Duane Reade marks Twitter success

Duane Reade, a division of Walgreens, held a gala event at the chain’s flagship on Wall Street to mark its success on social media. The drugstore surpassed 1 million followers on Twitter.

From September 2012 to date, the regional retailer has organically grown its Twitter following by 6,709%, making it one of the fastest-growing accounts on Twitter year-over-year. With 1.1 million followers at latest count, the chain is believed to be the most followed retailer in the drug, food and mass arena.

“Duane Reade went from 10,000 followers last July on the platform to 1 million currently,” said Chris Riedy, senior sales manager, Twitter. “That really is a significant accomplishment. “

The drugstore chain has averaged a 4% engagement rate for “Promoted Tweets.”

“That’s very very strong,” Riedy said. The industry average is 2%.

Riedy credited three crucial elements for the chain’s success in growing its Twitter base.

“They had an outstanding team…the team was able to put in place an authentic voice…and the team understood how to leverage the Twitter ad platform,” he explained.

Reedy noted that Duane Reade has been successful in using social media not only to drive engagement but also to drive sales. He cited the Duane’s Reade’s “Show Us Some Leg” social amplification vendor campaign, which bolstered ROI, including a 28% lift in sales of the chain’s legwear. (Post campaign performance numbers for the vendor have been equally impressive, with sales up 21% year-over-year as of July 2013, according to Duane Reade.)

“The marketing power of Twitter cannot be overestimated,” said Calvin Peters, digital communications manager, Duane Reade.

Duane Reade has developed an “always on” Twitter Ads strategy that is driven by consumer-generated media and is integrated across channels to connect with new audiences — and keep existing followers engaged.

“Our goal has been social community building and expanding relevant engagement to enhance our overall experience,” said Calvin Peters, digital communications manager, Duane Reade. “Achieving this while also creating social communication vehicles that can generate tangible ROI results for both corporate and vendor initiatives have proven successful.”