Social Media Strategy for Whole Foods Market, completed for Social Media Management Class (PUR3266) at the University of Florida.

1. Social Media Strategy
October 8, 2017
Haley Fretes

2. Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Social Media Audit
• Social Media Assessment
• Website Traffic Sources Assessment
• Audience Demographics Assessment
• Competitor Assessment
• Social Media Objectives
• Online Brand Persona and Voice
• Strategies and Tools
• Timing and Key Dates
• Social Media Rules and Responsibilities
• Social Media Policy
• Critical Response Plan
• Measurement and Reporting Results

4. Executive Summary
Who are we? Well, we seek out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintain the strictest quality
standards in the industry, and have an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture. Add to that the excitement and fun
we bring to shopping for groceries, and you start to get a sense of what we’re all about. Whole Foods Market is a dynamic
leader in the quality food business. We are a mission-driven company that aims to set the standards of excellence for food
retailers. We are building a business in which high standards permeate all aspects of our company. Quality is a state of mind
at Whole Foods Market. Our target customers upper-middle class citizens between the ages 25 and 40 who care about
healthy, nutritious organic food.
Especially while undergoing a transformation under Amazon, we find it vital that we still uphold our mission and
commitments that we make to our customers. Our motto — Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet — emphasizes that
our vision reaches far beyond just being a food retailer. Our success in fulfilling our vision is measured by customer
satisfaction, team member happiness and excellence, return on capital investment, improvement in the state of the
environment and local and larger community support. Our ability to instill a clear sense of interdependence among our
various stakeholders (the people who are interested and benefit from the success of our company) is contingent upon our
efforts to communicate more often, more openly, and more compassionately. Better communication equals better
understanding and more trust.
Our main social media priorities for 2018 will to be to increase engagement with customers, both current and new,
along with continuing to grow our overall online following and community to support company revenue. The social strategies
that will support this objective will be:
• A plan to increase the sharing of more engaging content across social media platforms
• A plan to increase brand awareness through advertising and promotions across social media platforms

5. Social Media Audit
TWITTER FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM PINTEREST
@WholeFoods
4.86M Followers
528K Following
222K Total Tweets
@WholeFoods
4.26M Page Likes
4.1 Page Followers
1.27M Page Visits
@wholefoods
2.4M Followers
4.6K Following
2.7K Total Posts
Whole Foods Market
332K Followers
332K Following
43 Boards
5.5K Total Pins
Data as of: October 2017

6. SM Audit: Social Media Assessment
TWITTER FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM PINTEREST
Average Weekly
Activity
Average
Engagement Rate
16.7K Likes per post
426 Comments per post
13 Posts 6 Posts N/A
42 Tweets per day
(including replies
back to customers)
30 Likes per tweet
9 RTs per tweet
394 Likes per post
85 Comments per post
78 Shares per post
15 Posts
13 Pins per post
Data as of: October 2017
Timeframe: Oct. 1 – Oct. 8, 2017

7. SM Audit: Website Traffic Sources Assessment
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com
SOURCE VOLUME PERCENTAGE
OF OVERALL
TRAFFIC
CONVERSION
RATE
TWITTER 1M unique
visits
15% 2%
FACEBOOK 2M unique
visits
30% 7%
INSTAGRAM 5M unique
visits
50% 5%
PINTEREST 50K unique
visits
5% 0.05%
At the present time, Instagram is the biggest driver of traffic to our website. The conversion rate (conversion goal = online
deliveries ordered) is slightly behind Facebook at 7% and slightly above Twitter at 2%. Pinterest is the lowest driver of overall
traffic and therefore also has the lowest conversion rate at 0.05%.
Timeframe: Monthly Average, May 2017 to August 2017

8. SM Audit: Audience Demographics Assessment
• Higher percentage of female customers than
male
• Most customers tend to be between the ages
25 and 44 and come from a household with
kids
• Customers are typically of the upper-middle
class with an advanced college degree
• Most Used Social Network: Facebook
• Primary Motivation: With Whole Foods’
dedication to bringing customers organic,
high-quality, natural food products, the prices
tend to be higher and more affordable to an
older, well-educated, high-income
demographic.

9. SM Audit: Competitor Assessment
FACEBOOK
@TheFreshMarket
341.8K Page Likes
331.8K Page Followers
INSTAGRAM
@traderjoes
133K Followers
0 Following
TWITTER
@EarthFare
20.1K Followers
1.3K Following
All competitors are great at promoting their brand using high-quality visuals and media on their social media
platforms. However, these businesses also all lack frequency of posting content. Whole Foods Market exceeds
its competitors followings on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
STRENGHTS: Great use of media and high-
quality visuals, good variety of types of
posts
WEAKNESSES: Infrequent posting, don’t
keep the account updated on a daily basis
STRENGTHS: Lots of followers, high number
of engagement on each post, lots of
customer interaction, high-quality visuals
WEAKNESSES: Averages just 1 post per day,
posts are mostly just promotional
STRENGTHS: High-quality visuals of Trader
Joes products, well thought out captions
that encourage customers to purchase their
products
WEAKNESSES: Do not post consistently,
averages less than 1 post per day. Photos
are limited to products, very few contain
people

10. Social Media Objectives
Our main social media focus for 2018 will to be to increase engagement with customers, both current and
new, along with continuing to grow our overall online following and community to support company revenue
and sales. In order to do so, our social media priorities will be increasing customer visitation to our stores by
sharing more engaging content and building stronger relationships with social media influencers and other
businesses to help further promote and advertise our brand.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
1. Increase unique visitors to our social media accounts by 25% by June 2018
• Create branded hashtags to be utilized across social media platforms to encourage discoverability
• Increase overall social media engagement by collaborating with chefs to utilize live video streaming features such as
Facebook Live and Instagram Live to demonstrate how to cook with the produce/products
2. Increase total brand awareness by 40% by December 2018
• Partner with social media influencers and businesses to encourage participation in contests and use of promo codes
3. Increase total in-store sales by 50% by December 2018

11. Social Media Objectives cont.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Number of social media followers and engagement
• Number of unique visitors to company website
• Number of uses of #MyWholeFoods
• Number of total in-store sales and online delivery
orders
• Sentiment Analysis
Key Messages
• “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”
• Highest Quality Natural and Organic Products
• We Satisfy, Delight and Nourish Our Customers

12. Online Brand Persona and Voice
ADJECTIVES
That Describe Whole Foods
Our Brand
• Healthy
• Natural
• Wholesome
• Fresh
Our Team
• Attentive
• Accommodating
• Cohesive
• Compassionate

13. Strategies and Tools
PAID
Every Friday:
• Boost most popular Facebook posts from the week
• Boost Instagram posts from the week (utilizing the multiple-pictures
per post feature) as a Sponsored post
• Promote most popular Tweets
OWNED
• Introduce the hashtag #MyWholeFoods to company social media
platforms, encourage use by customers
• Utilize user-generated content created by reposting at least two user-
generated posts per week
• Promote hashtag on the website, in brochures, in emails, on receipts,
on merchandise, etc.
EARNED
• Partner with celebrities and well-known chefs to create series of
commercials promoting the brand
• Share coupons/promo codes every week via social media
• Partner with social media influencers & other businesses to create
contests to be held on social media
TOOLS
• Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for Business (to
boost posts)
• YouTube
• Premiere Pro
• Photoshop
• Hootsuite
• Buffer

14. Incorporate UGC featuring
customers using/with company
products to the Instagram feed
Interact with customers by
using hashtags or creating
fun polls on Twitter
Utilize live streaming video
features such as Facebook Live.
Advertise and boost the video

15. Timing and Key Dates
Reporting Dates
• Reporting will occur once a quarter in March, June, September and December.
JANUARY 2018 MARCH 2018 JUNE 2018 SEPTEMBER 2018 DECEMBER 2018
• By the end of the
month, have contacted
at least 12
celebrities/chefs to
partner with for
commercial production
• Reach out to 10 social
media influencers to
partner with for
promos/contests
• Have at least 500K
uses of
#MyWholeFoods across
social media
• Have at least 1
commercial filmed &
streaming. Boost it on
all social media
platforms
• Have completed at least
3 social media
influencer-run contests,
offer prizes to winners
• Have at least 24 UGC
posts on Instagram,
found by
#MyWholeFoods
• Have achieved 25%
increase of unique
visitors to social media
accounts
• Have 2 commercials
filmed, streaming and
promoted
• Have at least 1
Facebook Live stream
per week
• Reach at least 1M uses
of #MyWholeFoods
across all accounts
• Have 3 commercials
filmed, streaming and
promoted
• Average of 1.5
Facebook Live streams
per week
• Reach 5M uses of
#MyWholeFoods across
all social media
accounts
• Have 4 commercials
filmed, streaming and
promoted
• Have achieved 40%
increase of brand
awareness
• Have achieved 50%
increase in company
sales

16. Social Media Roles and Responsibilities
Global VP Marketing Director
Sonya Gafsi Oblisk
Director of Integrated Brand Content & Social
Media
Lisa Grimm
Global VP Growth & Business Development
Betsy Foster
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Customer Service
• Customer Engagement, Building
Relationships with Customers
• Responding during a Company Crisis

17. Social Media Policy
At Whole Foods Market, we value the importance of representing our brand effectively and
truthfully through social media. We use it to spread company messages, interact with customers
and other businesses and to share our brand activities, updates, events and more. As an
employee and representative of Whole Foods Market, you are expected to abide by these
guidelines in all your online activities and ensure your postings are consistent with company
policies. Any content deemed inappropriate will not be tolerated and may subject you to
disciplinary action up to and including termination. Please review the following guidelines:
GUIDELINES
• Be Respectful and Polite to all
• Be Honest and Accurate
• Be Helpful and Accommodating, customers come first
• Use Common Sense and Be Smart
• Don’t involve yourself in unprofessional conduct
• When in doubt, ASK BEFORE YOU POST

18. Critical Response Plan
Scenario 1: Customer Tweets a bad review of a Whole Foods product
on social media, claiming the fresh produce was moldy when they cut
into it
Action Plan:
1. When Tweet is received:
1. Screenshot Tweet
2. Reply to tweet with pre-approved message
2. When Customer responds with more information
1. Thank them for their response
3. Contact store location and report the issue
4. Update customer on status of the issue, ensure them that the
situation is being addressed
5. Offer compensation such as coupons or vouchers for
customer’s next visit
Pre-approved Twitter Message Response:
“Hi ____, thank you for your feedback! We’re so sorry for the
inconvenience. Can you send us a DM with your contact info &
location of the store so we can assist you with this?”
Scenario 2: Customer Tweets about a bad customer service
experience during their visit to one of the stores
Action Plan:
1. When Tweet is received:
1. Screenshot Tweet
2. Reply to tweet with pre-approved message
2. When Customer responds with more information
1. Thank them for their response
3. Contact store location and report the issue, so store
management can address it with the employee that was
involved
4. Update customer on status of the issue, ensure them the
situation is being handled
5. Offer compensation such as coupons or a voucher for the
customer’s next visit
Pre-approved Twitter Message Response:
“We’re so sorry for your experience, _____. Thank you for
informing us of this issue. Please send us a DM with more
information and we will look into this.”

19. Examples of Good Responses to Customers:

20. Measurement and Reporting Results
Quantitative KPIs:
Website Traffic Sources Assessment
SOURCE VOLUME PERCENTAGE OF OVERALL
TRAFFIC
CONVERSION RATE
TWITTER 1.2M unique visits
+ 20% growth
20% 2%
FACEBOOK 2.1M unique visits
+ 10% growth
35% 7%
INSTAGRAM 5.4M unique visits
+ 5% growth
57% 5%
PINTEREST 55K unique visits
+ 10% growth
8% 0.05%
Timeframe: Monthly Average, July 2017 to October 2017

21. Quantitative KPIs
Social Network Data
Timeframe: Monthly Average, as of October 8, 2017
Measurement and Reporting Results cont.
SOCIAL NETWORK URL FOLLOWER COUNT AVERAGE WEEKLY
ACTIVITY
AVERAGE ENGAGEMENT
RATE
TWITTER https://twitter.com/WholeFoods 5.1M Followers
+ 4.71% growth
18 posts
+ 16.7% growth
50 Tweets per day
40 likes per Tweet
12 RTs per post
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/WholeFoo
ds/
4.8M Page Likes
+ 11.25% growth
15 posts
+ 13.3% growth
450 likes per post
96 comments per post
82 shares per post
INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/wholefoo
ds/
3M Followers
+ 20% growth
8 posts
+ 25% growth
18.6K likes per post
530 comments per post
PINTEREST https://www.pinterest.com/wholefood
s/
350K Followers
+ 5.14% growth
N/A 20 pins per post

22. Measurement and Reporting Results cont.
Quantitative KPIs
#MyWholeFoods Hashtag Performance
• Between September 1, 2017 and October 1, 2017 the hashtag was mentioned a
total of 125,000 across all social media platforms
• 20 UCG Instagram posts (found by the use of the hashtag) that were published by
Whole Foods Market yielded a higher than average amount of engagement through
likes, comments and users tagging their friends

23. Measurement and Reporting Results cont.
Qualitative KPIs
Sentiment Analysis
An analysis of the interactions on 1,500 Facebook posts, Instagram posts and Tweets
revealed:
• Overall positive interactions across all social media platforms, customers seem
engaged and interested in the content
• Still some negative comments from customers regarding the quality of the products
or customer service experience, however, these are handled in an effective and
appropriate manner

24. Measurement and Reporting Results cont.
Proposed Action Items
• Continue use of #MyWholeFoods Campaign
• Set up production of commercials for the upcoming year
• Organize Facebook Live Cooking Show series with guest chefs
• Partner with social media influencers & businesses to run contests/promos to
advertise the brand
• Prepare strategy to become more active on LinkedIn to be more accessible to other
businesses that are looking to partner