Source: blog.publix.com
Will a blog help Publix make social connections with customers?
Publix, which has long seen the utility of using social media to burnish its brand, is now launching its first blog site, The Publix Checkout, to help the chain make deeper connections with its many fans.
Topics on the site (blog.publix.com) will include the chain’s community initiatives, holiday entertaining, health and wellness, recipes, sustainability and more.
The blog includes contributions from employees across the organization. Sam P., identified as a store associate since 2015, has written a post on various steak cuts and the proper ways to prepare them. Aijana W., a Publix associate since 2014, has written about various ways people can recycle and re-use coffee grounds to fertilize plants, tenderize meat and exfoliate dead skin.
“As a retailer passionately committed to serving our customers, our social media presence has always been about engaging with our customers where they are and extending our in-store service online,” said Maria Brous, Publix media and community relations director, in a statement. “Having a blog provides us a fresh and inspiring way to connect socially with customers, taking them beyond the aisles and showing them we’re more than just a grocery store.”
Publix first tested the social media waters in July 2011 when it began posting on Facebook. Within 24 hours of launching, Publix had 10,000 “likes” on Facebook. Today, the chain claims 2.6 million.
Publix established itself on Twitter in 2013 with two different pages: @Publix for brand content and @PublixHelps for customer service issues. The two pages currently have a combined total of more than 217,000 followers.
Last fall, Publix added Instagram and Pinterest to its social media mix. The chain currently has over 52,000 people following it on Instagram, up from about 14,000 in February. Publix has seen the number of followers jump from 1,000 on Pinterest in February to over 22,000 today.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do you see company blogs as an effective way for retailers to connect with their customers? What do you think a blog will accomplish for Publix that its other social media outreach has not?
Poll
BrainTrust
Ross Ely
President and CEO, ProLogic Retail Services
Naomi K. Shapiro
Strategic Market Communications, Upstream Commerce
Blogs are a natural extension to the social media strategy of Publix. The food retailer is always ranked at the top of any supermarket survey, reflecting the intimate connection between the company and its customers. Blogs written by Publix employees, which now number over 180,000, reinforce Publix’s image as one of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For in America” for 19 consecutive years. Employees have been active in-store in creating exciting and tasty products for a long time, like the “to die for” key lime pie whose recipe came from an associate in South Florida.
I predict the blog will be extremely successful.
A Publix blog is definitely a great way to further connect with their clients in addition to their other social media platforms. The biggest asset of having a blog is that it can provide more information, useful tips and they won’t be limited to 140 characters or short posts. A blog can also allow for more creativity and enhanced branding. It’s also a great way for Publix to further connect with their shoppers and provides another way to gather additional feedback from their customers in the comments section.
Publix is demonstrating how effective use of the social media can be — and it can only get better. People will find content from Publix that interests them, which will lead them to Publix for real, which seems to be doing a great job of funneling people to their stores.
This approach will benefit Publix by enabling it to communicate with its shoppers in a broader, more unstructured fashion. Social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has tightly structured content that is usually limited in length. In its blog, however, Publix can provide more comprehensive information about its food, programs, recipes and tips. The blog also gives Publix employees an opportunity to share ideas and further build the community with Publix customers.
One of the most powerful ways to market and connect with your customers is through content marketing. A blog is one of the easiest ways to help drive that initiative. Keep in mind that content marketing is not advertising. Content is value. It can include some promotion, but when the customer realizes you are pitching versus adding value you lose them.
It’s a great strategy for Publix to use a blog to further engage with their customers. (I’m surprised it has taken this long.)
Here is my take on this which might be different from many others. Publix is a staple in their home Florida market and need little social media output to maintain their customer base. This base loses some to the north when the “snowbirds” go home after the winter months. Publix remains strong after this small exodus, with their name and reputation growing stronger as these snowbirds talk the “Publix gospel.” Now Publix is increasing their own northern migration and doing it successfully.
But these migrations are attracting the generational customer who love them from winters in Florida. So now Publix, wise as they are successful, is going deeper in social media to attract those younger Millennials who do not vacation in Florida and have never shopped or heard of them except from their parents and grandparents. A strong move to introduce Publix to the customers of the present and future.
I love that the blog contains contributions from employees. That will make it all the more personal. A blog done right has a lot of potential. It can include video, infographics, etc. to please the masses and make the best presentation.
Kudos to Publix and my 2 cents.
Having a discussion with customers rather than just a monologue keeps the relationship open, warm and friendly. Like a good friend, advice and recommendations for food prep will grow between the two parties.
This is actually an extension of their Facebook page and if kept fresh along with interesting blurbs then it will do well, as Publix already dominates in Florida. I use Facebook all the time and post videos, which also go on YouTube, and many photos of all our new items. Social media done right is very effective, and it has helped us quite a bit in communicating with our customers.
People love Publix — they are like an extension of their family for the brand loyal. They also have people that understand what kinds of content will be meaningful to their customers. I’ll be signing up!
Publix is curating a strong following on its social media platforms and its ongoing dialogue around products, recipes and cooking/household tips is a brilliant way to develop and strengthen consumers’ relationship with the brand. The new blog, The Publix Checkout, offers another social media opportunity to engage with customers by providing their customers something of value.
While the blog content could and will be communicated or promoted on other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, the blog creates another vehicle to offer content in multiple ways to appeal to consumers’ different preferences in the way they consume information.
The one key benefit of a blog platform is that it is easier for consumers to search for the information they are looking for. It is not a one-size-fits-all strategy and retailers need to leverage all of the social media platforms that their customers prefer and strategically customize the content for the way consumers interact online.
Publix has created the brand it has today via traditional methods and their customers are avid brand enthusiasts. Their social media play is key move to capture the boomer and millennial market as that base ages, retires and moves into Publix geography.