Domino’s Pizza has surely come a long way with its social media efforts.  From almost being a victim and a text book case of things you should NOT do on social media, the company has used social media to reinvent and to rebrand itself and to strengthen its new brand.  Domino’s Pizza has become one of the icons of what you should do for your own media efforts.

Struggling with social media?  Here is what you could learn from Domino’s Pizza:

Get it right. It is imperative for any business starting out on social media to take a look at what others have done on various social media platforms, as well as to research the best practices on each.

Take a look at Domino's Facebook page.  It is apparent that they have taken the time to see what has been done well and what worked for other brands.

You would see that even in welcoming would-be likers, they did it right.  Their welcome page includes a clear call to action, an arrow to show people, even beginners, what to press, and what people stand to get from liking the page.

But what makes Domino's Facebook page stand out are the discussions and conversations it starts with its customers.  Not only do the people behind the Domino’s Facebook page get valuable research information in a fun a way (Pepperoni or cheese topping war status update), but they also tie the brand with what's happening in everyday life, while providing people with information about Domino’s pizzas!

Before all the changes that Facebook underwent, Domino’s also used the platform to gather comments about its pizzas from customers.  It had a tab on its page that allowed customers to leave their complaints about its pizzas and deliveries or if they think that the pizzas have improved.  Plus, they have been very interactive on the page as well!

Crisis management through social media.

When a pair of Domino's employees filmed themselves doing disgusting things to Domino's food, serving them to customers, and then putting the video on YouTube, it nearly spelled the end of Domino's.

The series of videos immediately went viral, prompting bloggers to fire off scathing posts against the company.  Twitter and Facebook users were sharing the video and it spread like wildfire all over the social media channels.  Everybody who saw the video, which would have been in the millions, swore not to eat at Domino's again.

But then the company responded by also going on social media.  Domino's came up with a video that showed the company's president apologizing for the fiasco, acknowledging their mistakes, how this was the work of two employees and not the whole company, and, more importantly, the steps they are taking to correct it so that it would not happen again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dem6eA7-A2I

Domino's has been using social media to connect with their customers since then.

Tie social media with traditional media.  When Domino's reinvented its pizza back in 2010, it came up with TV commercials that urged people to try out its new pizza.  It also came up with a social media campaign that gave away free large pizza to fans.

Domino's came up with a game wherein it invited people to essentially refer a friend by giving a coupon for free pizza.  The referrer also gets a free coupon.  If the friend goes to Domino's and orders a pizza using the coupon, then the referrer has "captured" his taste buds.  Ten captures later, the referrer gets a coupon for a large one-topping pizza.

While the game was on social media, the TV ads certainly helped Domino's get more buzz and spread the information around.

Located in sunny Southern California, SEO Inc. is a Search Engine Optimization Company specialized in creating SEO, Social Media, and Local Search Marketing solutions for businesses of all sizes.