Whole Foods Social Media Strategy

In my previous post, I gave you some preliminary steps that I would take to create a strategy for Whole Foods Market; outlined below are more specific strategies:

Market Intelligence

Major local competitors for Whole Foods Market are Kroger Co. stores and Trader Joe's stores locally. Kroger Co. based in Cincinnati Ohio is one of the nations largest grocer with sales over $90m. They operate 2,425 stores in 31 states under nearly two dozen banners. The Kroger website did not appear to have any visible social media resources; but they rely heavily on the Kroger Card and coupons.

Trader Joe's began in Pasadena California, and eventually opened stores in 37 states. Trader Joe's also does not appear to have any visible social media resources, they have a mailer that goes out to their customers who have signed up for the mailing list.

Since Whole Foods Market is already the top SEO and 365 Products is at the top of Google Adwords, this lack of social media for the other grocers lends itself well to Whole Foods Market, as they already have a strong presence in the social media world; and also allows them to step outside the box and try different approaches that could place them much further ahead of their competitors, including more promotion of the everyday value products.

Target Audience/Strategy

• Families
  • Phone coupons
  • QR Codes for recipes
  • In-store scanners for prices and coupons
  • Pinterest posts
  • Website coupons downloadable to phone or in store
• Singles
  • Twitter/FB phone alerts weekly meal deals
  • Online ordering
  • Pinterest posts
  • Meal deal – buy 8 get 1 free order monthly get percentage off
• Green Eco-conscious
  • How-to videos
  • Information on environment – stories, statistics on products, local products and suppliers
  • Samples

Content/Frequency/Social Media Tools

• Scan-able coupons - smart-phone - weekly
• QR Codes - app for reading codes. Adding QR codes to recipes online - monthly
• Section on website for online ordering - web designer - daily
• Scan-able card for meal deal - reusable plastic card for customers - weekly
• DIY videos for green projects - videos - monthly
• Information on environment - bloggers, staff writing - weekly
• Sample green products - promotion - bi-monthly
• Taste testing of 365 products - promotion - quarterly

Goals and Objectives 

• Increase sales of 365 Products by 5%
• Increase prepared meal sales by 10%
• Increase sales of green products by 5%
• Track customer buying for promotions

Response Plan

Respond to customer feedback by close of business each day through employee monitoring of facebook and twitter accounts. Identify employees from each section of the store, and specifically the 365 Products, to have the technology necessary to monitor social media sites and respond. The approach and tone for online interactions would be more shopper to shopper engagement; with recommendations for products based on their purchases, sharing of stories about their experiences at the store and with the products. I would go for relationship building between the employees and the customers. 

Budget

The budget for the strategy is outlined here.