Grocers typically use social media to indicate off what they convey to shoppers’ tables, from seasonal products to fresh meals.
At the tip of the day, though, most grocers’ social media pages find yourself looking like ads on platforms which might be primarily meant to entertain.
Aldi decided to try a brand new approach. Since the beginning of this 12 months, the discounter has been testing a customer-centric strategy that takes the main focus off the Aldi brand. While a few of the company’s social posts still showcase the Aldi colours, logo and other marquee elements, many now simply riff off social media trends and culturally significant moments to draw viewer attention, Aldi U.S. Marketing Director Katherine Sodeika said in an interview.
Sodeika said the shift began when leadership asked her ahead of this 12 months if she was doing what she desired to be doing with the corporate’s social media content.
“The answer was ‘No. I’m doing what I feel the corporate wants us to be doing and what I’ve been told is a priority, but it’s probably not social first, and it’s not customer first,’” Sodeika said. “And that’s where we decided to make the pivot.”
This approach also included pulling back on spotlighting Aldi’s claim to fame: low prices. Only showing off low prices on Instagram and other social media platforms wasn’t paying off for Aldi, Sodeika said, adding that the corporate already has pricing information available for shoppers through other channels, corresponding to its weekly ad.
Despite less obvious showboating on Aldi’s part, this latest social media strategy is allowing the discounter to face out from its competitors. While most grocers exhibit their private label assortments and in-store features, Aldi is garnering the eye of 1000’s by bringing a playful voice to its content and tapping into viral moments.
“Having that engagement, constructing that affinity with customers, it’s not only fun, it’s truly driving towards business objectives and driving sales,” Sodeika said.
A more in-depth have a look at what’s working for Aldi
Aldi primarily posts content on five different social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn, Sodeika said, with Facebook and Instagram serving as the corporate’s biggest focus. The company’s latest strategy has led to double-digit growth in engagement thus far this 12 months on Instagram and TikTok.
Aldi is seeing higher engagement across top platforms.
% increase of reach or impressions 12 months over 12 months in the primary half of 2025
Focusing less on Aldi as a store and more as a persona has allowed the corporate’s social media team to lean into trends and culturally relevant moments.
“I feel where we actually find success is after we are timely in cultural moments,” Sodeika said, noting back in January when Aldi quickly joined the discourse across the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banning the factitious coloring Red No. 3. Aldi took to social media to indicate off that it had banned synthetic colours a decade prior to the FDA’s request, but did so without flashing the Aldi brand.
The discounter’s Instagram post is easy, showing two side-by-side bowls of multi-colored cereals. Underneath the image is the statement, “One of those ditched synthetic colours back in 2015… And nobody had to inform us to.” It’s not until viewers pay attention to the account behind the post that they see it’s Aldi USA. Aldi carries its playful voice into the caption, which provides details on its history regarding banning synthetic colours from all its exclusive products.
The post garnered greater than 60,200 likes on Instagram, while an analogous post on Facebook received over 10,000 likes.
But this isn’t even Aldi’s hottest post from this 12 months. That post, which got here just ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, took the identical inconspicuous approach and mirrored a preferred meme trend.
The post shows a burger patty with an unamused face and text below reading, “When he still hasn’t asked you to be his patty for St. Paddy’s Day.” The post accrued greater than 606,000 shares, nearly 522,000 likes and over 650 comments, including from Instacart, H&R Block, Red Robin and Aldi Ireland.
To provide some context on just how viral this post was, Grocery Dive compared grocers’ most-liked Instagram posts thus far in 2025:
All of those Instagram posts were created in partnership with a minimum of one influencer or celebrity.
In addition, based on a Grocery Dive evaluation of all of Aldi U.S., Kroger, Albertsons, Whole Foods and Lidl US’s Instagram posts thus far in 2025, Aldi’s average like-count on the social platform is within the 1000’s, while those competitors’ average like-count falls within the double- to triple-digits.
“We’re having a brand moment, and this brand moment’s not going anywhere. We are putting our foot on the gas. The more we learn, the harder we’re leaning in,” Sodeika said.
Behind the Scenes
Aldi has not undergone any personnel changes to make this shift in its marketing strategy, in line with Sodeika.
The social team consists of a manager and two associates, and this trio works with the remainder of the marketing team or other company departments, Sodeika said.
“[The social team is] just cranking out awesome content, and they’ve the support of the broader department, feeding ideas and also at all times integrating it with what our wider market objectives … of acquiring latest customers and growing the trips and the spend of our existing customers.”
The social team keeps Aldi’s content consistent across all U.S. divisions in an effort to remain efficient, Sodeika said, noting Aldi’s social accounts post multiple times per week on average. The team also juggles planning content weeks prematurely while being able to jump on relevant trends as they occur.
“What the social media strategy shift taught myself and taught the broader organization is, for those who lean into how customers are engaging with channels and you develop the creative in a way that’s complementary to that, you will probably be more successful,” Sodeika said.
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