Paul Albright

Convincing Senior Management to Invest in Social Media

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On Episode 63 of the Social Business Engine podcast I spoke with Paul Albright about the three approaches he tested when convincing senior management to invest in social. Paul is the Senior Social Media Marketing Manager for Albertsons Safeway, the second largest grocery chain in the United States. Although his first two options didn’t have optimal results, he was able to get a seat at the table and win over the executives with his third approach.

We also discussed how Safeway is using collected consumer data to personalize shopping experiences through their digital communication channels. Paul went into detail about their Just for U program, which rewards customers while allowing for dynamic pricing based on the customer’s shopping behavior.

just_for_ u_ safeway

On This Episode You’ll Discover:

  • There are over 1,200 stores under the Safeway parent company.
  • Why Paul says, “Social is the only media going forward.”

  “Social is the only media going forward.”-Paul Albright
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  • How customer service is enhanced through social media at Safeway
  • Approach 1 was to conform to the desires of the digital marketing team by ignoring social specific metrics.
  • Paul attempted approach 1 for 6-8 months before moving on to the second approach.
  • Approach 2 was over-educating the executives on social media to the point of unintended confusion.
  • Paul attempted approach 2 for 10-12 months before moving on to the third approach.
  • Paul’s third, and successful approach uses digital marketing strategies to solve business problems.
  • The third approach involves analyzing how social data is compatible with digital marketing analytics.
  • Social media creates another way to detect and respond to public affairs issues.
  • TV, print, and radio have been, and continue to be, the main marketing focus for large grocers.
  • Safeway has a strong focus on digital marketing, specifically data-driven marketing.
  • How Safeway uses consumer data to personalize deals for their customers with their Just for U program.
  • Consumer data and pre-shop behavior allows Safeway to influence the buyer’s decision early on.
  • Safeway uses data from purchase frequency and other buying behaviors to enhance the customer experience.
  • Safeway’s Just for U program allows for dynamic pricing and rewards the customer too.
  • Understanding the composition of your customer audience starts with the executive team.
  • Paul’s response to my “one thing” question pertains to more demographic diversity in the workplace that aligns with the population it serves.

Featured On This Episode:

I invite you to listen to the entire podcast episode using the player at the top of this page, or on a mobile device through iTunes or Stitcher. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a future episode.

This episode is sponsored by Cisionthe leading provider of public relations software for planning, executing and measuring influencer campaigns in one integrated platform.

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