Which supermarkets won Christmas on social media?

userby Amy Rountree

Who are the best supermarkets on social media? And who best engaged shoppers over Christmas? We've profiled eight leading supermarkets’ social media posts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The insight shows the supermarkets who most successfully engaged customers online over Christmas 2021. how they did it, and identifies the trends that customers responded to the best.

Maybe* uses a distinct algorithm to score social media engagement. Maybe* allocates a higher engagement score for shares and comments than just likes. This provides an understanding of which brands are inspiring customers to engage at a deeper level by joining a conversation by commenting; or advocating for a brand by resharing content.

What does the insight tell us?

Ranked supermarkets for social media engagement December 1 - December 31 2021
RetailerFollowersTotal posts on social channelsTotal engagements on postsAverage posts per day by organisationAverage engagement on each post
(likes, retweets, comments)		Average engagements per day.
Aldi3,398,9482,836170,35395605,678
Marks And Spencer8,199,2694,638153,713155335,124
ASDA3,120,15714077,63055542,588
Waitrose1,364,10992528,2423131941
Tesco3,788,2214,78315,0561593502
Lidl2,490,9791,66711,905567399
Morrisons1,212,4432,1369,787715326
Sainsburys2,639,5424,2835,1641431172

Whether its gin or caterpillar shaped birthday cakes, Aldi has led the way throughout 2021 in the social media stakes with its ongoing disputes with luxury rival Marks and Spencer. Aldi’s best post, and the best supermarket post of December 2021 made a playful and fun reference to the spat and customers can’t get enough of it. Similarly budget player Lidl also uses humour and banter with its customers to earn their best post. Both Aldi and Lidl regularly cause a bit of controversy or poke fun at themselves over social media to drive engagement. Along with their value price points, their tone of voice wins over on social media.

Marks and Spencers, ASDA and Sainsburys saw their best posts through December all recognised their front line workers, call centre staff and support teams. Both M&S and Sainsburys gave teams Boxing Day off for a much needed rest, while ASDA shout out staff members from across their stores who have gone above and beyond. People respond well to businesses who take care of their employees and recognise their efforts. Similarly Morrisons’ best post came from offering discounts to NHS and other essential services workers. Consumers consider how a company does business more and more in their purchasing decisions and this trend has accelerated since the pandemic.

Only Waitrose and M&S saw their best post on Instagram, and only Waitrose saw their food offering make up the best post. Tesco’s best post was a competition on Twitter and was the only supermarket not to see its best post comprise a Christmas theme.

Best social media posts by supermarket

Aldi

Marks and Spencer

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by M&S (@marksandspencer)

ASDA

Waitrose

Tesco

Lidl

Morrisons

Sainsburys

Key takeaways

With Aldi taking on M&S, and many of the supermarkets choosing to champion people rather than product in their Christmas content, there’s a clear theme that shoppers want to see normal people triumphing and being recognised.

With the Maybe* platform, you don’t have to be a social media pro to increase traffic and sales.

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