They’ve also got that delicate emoji count spot on; they use enough to appear on-trend and relaxed, but not so many that you forget they’re a professional business. Their imagery is bright and modern, but ultimately, their posts aren’t overstyled – this makes them appear more down-to-earth and honest. It’s a smart move.
Their customer service on social media is outstanding. Most interactions appear on Facebook and Twitter, and are a pretty mixed bag. There’s some tagged posts, some queries, some general chatty comments and a few complaints here and there. They respond to every single one, with a comment, a retweet or by ‘liking’ the post. Most importantly, they always do it in a timely manner. They’re hugely effective at dealing with complaints, always providing a satisfactory resolution – leaving a string of happy customers behind them.
Teapigs are also brilliant at user-generated content, taking the time on Twitter to retweet anything they’ve been tagged in with a comment. This is great, as it often generates a longer conversation with the audience member. Over on Instagram, they’re a fan of the re-gram, that handy tool which allows you to repost users content on your own feed. User generated content is a great tool for social media; not only does it allow brands to connect with their audiences more deeply, it also helps to build trust in the company. Individuals are always going to value peers opinions over the opinion of the brand, whose ultimate goal is generally sales.
Working for Chari-tea
Teapigs aren’t only concerned with the environment, they’re also big on supporting communities around the world. They work with the Point Foundation, a charity who support educational activities for young people in Africa. For every package of Teapigs everyday brew that’s sold, they make a donation to the foundation, along with profits from their Tea School events. Additionally, they run other fundraising events, and match donations from customers.
Teapigs use Instagram to promote their hugely popular tea-school events. During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Teapigs made the decision to take provide the schools virtually rather than face-to-face. The comments showed that this was a hugely popular decision.
Hosting Afternoon Tea
What goes better with tea than cake? Teapigs are great at whipping up peoples appetites with bright photos of their teas sat beside a tasty treat. Aside from showing what great bakers the Teapigs staff are, they also post recipes for culinary delights to their blog, then link to those in their posts. This is a great way of driving traffic. Who wouldn’t want to find out how to make their chocolate layer cake with matcha icing? *dribbles*
U-tea-lising Seasonal Content
Another thing Teapigs are great at is using seasonal content. They make the most of everything from national days and holidays to weather and other events, and they cleverly manage to weave the subject of tea into all their posts.
For Easter 2020, they used IGTV to promote a vegan hot-cross bun recipe. For the festive season the previous year there was a 12-days-of-Christmas-style giveaway. The Christmas giveaway had huge levels of engagement and interaction – a great way to boost their already large audience.
