Influencer Marketing; Whole Foods
What is Influencer Marketing?
Social influencer marketing, otherwise known as “paid creator marketing” is becoming a very popular way for brands and businesses to promote their products to a wider audience. Brands select influencers who they believe have the content and follower base most compatible with their mission and products. These influencers then help support and promote the brand by creating content with the brand's products. Whole Foods has many influencers, each one designated to reviewing and promoting different categories from wine and cheese to nutrition and health. Whole Foods has a very wide range of influencers, ranging in ages from around 22-49 which will help to reach a wide range of customers.
What do the influencers post?
As a higher end grocery store, Whole Foods has a specific demographic that they mostly target. This general target market consists of those with an income that is higher than the national average, usually ranging from 25-44. Although, most influencers on apps such as Tik Tok and instagram range in ages from 18-24, generally younger than Whole Foods' average customer. Having younger influencers will help Whole Foods to bring in a new range of customers. These influencers post a wide range of Advertisements for Whole Foods, consisting of recipes made with ingredients from Whole Foods, ideas for the holidays, charcuterie boards, grocery hauls, what to try at the food bar, and even work out related posts. Having a wide range of posts will ensure to gain the attention of a large audience.
Tik Tok has many influencers who work with Whole Foods, such as @bearenger, who has 1.2 million followers. Her posts receive about 50.0k to 200.0k views, and she does receive compensation for these posts based on her amount of likes and views per video. Most of her content is centered around plant based and healthy recipes, which is why her following base is the perfect fit for Whole food advertisements. Other influencers such as @ashyizzle and @jackfloood prefer to post the Whole Foods food bar, and hone in on specific details such as “vegan”, “diet”, “quick meal”, and “healthy”, which will further entice the viewer. Many of the influencers are putting an emphasis on the plant based and vegan options which Whole Foods has to offer, which is a great way for them to bring in some customers from competitors.
Who else utilizes influencer marketing?
Whole foods is not the only grocery store to successfully incorporate influencer marketing into their advertising strategies. Kroger, ALDI and Costco are some of the others with many influencers. CNN business reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn explains the success as “Grocery superfans with their own pages are a “dream scenario” for companies and a form of earned media. “Earned media is the best type of media because it’s people choosing to post on behalf of the brand,” he said. The posts come from “love of the brand.” He also explains how earned media is way more personal and convincing rather than celebrity partnerships, due to the trust and realness that comes from “influencers that are out there being very honest and raw and vulnerable.”