Dunkin? Donuts? plans for mobile ordering, its extensive social media community and the popular DD Perks loyalty program and mobile application all point to the donut bakery chain's heavy focus on mobile as a means of connecting with customers.

Earlier this week, Dunkin? Donuts revealed that its DD Perks Rewards program now has 2 million members after a nationwide rollout in January 2014 (see story). Dunkin? Donuts believes that the high amount of consumers that have downloaded its app and have signed up DD Perks display consumers? demand for relevant, convenient ways of communicating with the brand and engaging with targeted offers.

The chain is planning to expand mobile strategy even further in 2015, with more localized offers and the introduction of mobile ordering, which enables users to place their order with a mobile device and have it waiting for them upon arrival at the brick-and-mortar store. Dunkin? Donuts? brand awareness is at an all-time high, placing the brand on equal footing with other major food and beverage brands such as Starbucks.

Scott Hudler, vice president of global consumer engagement for Dunkin' Brands, spoke with Mobile Marketer about the brands? future plans for mobile ordering, social media outreach and recent mobile milestones.

Dunkin? Donuts frequently leverages social media to connect with fans. Can you talk about a social media milestone that the brand has reached this year?
This year we?ve celebrated several exciting social media milestones, including surpassing more than 12.5 million Likes on Facebook and more than 800,000 followers on Twitter. We?ve also continued to develop engaging, fun content for our fans on Pinterest, Instagram, Vine and Snapchat, and have grown Dunkin? Donuts? presence on those channels over the course of the year.

Which of your mobile strategies have produced the best results? Which have resonated most with your customers?
Both DD Perks and the Dunkin? Mobile App are easy to use and fit seamlessly into their Dunkin? Donuts experience and daily routine. By launching the Dunkin? Mobile App and offering mobile payments, we created an entirely new level of speed and convenience that further distinguishes our brand to current and new customers throughout the country.

In addition, we just announced this week that we?ve surpassed two million DD Perks members and 10 million Dunkin? Mobile App downloads, demonstrating how well they?ve resonated with our guests. By rewarding guests for their loyalty through DD Perks and helping them run on Dunkin? even faster with our Dunkin? Mobile App, we?ve been able to make the guest experience at Dunkin? Donuts even better.

Have you had any challenges with any mobile approaches?
We put a lot of time, planning, testing and training behind the launch of the Dunkin? Mobile App, so were able to make it a fairly seamless process when the app rolled out nationally.

Dunkin? Donuts? mobile application has seen high levels of success and many downloads. How important are mobile coupons in contributing to the app?s success?
We think that targeted offers, as seen on the Dunkin? Mobile App as well as with the new DD Perks program, are definitely a must-have for these types of programs. Consumers have responded very well to the localized offers that are available through the Dunkin? Mobile App and when we launched the DD Perks program, we started to target our guests with valuable, highly-relevant offers right away to drive incremental spend and visits.

Dunkin? has been testing mobile ordering, but is there anything you can discuss regarding plans to roll out that technology in the next year?
The Dunkin' Mobile App gives our guests another convenient way to pay for their order, and enables them to easily send mGifts to friends and family, quickly locate a nearby Dunkin' Donuts restaurant and get geo-targeted local offers. We feel mobile ordering will be another great feature to add to our mobile app in the future to improve convenience and speed of service at our restaurants.

We are planning to test mobile ordering and we anticipate adding the ordering feature to our existing mobile app in 2015. We have no further details about mobile ordering to announce at this time.

How does Dunkin? plan to augment its mobile marketing strategies in the future?
Mobile has been an extremely powerful marketing tool for us, and will continue to be an important part of our overall marketing efforts in the future. As we delve more into the mobile space, we are always looking for ways to enhance our mobile app and continue to provide our guests with even more convenience.

Is there anything else you would like to add regarding Dunkin? Donuts? social media or mobile efforts? 
We see both mobile and social media as key components to our overall marketing platform, and will continue to look for ways to further engage with our guests and make the in-store experience even faster and more convenient for them.

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York