Because, sometimes customers give birth in the supermarket, presented by Jorie Mark

SOCIALMEDIA.ORG/SUMMIT2016ORLANDOJANUARY 25–27, 2016

Because, sometimes customersgive birth in the supermarket

JORIE MARKTHE KROGER COMPANY

BECAUSE, SOMETIMES CUSTOMERS GIVE BIRTH IN THE SUPERMARKET.

@kroger: A Content Case Study.

Jorie Mark *SocialMedia.org Case Study* January 26, 2016

In January 2015, Kroger’s social media team looked like this…

@storyjorie

@annebellek04

Jorie Mark *SocialMedia.org Case Study* January 26, 2016 2

…and Kroger’s social media content looked like this… On Facebook…and Twitter…and Instagram.


This is also the way social looked for a dozen other grocery brands we own.


It’s not that there wasn’t good social content out there… We just weren’t sharing it.

(Or even “liking” it.)

View Our Gallery of Missed

Opportunities Jorie Mark *SocialMedia.org Case Study*

January 26, 2016 5

@MojoSavings 11,000 followers Foodie recipe that calls out shopping at Kroger No retweet, no “yum,” not even a favorite!

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We did NOT enable Lyz’s Kroger sushi addiction.

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7,200 followers. No <3, No regram.

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Free, word-of-mouth

advertising for our floral department?

No thanks, we’ll pass.

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And now for a moment of pure social media agony….

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THEN, a few weeks into my new gig as Kroger’s Social Media Manager, this happened.





The Baby Cora story fell in my lap(top).

But the question remained, how did we get MORE of these “warm & fuzzy” stories?

Where do babies (being born in grocery stores)

come from?

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A few months later, Sherry fell into Anne’s lap(top).

Sherry, mom of an infant with life-threatening allergies, realized she had no money in the checkout line. Another shopper, Brian, paid the whole bill. Sherry posted a “Thank you, Brian, where ever you are!” note on Facebook. This emotional “thanks” got to my colleague Anne’s desk, and she: • Tracked down Sherry to get permission to share

this thank you note from our wall. • Tracked down Brian. Our Paid Media team on a weekend put money behind this post share

4,257,792 People Reached 117,925 Likes, Comments, Shares & Clicks

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Results of Sherry & Brian post • Amazing feedback from Kroger shoppers • Amazing feedback from our Kroger colleagues • Amazing feedback from Kroger leadership • The request, plea & directive, DO MORE OF THIS!!!

But HOW do you do more??


We Threw a Party to Find Out.



Summit Details • Invited key social media

decision makers from every Kroger Division

• Presented Social Engagement Strategy

• Taught them how to take “shareworthy” photos of their stores for Instagram—CONTEST for free iPad for the winning photo and catered lunch for Division producing most photos


(Oh, and drinks were involved.)

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RESULTS • More than 1,000 photos submitted by Divisions, many of which we used to replace the “cookie cutter” content on Instagram with real, in-store content. Our Instagram follower count increased by 816% in 2015, in large part due to this new content!

• Support and appreciation from these key stakeholders—one increased her paid social media budget; others collaborated with us on innovative approaches such as Twitter parties after getting “fired up about social”

• MOST IMPORTANTLY…we now had partners in securing these great warm fuzzy stories we needed to grow our social media content!

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Warm & Fuzzies Aren’t the Only Part of Our Engagement Strategy…

• NO MORE “CRICKETS”—We now have a Community team that responds to all positive customer engagement posts, liking and sharing every cute baby, sushi roll and #krogering

• USER GENERATED CONTENT—All of our most important social campaigns have a UGC component

• INFLUENCER STRATEGY—Blogger outreach has become one of our most powerful levers to pull

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YOY Growth—Enterprise Wide*

Channel Followers as of 1/3/15

Followers as of 12/28/15

% increase

Facebook 1,276,000 2,090,580 64%

Twitter 100,386 134,382 34%

Pinterest 9,560 13,118 37%

Instagram 2,115 19,375 816%

*Kroger, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, King Soopers/City Market, Dillons, Bakers, Gerbes, QFC, Foods Co, Food 4 Less, Smiths, Frys

26 Jorie Mark *SocialMedia.org Case Study* January 26, 2016


Questions? Feedback? Need the Kroger Sushi Addiction Hotline? Jorie Mark Manager, Social Media The Kroger Co. [email protected]

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@storyjorie

mailto:[email protected]

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