Whole Foods Online Connections Are Whole Hearted

This past week we all celebrated Valentines day, single or not. And I thought that I should write a blog about a brand that I may truly love. Whole Foods.

I have learned that through growing up you acquire a love and loyalty towards certain brands. Only certain brands, for different reasons, are able to capture your attention. Once there is a formed relationship with you and a brand, aware of it or not. There is pressure on the brand to continue to make your partnership with them meaningful. With the progression of social media, brands have been able to facilitate meaningful interaction with audiences. These messages online can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but what else is apparent is that the brand must benefit the consumer to continue a loyal relationship.

As I said previously I love Whole Foods. Living in Austin, Texas I am spoiled by our central Whole Foods location. I can go on for days about how they maintain a dynamic store with a vast selection of food products and a little-bit of something for everyone. After a deep-dive into the past week of posting through their Facebook, Twitter, and online blog, I have a more thorough outlook on their presence within social media.

The first page I viewed was the Facebook page of Whole Foods Market. A timeline profile  greeted me with a picture of fresh fruits and green juice. Scrolling through the weeks Facebook posts, it is apparent that Whole Foods has completely mastered their Facebook connections. Posts include a variety of recipes, links to their company blog posts, new store location announcements, and value guides amongst many. Their Facebook posts are relevant to national holidays and events, listing Valentines and Mardi Gras recipes, and National Tortellini day. There are upcoming event and in-store promotions like “Parmageddon” and a milestone giveaway. The product giveaway prompts audiences to enter the contest through commenting on their blog. The majority of Facebook posts range from 60 to over 1,000 likes, and multiple comments despite some spam. Some comments even received direct interaction from the Whole Food’s Facebook account manager.

Next I traveled to Twitter to check out the engagement Whole Foods offers. Just like Facebook, their Twitter account has a wide range of effective interaction taking place consistently during the past week. The Twitter account seems to have more links to recipes and other posts like money saving tips, new store announcements, upcoming event announcements and blog posts. I also found some retweets, hashtags, and a weekly Whole Foods Market chat that includes a Q&A with Twitter followers. Some of the noted hashtags include #vegan #WFMchat and #WFMdish.  Whole Foods Twitter account, like Facebook, has produced meaningful connections with their audience of over 3 million followers.

The Whole Foods company website has a worthy blog that offers insight into ideas for relevant event like holidays, such as Valentines day, giveaway promotions, and finding value in money and health. They have a link to all social media networks they are active on, like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Googleplus, and Instagram. Their blog posts don’t have tons of comments but since their audience is actively engaged with them on Twitter and Facebook this doesn’t detract at all from their online presence.

Since Twitter, Facebook, and the company blog are the best means for interacting with audiences I didn’t do a deep dive into their other social accounts, like Pinterest and Instagram. Overall Whole Foods in a champion in their social media space. The multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter that offer both audiences a wide range of connections, information, and overall brand benefits. The blog on their homepage continues to create ideas and solutions for audiences to further engage and benefit from their brand messages. Whole Foods should be the model for any brand that wants to fully learn how to connect with audiences via social media.

Until next time….