This is a social media strategy plan that I made for my social media management course at the University of Florida. I followed the layout from the Hootsuite social media learning course.

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SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
BY: STEPHANIE SPARKS 9/21/17

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Executive Summary
2. Social Media Audit
A. Social Media Assessment
B. Website Traffic Sources Assessment
C. Customer Demographics Assessment
D. Competitor Assessments
3. Social Media Objectives
4. Online Brand Persona and Voice
5. Strategies and Tools
6. Timing and Key Dates
7. Social Media Roles and Responsibilities
8. Social Media Policy
9. Critical Response Plan
10. Measurement and Reporting Results

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 Whole Foods Market produces the finest natural and organic foods and has an unshakeable
commitment to sustainable agriculture. Whole Food’s target market consists of higher income
individuals at lower middle age. Our Whole Foods Market’s social media objective in the next four
months, from October 2017 through January 2018, will consist of expanding our social media
followings and social media presence delivering our message that we are the best food retailer in
every community in which we are located in.
 Our focus will be directed towards producing higher sales growth than our competitors by increasing
traffic to all of our social media platforms and customer satisfaction through the use of positive social
media engagements and by sharing relevant social media content. Whole Foods Market was recently
bought out by Amazon; therefore, we will take advantage of this.
 Two social media strategies that will support these objectives:
1. Increase the quality of content and frequency of publishing content on all social media platforms
2. Develop of more positive social media presence through the use of positive interactions and relevant content
sharing, while continuing to engage consumers


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SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
The four subsequent slides is an
audit of Whole Foods Market’s
social media presence on
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and
YouTube as of September 21st,
2017. Web traffic sources,
consumer demographics, and
competitor assessments will be
included.

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SOCIAL MEDIA ASSESSMENT
Social network URL Number of
Followers
Average Weekly
Activity
Average
Engagement
Rate
Instagram https://www.instagram
.com/wholefoods/
2,425,851 7 posts per week 9%
Twitter https://twitter.com/Wh
oleFoods
4,864,567 15 posts per
week
16%
Facebook https://www.facebook.
com/WholeFoods/
4,070,140 8 posts per week 10%
YouTube https://www.youtube.c
om/user/WholeFoods
Market/featured
73,606 Less than 1 post
per week
1%
Social Media Assessment: The lowest number of interactions per post and lowest number of
followers is via YouTube. The other platforms have much higher engagements as they focus
more on retail operations; therefore, we will focus on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for this
social media strategy.

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WEBSITE TRAFFIC SOURCES ASSESSMENT
SOURCE VOLUME % OF OVERALL
TRAFFIC
CONVERSION RATE
Instagram 50,341 unique visits 11% 2.1%
Twitter 150,402 unique visits 22% 3.2%
Facebook 92,388 unique visits 18% 2.3%
YouTube 1,500 unique visits 9% 2%
Monthly visits as of October 1st, 2017
Traffic summary: Currently, Twitter is our greatest influencer to our website traffic.
The conversion rate also beats Instagram with 2.1%, Facebook with 2.3%, and YouTube
with 2% respectively.

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AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHICS ASSESSMENT
Age
Distribution
Gender
Distribution
Primary
Social
Network
Secondary
Social
Network
Primary Need Secondary
Need
18% 18-30
35% 31-40
28% 41-55
19% 56-80
54% Women
46% Men
42% Twitter
32% Facebook
23% Instagram
3% YouTube
40% Facebook
32% Twitter
23% Instagram
5% YouTube
Healthy and
high quality
food that is
available when
needed
A clean
environment
with a friendly,
engaging staff
Audience Demographics Summary: The distribution of customers is highly weighted at the
young to middle adult age. Given the prices of Whole Foods groceries, a low distribution at the
demographics of 18-30 and 56-80 is to be expected. Twitter and Facebook is the core of our social
media traffic. Quality and customer service are our main motivators that influence our customers to
shop at Whole Foods. However, we should focus on strengthening all our social media platforms.

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COMPETITOR ASSESSMENT
Competitor Name Social Media Strengths Weaknesses
Trader Joe’s Facebook: Trader
Joe’s
Aesthetically pleasing
cover photo and profile
picture; content
promotes cheap prices
No links to other social
media platforms
Sprouts Farmers
Market
Instagram: Sprouts Picture feed is
professional with high
quality content; link to
website
No use of hashtags of
tags in photos
Safeway Twitter: Safeway Great use of branded
content; shared
content is engaging
Profile picture and
cover photo could be
changed due to low
quality
Competitor Assessment Summary: This assessment focused on three of Whole Foods’ main
competitors who all have a strong presence via social media. All competitors convey their brand
message very well with the use of strong image content. However, areas of improvement include more
usage of hashtags and links to other social media platforms to help increase viewership on all
platforms.

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SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES
Throughout the next four months, the primary
focus of our social media strategy will be to
to produce higher sales growth than our
competitors by increasing traffic to all of our
social media platforms and customer
satisfaction through the use of positive social
media engagements and by sharing relevant
social media content. Whole Foods was
recently bought out by Amazon; therefore,
we will take advantage of this. In order to do
so, we will be focusing on procuring content
that is relatable, transparent, and engaging
to our consumers while highlighting Whole
Foods pleasurable shopping experience. The
goal is to increase our online following on all
social media platforms by measurable
amounts after the end of these four months.

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SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES
Objectives include:
-Increase social media engagements by 15%:
• Increase brand awareness by posting more engaging content
on all social media platforms, especially Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram
• Increase use of user-generated content on all social media
platform
- Interact more with consumers online to deliver that idea of transparency.
Customer engagement is extremely important via social media
- Stress Whole Foods Market’s brand image by posting #funfacts about the
benefits of eating healthier foods (provided by Whole Foods itself)

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SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES
QUANTITATIVE KPI’s
- Number of Facebook, Instagram, and
Twitter followers
- Number of likes on Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter posts
- Number of posts on Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter
QUALITATIVE KPI’s
- Sentiment analysis
- Response and engagement rates
from posts
Reminder: YouTube has been
excluded due to low interaction rates
KEY SUPPORTING MESSAGES
- Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet.
- Where tasting food is only natural.
- Raised right, tastes right.
- The highest standards weren’t available, so we
created them

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ONLINE BRAND PERSONA AND VOICE
Adjectives that
describe our brand:
- Healthy
- Earthy
- Natural
- Clean
- Fresh
- Unique
- Tasty
When interacting with
customers, we are:
- Caring
- Helpful
- Friendly
- Enthusiastic
- Charismatic
- Understanding

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PAID STRATEGIES
1. Every Wednesday, boost popular social
media posts from the previous week
(applicable to all platforms). Post
heavily on limited-time offer items.
Posts must have a minimum reach of
500,000 users and must have a
minimum of 5,000 likes.
2. Utilize Facebook Live and Instagram
stories/live to highlight customer
experience and the general Whole
Foods store management and
processes.
3. Create one sponsored post a week,
particularly focusing on an
#ItemoftheWeek. Ideally have this
posted before Friday.

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OWNED STRATEGIES
1. Introduce the hashtag
#CustomeroftheWeek to really
personify Whole Foods as a
brand. With customer approval,
we will showcase a customer and
give them an opportunity to say a
blurb about Whole Foods or even
Whole Foods products. This is a
great strategy for included
product placement.
2. Promote in-store business at the
food bar by offering discounts on
Make Your Own Plate during
various days of the week

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EARNED STRATEGIES
1. Introduce the hashtag
#PlateoftheWeek on Twitter where
customers can send in a picture of
the plate they created at the food
bar. The winning plate will receive a
shout out via Twitter.
2. Introduce a contest at all
participating locations where
customers can simply enter their
name in a drawing and have a
chance to receive a $100 gift basket
with store-favorite items. This gives
Whole Foods an opportunity to
introduce new products to
consumers who might not willingly
buy the products they will receive in
the basket. Select winners will be
posted via social media

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TOOLS
- Approved as of October 1st: Google Analytics,
Hootsuite, Klout
- Existing Licenses: Adobe Creative Cloud
applications, The Whole Foods Market App for
Smartphones, and Canva
- Rejected: N/A

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KEY DATES AND TIMING
- Internal Events: Annual Makeup Sale, Annual Wellness Fair,
Annual Brewfest, The Gluten Free Expo, Annual Chili Cook Off Event
- Holiday Dates: Open from 8am-9pm every day of the week, every
day of the year with respect to adjusted hours on holidays such as
Christmas and Thanksgiving
- Reporting Dates: January, April, July, October

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SOCIAL MEDIA ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
• Global V.P., Global Marketing Chief: Sonya Gafsi
Oblisk
• Leads the company’s marketing, advertising and brand
development efforts, including digital, brand marketing and
customer relationship strategies.
• Integrated Brand Content & Social Media Director: Lisa Grimm
• Leads the integrated brand content and social media teams responsible
for the development and implementation of Whole Foods Market’s
storytelling and publishing approach across owned, paid and earned
channels.
• Global V.P. of Communications: Brooke Buchanan
• Leads Whole Foods Market’s public relations, internal communications and
government affairs efforts.

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SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
The social media industry is only growing from here on out.
Social media marketing allows for companies to increase
website traffic, engage consumers, improve brand loyalty,
and build brand equity. Online communication is essential as
it increases consumer interaction and transparency. Being
part of the Whole Foods Market family simply implies the
following:
• Be respectful.
• The customer is never wrong.
• Spread the love for healthy, delicious foods.
• Have fun!

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CRITICAL RESPONSE PLAN: PART 1
Customers purchase product and fall ill
Take action:
• Alert the V.P. of Communications, and the Director of Team Member Services
(Martin Tracey)
• Have Martin inform Global V.P. of Marketing Chief, Sonya, who will ask the Social
Media Director, Lisa, to asses the number of cases that are present worldwide
• Lisa and Brooke are to directly deal with all online situations and post accordingly to
the incident
• Lisa will push messaging on all social media platforms to ensure all cases have
been attended to
• Lisa, Brooke, and Sonya will asses whether further action will be necessary
Pre-approved message: We extend our upmost apologies to those who have experienced any illness (from
said product). We thank you for your business and will ensure you that all necessary actions will be taken in
regards to this situation. Our phone lines will be open at all times to answer any questions and concerns.

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CRITICAL RESPONSE PLAN: PART 2
Inappropriate content has been shared via social media
Take action:
• Have the social media coordinator immediately remove the message from the
social media platform
• Have Sonya, Lisa, and Brooke, coordinate on an apology message that will
be sent out via ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
• Lisa will monitor all social media platforms and respond accordingly to all
effected customers/individuals
• Continue to professionally handle all situations regarding the incident, since
events like this usually linger around for months
Pre-approved message: We would like to sincerely apologize for the message that was
posted on our social media account today. The message does not resonate with the
Whole Foods Market’s mission statement. *post accordingly*

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MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING RESULTS
Social Network URL Follower Count Average Weekly
Activity
Average
engagement
Rate
Twitter https://twitter.com
/WholeFoods
5,399,098 20 posts per
week
22%
Instagram https://www.insta
gram.com/wholef
oods/
2,800,822 8 posts per week 12%
Facebook https://www.faceb
ook.com/WholeF
oods/
4,714,333 10 posts per
week
14%
Quantitative KPI’s
Reporting period of 4 months

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MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING RESULTS
Source Volume % of Overall Traffic Conversion Rate
Twitter 209,880 unique
visits
52% 10.2%
Instagram 56,534 unique visits 19% 6.8%
Facebook 105,294 unique
visits
31% 7%
Website traffic data
Assessment: All social media platforms have managed to drastically increase in
follower base. Twitter especially has grown to 52% of overall traffic, which grew from 22%
from four months ago. The social media marketing team has done a great job executing the
social media strategy plan, as Whole Foods Market has gained a more engaging,
transparent social media presence.

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MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING RESULTS
Qualitative KPI’s
Sentiment analysis: The following information has been collected from analyzing 70
Facebook posts, 70 Instagram posts, and 70 Tweets
• There is an apparent positive increase in consumer to business engagement,
especially via Facebook as more and more concerns have been properly
handled
• There is a growing positive sentiment on the correlation between the prices at
Whole Foods and the quality of the products offered
• Negative sentiment came from customers who had unpleasant customer service
experience from their trip to Whole Foods, as well as customers disliking a
product
Future actions:
• Continue using the #CustomeroftheWeek, #PlateoftheWeek, and
#ItemoftheWeek hashtags as they brought upon a lot of impressions on each of
the posts
• Post more video content as this type of content has received the most
engagements