We have all sat through a lecture hungry, counting down till break time, only to be left unsure about what to eat. You pass on the responsibility to your classmate, hoping they could suggest an eatery near the school but instead they respond with “I don’t know, you pick a place”. Don’t you worry because I have gathered some of the best and most affordable student lunch deals near the Marylebone campus. Additionally, living in London can get expensive, so read till the end for tips on how you can save some money as a student.

1. 106 Baker Street – for amazing vegetarian food

Offer: 20% off the bill

Price: £8 – £15

Dietary: Vegetarian, Vegan, Avoiding Gluten options

When: Sunday to Thursday, 8AM – 11PM

Distance: 3-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: 119-121 Baker St, London W1U 6RY

106 Baker Street is a bustling little café in the heart of Marylebone village serving Mediterranean-inspired dishes. The café offers freshly baked pastries, sandwiches, cakes and artisanal coffee. This is my personal go-to spot on those days I’m craving something quick, healthy and delicious. Their lunch menu is seasonal and varies daily, so you can frequent the café without getting bored with their food. Their lunch box comes with a main and 3 salads for under £10. You can have the lunch box to-go or dine in. The café is beautifully decorated with ornate vintage furniture and has its own little garden. I highly recommend their mixed roasted vegetables, which are a must-have when I visit. This place is a hidden gem frequented by regulars from nearby offices. In saying that, the café offers a discount when you flash your student ID to the cashier.

2. Bill’s – for all-day brunch

Offer: A pizza and soft drink for £9.95

Price: £9.95

Dietary: Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten free options

When: Every day, 11:30AM – 11PM

Distance: 5-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: 91 Baker St, London W1U 6QQ

Just a stone’s throw from the Marylebone campus, Bill’s is the perfect spot for all-day brunch or dinner with friends after class. The tiny quaint restaurant is packed full of colours and old-world charm, providing a cosy ambiance to unwind from university stress. The restaurant serves modern British food with an all-day brunch menu. The menu caters to vegetarians, vegans and those avoiding gluten. During lunch hours, you can get 2 or 3 course meals at an affordable price. Luckily for students, they offer an additional 20% off the total bill. All you need to do is download UNiDAYS and flash your discount code to the friendly servers.

3. Franco Manca – for something filling

Offer: A pizza and soft drink for £9.95

Price: £9.95

Dietary: Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten-free options

When: Every day, 11:30AM – 11PM

Distance: 5-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: 91 Baker St, London W1U 6QQ

This pizzeria chain is a short stroll from the Marylebone campus, offering made-to-order sourdough pizza. Franco Manca has perfected their sourdough base, making them fresh on-site every day with properly sourced seasonal ingredients. They use organic, fresh produce that is available during the season. Hence, despite the indulgence, you will not be left feeling guilty after eating their pizza. Unlike typical pizza chains, Franco Manca offers traditional toppings similarly found on authentic Italian pizzas. If you are unsure of what to get here, their authentic Neapolitan pizza is a fan favourite. Franco Manca offers pizza with a soft drink meal for £9.95 all day to students. Just show the code on your UNiDAYS app to the server to redeem this offer.

4. Patty & Bun – for some extra protein

Offer: Any burger, chips and soft drink for £10.95

Price: £10.95

Dietary: Vegetarian and vegan friendly, Halal options

When: Every day, 12PM – 10PM

Distance: 13-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: 54 James St, London W1U 1HE

Patty & Bun started off as a humble pop-up stall across London but has since proved its success opening its doors to 9 shops in London and 1 in Brighton. Patty & Bun does it simply but does it well, with a short menu of gourmet burgers and hand-cut chips. Their burger patties are grounded fresh every day, using a secret blend of 35-day-aged, grass-fed Aberdeen Angus beef. There is no doubt Patty & Bun is a meat lovers’ heaven, but there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan menu items available as well. The menu also caters to their Muslim customers, with halal options available at certain locations. For students, you can get any of their burgers, rosemary salted chips and a soft drink for £10.95. The offer is available 7 days a week, at any time.

5. Subway – for something quick and cheap

Offer: 6-inch sandwich, soft drink and cookie meal for £5

When: Everyday, 7AM – 11PM

Distance: 4-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: 205-207 Baker St, London NW1 6UY

6. Pizza Express – for picky eaters

Offer: 30% off food

When: Sunday – Thursday, 12PM – 10PM

Distance: 3-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: 133 Baker St, London W1U 6SF

7. Zizzi – for some carb indulgence

Offer: 20% off food

When: Sunday – Thursday, 11:30AM – 10PM

Distance: 5-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: 35 Paddington St, London W1U 4HQ

8. Dunkin’ Donuts – for a caffeine break

Offer: 10% off

When: Every day, 9AM – 9PM

Distance: 3-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: 191 Baker St, London NW1 6UY

9. Krispy Kreme – for a sweet treat

Offer: 10% off

When: Every day, 9AM – 6PM

Distance: 2-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: Shop G, Bakerloo Line Booking Hall Baker Street Station, Marylebone Rd, London NW1 5LA

10. ASK Italian – for some cheeky drinks

Offer: Free round of drinks

When: Sunday – Thursday, 11:30AM – 10PM

Distance: 17-minute walk from Marylebone Campus

Address: 121 – 125 Park St, London W1K 7JA

Tips on saving money as a student

If you haven’t already, download the UNiDAYS app to get discounted deals on products and services. The membership is available for free to current students in higher education. You can start saving on big retailers such as Levi’s, ASOS, Express, Apple, Hollister and many more.

Similar to UNiDAYS, StudentBeans is another discount app to help you save money on your favourite brands. UNiDAYS and StudentBeans work with different brands exclusive to them so make sure you download both to maximise your savings. Signing up is easy, all you need to do is register using your student email address and verify to prove your current enrolment.

Another student discount programme to look out for is the TOTUM membership. TOTUM is the number 1 student discount and campus life membership recommended by the National Union of Students. You can get access to huge savings on food, essentials, tech, travel, fashion, beauty and a whole lot more. The biggest benefit of TOTUM membership is that you can use the physical card as a legal proof-of-age ID. Prices start from £14.99 for a 1-year membership or £24.99 for a 3-year membership.

I hope this blog serves you well the next time you’re indecisive about what to eat during your lunch break. Also, if you need some inspiration on what to do during the summer break, check out the top 10 places to visit in London. Or if you are thinking of hosting a party, learn how to make 10 of the best summer cocktails.   

The post Top 10 Student Lunch Deals Near Marylebone Campus first appeared on wbsdigital.

Sponsor a Gambian Girl (SaGG) is a non-profit organisation that seeks to empower girls and women in The Gambia through education. The organisation has four social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. The purpose of these social media channels is to drive traffic towards their website and for visitors to take action in helping The Gambian girls.

1. Social Listening

Social Media Audit

After analysing the social media channels of SaGG Foundation, the infographic below indicates the performance of the current social media initiatives.

As seen above, the social media audit reveals little engagement on the SaGG Foundation posts. Average likes on posts range from 1 to 5 likes on the various channels. There are few to no comments made from followers with an average of one comment per post. The average engagement rate of SaGG Foundation is 0.09% for Facebook and 0.3% for Instagram, which is lower than the average benchmark for non-profit organisations. It is noteworthy that the SaGG Foundation responds to every comment on all channels. 

In saying that, some posts stand out as successful in terms of larger engagement from the audience. The successful posts are centered around real stories of the Gambian girls or the experience of the donors. This can be derived that the audience prefers to view content that evokes emotions with genuine stories over informative content.

The metrics used to track the performance are reach, likes, comments, views and shares. Due to the limited information regarding social media analytics, the audit is unable to identify the performance of other metrics such as clicked links and unique website visitors.

Additionally, a social listening tool was employed to review mentions of the SaGG Foundation. However, it was reported that there were no mentions of the organisation from the audience. This could be due to the lack of a branded hashtag to promote communication with the organisation.  

Overall, the performance of the social media initiatives can be determined as poor due to the following reasons.

1. Content

A discovery was made after analysing the content posted on the SaGG Foundation pages that the exact same content is being posted on various channels. Digital marketers have advised against the copy-and-paste approach as it is evident to be unsuccessful for many brands. This can impact the performance of the content as different platforms have a unique set of format criteria, strategies and algorithms. Instead, it is recommended that content should be crafted for each specific channel depending on how users consume content on those channels.

For example, the copy-and-paste approach used by SaGG Foundation has led to unfitting captions and tags which can seem unprofessional as shown below. The tags on the Facebook post are unavailable as the caption was curated for Instagram.

2. Tone

Another element that stood out during the audit was the tone of the social media posts.

Hootsuite Academy emphasised the importance of differentiating the voice of the brand and the tone used on different channels for a positive influence on the audience. The voice of the brand should reflect the brand and stay consistent. However, the tone used to convey the message can vary from one social media platform to another. For example, the tone used on LinkedIn should be formal and informative. Whereas the tone used on Instagram can be more playful and inspirational. Having the general message in mind for the content, the captions for each channel should vary. Using an inappropriate tone can obstruct how the followers covey the message and may hinder the action required from them.

However, the SaGG Foundation can improve its social media initiatives by using competitors as a benchmark. 

Competitor Analysis

A competitor analysis was done to compare the performance of SaGG Foundation with similar charities to set a benchmark. The chosen charity for this analysis was Plan International. Similar to the SaGG Foundation, Plan International strive for children’s rights and equality for girls.

Plan International has six social media channels where they bring awareness to their charity and share stories from sponsors. A social media audit for Plan International is displayed in the infographic below.

After reviewing the various social media channels, it was uncovered that their content is around activism, societal awareness and brand awareness. The contents are carefully curated to evoke the emotional appeal of the viewers. They also promote social and political causes such as the Ukraine War and Global Food Crisis. Their social media posts also direct traffic to their website through blogs covering various social causes. It can be derived that these blog posts assist in conversation as it leads viewers to their website.

A social listening audit revealed 868 mentions made in the last 30 days regarding Plan International. The social listening audit reveals that mentions of Plan International are mainly by donors and supporters that share their experience working with the organisation. The mentions are positive with compliments advocating the organisation. Overall, Plan International has a higher reach as evident from its number of followers.

Donor’s Demographic and Social Media Habits

To have a better understanding of how to curate social media content to drive engagement and action, a persona model has been created for SaGG Foundation. This aid in investigating the consumer’s social media usage and behaviour.

The current demographic of the audience was unveiled to be aligned with the target audience of SaGG Foundation.

Research by Statista has revealed the hobbies and interests of social media users from the United Kingdom and the United States. It also reveals their life values which can be useful in curating content to reach the audience emotionally and promote action.

Some of the recent social media trends for non-profit organisations in 2022 are as followed:

• Establish an online community – social media can be a useful platform to cultivate a sense of community with the donors and potential donors.
• Use social media for donor care – social media can be used to stay connected with donors to answer questions and monitor conversations about the organisation.
• Utilise short-form videos – this is a quick and easy way to share the story about the organisation in an interesting content format.
• Establish the brand voice with social audio – social audio is a great way to set the organisation as a thought leader in the industry by sharing stories and experiences.
• Use social media ads to reach new donors and volunteers – advertising on social media can be a great way to reach a new audience while keeping to your budget.

Additionally, research has shown the best timings to post on social media for non-profit organisations.

2. Social Media Goals

A social media audit is important to understand the performance of the current social media initiatives. The insight can determine whether the current employed social media initiatives are successful and pinpoint areas of improvement. Some of the recommended metrics are reach, engagement, clicks, web traffic and conversion. Another important aspect to consider is the demographic of your reach. If the current target audience is not in alignment with the organisation’s target segment, it could lead to fewer conversations. This could reflect poorly on the return on investment of the time and money spent. The simplest way of retrieving information regarding your social media initiative is through social media platform analytics. However, there are analytics tools such as HubSpot and Google Analytics that provide additional information.

Social listening and monitoring should also be done to understand how the audience perceives the organisation. This can help uphold public relations and the transparency of the organisation. Some examples of social listening tools are Hootsuite and Brand24.

In conclusion, SaGG Foundation should take into consideration the social media audit, competitor analysis, consumer behaviour and industry trends to develop a better social media approach to maximise its donations.

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