What's up Home Slice?

Home Slice Pizzeria on South Congress has a great social media presence in Austin that draws a community together around great pizza and live music.

One would think that a pizza restaurant owner would be weary of large national chains such as Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Papa Johns when opening a restaurant. However, Home Slice hands down beats every other national chains social media presence (and taste too!).

When starting a twitter or a blog, “don’t put on a façade or appear like a discombobulated mess. Decide who you are, how you want to be viewed and run with it” said Aaron Schoenberger, a social marketer and founder of the Brain Child Group.  

This is exactly what Home Slice did.

Home Slice was extremely creative when creating their identity. As a local restaurant they targeted the “Keep Austin Weird” persona. They created an environment that Austin people flock to by being casual, goofy, hipster and musical.

Their identity then carried over into their twitter and blog. Home Slice’s blog, Shut Your Pie Hole, primarily discusses music and pizza. They discuss what bands they are bringing to play at the restaurant and what are the employee’s favorite bands. The blog is genuine because it is truly a reflection of what the restaurant is all about; music, community and pizza (of course).

National Brands do not have a social media presence that is personalized to a single community. Since Home Slice is catered to the Austin community they have more loyal customers because customers feel special when they can relate to a brand.

When looking at the Domino’s twitter and Home Slice’s twitter you can see how Home Slice is more approachable and conversational compared to Domino’s who is just giving out the daily deals. Home Slice’s twitter actually has conversations with people and updates specific people on happenings around the city. On Domino’s twitter, they are primarily apologizing for the late delivery or bad experience.

Comparison tweets from Home Slice (top) and Domino's Pizza (bottom)- screen captures from twitter.com

Although Domino’s and Home Slice are on very different levels (national vs. local), one thing I took away from comparing their twitter feeds is when you are only apologizing for your product and referring them to customer care then you are not creating a relationship with your customer. When you do not have a relationship with a customer they are not going to be brand loyal.

There was not a single negative comment posted on Home Slice’s twitter. On a public forum like Twitter where anyone can say anything, all positives say a lot about a restaurant and their use of twitter and social media.

Photo: homeslice.com