Marla Erwin, Interactive Art Director for Whole Foods Market, was instrumental in creating Whole Foods’ acclaimed social media program and the results have been phenomenal! For example, in the first year, Wholefoods gained a million Twitter followers. It has now surpassed 1.75 million people with its 150 different Twitter accounts (some are devoted to products, such as cheese or wine, for example).
Whole Foods uses Twitter primarily as a customer service tool. Erwin says Whole Foods does promote its blog content and may mention, “We’re having specials for the holidays,” and that sort of thing. But its number-one focus on Twitter is customer service.
Whole Foods Market, the leading natural and organic food store in the world with nearly 300 locations in North America and the United Kingdom, is the most popular retailer on Twitter and is a leading example of Twitter’s power to build millions of relationships a single customer at a time. Michael Stelzner, executive editor of Social Media Examiner, recently conducted a long interview with Marla Erwin and posted excerpts on the Social Media Examiner website.
