Naked Pizza: A Local Success Story, Fueled By Social Media
October 23rd, 2012 by
Folks, here is a lesson in homegrown social media success. While it has long been known as an obsession of my generation, it can be difficult for just-starting-out businesses to learn how to grapple with this fact and to lasso it into a useful tool for getting non-virtual dollars into their budgets. At this point, we know of the tried-and-true ways for businesses to use social media for their benefit — primarily, starting conversations with customers or potential customers, generating interest, and responding to complaints. We also know there are ways to do it wrong. But who knew it could also be a way to attract investors? Local health-conscious delivery joint Naked Pizza, based right here in New Orleans, has been having tremendous success with social media via their quirky and attention-grabbing Twitter tactics.
Naked’s Twitter account, currently boasting nearly 19 thousand followers, is a perfect example of the ways that creative community-building via social media can spell big success for the savvy small business owner. By following a social media strategy that was true to their brand (read: quirky and fun) they began picking up the attention of investors. 8000 investment inquires, to be exact.
So what does Naked Pizza do different? The primary goal of social media is to get people talking about your product, in hopes that it will be higher on their radar, and they will be more likely or encouraged to buy your product when it comes time to make a sale. It’s a soft sale: phrases like “buy now” are a too-obvious faux pas. The best way to leverage social media is to start a conversation, so don’t be afraid to be funny or silly to make a connection with your fans or followers! That’s exactly what Naked Pizza has done so well. Tweets like, “Early Olympians wore no artificial clothing containing freaky chemicals… why should your pizza? Order now: http://nakedpizza.biz” and “LIVNAKED blog post! Do spider monkeys hold the key to why we get fat? http://ow.ly/1iYuK2” keep fans interested and engaged. (It goes without saying, of course, that having an official branded blog to link to doesn’t hurt either.) Fans share pictures of their pizza — Instagrammed, of course — and tweet about the ensuring delicious meal. There’s a direct conversation happening; Naked Pizza retweets their followers and asks direct questions to individuals. And frankly, they are doing a great job. After looking through their Twitter for about 10 minutes, I know what I’m having for lunch. Congrats to the booming pizza-crafters, and bon appetite to their many followers!
What other companies do you love to follow on Twitter?
