Waitrose plots “significant” uplift in social media spend
Waitrose is planning a “significant” increase in its social media budget next year following a “great” response rates to its Facebook, Twitter and Youtube marketing activity.
The supermarket has just launched online how-to videos and live Q&As with the supermarket’s celebrity experts Delia Smith, Masterchef champion Druv Baker and TV wine buff Olly Smith on Facebook as part of the supermarket’s festive campaign.
The Facebook stage of its “Christmas School of Magic” seasonal campaign rollout comes after a related TV ad notched up 274,000 views on Youtube over its first two weeks.
Digital communications manager Julie Randall says the current campaign represents a shift in focus to integrate online into wider media campaigns, and engagement.
“We’re focusing specifically on engagement rather than just pure promotion because research we did after last year’s Heston’s Christmas Pudding told us that people really liked it but they wanted to do more than just watch the promo and pass it on,” she says.
The investment could lead to the digital expansion of the recently relaunched offline loyalty club myWaitrose.
Tesco is also throwing its marketing weight behind social media over the Christmas season as part of its “real people” theme, with a Facebook campaign launching this week and live last minute cooking advice on Twitter on Christmas Eve and the big day itself.
