Door to Door Organics (DTDO), a leading natural and organic grocer, was set to expand its existing Chicago-area operations in September 2014 with a new, state-of-the-art warehouse. DTDO partnered with GroundFloor Media (GFM) to plan and execute a program to engage influential Chicago-area bloggers in spreading the word about the new warehouse and expanded grocery offerings. The goal was to secure at least five blogger reviews/mentions timed alongside the Chicago service expansion announcement and related PR and social media pushes.
To achieve this goal, GFM researched the top Chicago-focused food, parenting and lifestyle bloggers. GFM then developed a tiered approach for the bloggers, offering them three distinct ways to engage with DTDO. The options, which focused on securing authentic reviews of the online grocery service as well as original recipes using produce and groceries delivered by DTDO, required different levels of commitment from the bloggers on their sites and social media platforms. In turn, participants were offered DTDO shopping credits, gift certificates to give away to readers and special $10 off promotion codes for new customer signups. All bloggers were required to comply with FTC disclosure guidelines.
GFM then developed tailored pitches for each blogger and began reaching out.
The results of the program far exceeded the original objectives, with 25 bloggers ranging in topics from parenting, Paleo and fitness reviewing or mentioning DTDO. The program resulted in more than 700,000 impressions (based on readership numbers/unique visitors per month) from the DTDO service reviews and recipe-focused blog posts.
The 25 participating bloggers were incredibly enthusiastic and informative in their remarks about Door to Door Organics. Sample comments included:
•"I can't even begin to tell you how awesome this company is. From the moment that you log in to the moment the food is delivered, it is amazing." ~ Tots to Teens
•"Of course, there are other grocery delivery services in Chicago, but no others showcase a selection of not only fruits and vegetables, but dairy, meats, snacks, beverages, and a whole host of other essentials (and luxuries)." ~ Bunny & Brandy
•"If you're a regular reader of my blog you know how I love my veggies so this offer for me to try was a win win for me! I remember in the dead of winter last year how happy I was to see my order sitting outside my front door." ~ Proud Italian Cook
•"When I got home from running around yesterday to see the Door to Door Organics delivery box sitting on my front porch swing, I heaved an internal sigh of relief, knowing that I had a whole box of organic fruits and veggies to enjoy." ~ Honest & Truly
In addition to the blog posts themselves, approximately 228,000 fans and followers were reached by the bloggers' Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest posts throughout the month tagging DTDO and the campaign hashtag, #JoyDelivered.
Specifically, the campaign achieved the following:
•More than 109,000 Twitter followers reached
•More than 62,000 Facebook fans reached
•Nearly 16,000 Instagram followers reached
•Almost 41,000 Pinterest followers reached
Furthermore, using Google Analytics, DTDO was able to track participation in the DTDO gift certificate giveaways that bloggers offered to readers—resulting in 2,230 contest entries. We were also able to determine the bloggers who drove the highest engagement to prioritize future Chicago blogger partnerships moving forward.
In conjunction with the blogger campaign, GFM also developed and executed a traditional PR strategy in order to drive awareness and trial of DTDO's service. GFM secured Chicago and industry-focused coverage of the news, including the Chicago Sun-Times website, Progressive Grocer, Supermarket News and Grocery Retail Online, among others, resulting in more than 2.6 million impressions. In addition, GFM secured and coordinated a tour of DTDO's warehouse with a reporter from DNAinfo Chicago who wrote a positive, local business and economy-focused feature on the expansion for the publication's more than 1 million online visitors each month.
Finally, early in the planning process GFM and DTDO brainstormed various street team activation concepts to bring the service to life. DTDO created #JoyDelivered Free Farm Stands with produce box samples at two busy commuter stations during Friday's afternoon rush hour. GFM developed and shared a media alert about the pop-up concepts to drive awareness and secured coverage in two community calendars as well as several blogs and Twitter feeds of Chicago blogger partners.
