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| Staci Hausch, Donatos |
We all spend time on Facebook and have likely come across Donatos Pizza at one point or another. Well, we wanted to meet the face behind the person in charge of their social media action. Meet Staci
Hausch, the Digital Marketing Manager for Donatos Pizza. Staci answered a few questions about handling social media for a pizzeria with over 150 locations.
PMQ: When did you start with Donatos?
SH: I
started with Donatos back in September 2013, just a few weeks before our
episode of Undercover Boss aired! I’ve grown up on Donatos pizza, so when this
opportunity came along, I couldn’t resist. It is an incredible family-owned
company to work for.
PMQ: Tell us a bit more about the
company.
SH: Donatos has been in business since 1963 when Jim Grote founded it
(with only $1,300!). We’re headquartered in Columbus, Ohio and currently have
more than 150 locations. Donatos is known for our famous thin crust, party-cut
pizzas with toppings that span Edge-to-Edge®, and for our philosophy of
promoting goodwill in all of the communities where we serve.
PMQ: What is their onboarding program
and how did that help you to do their social media?
SH: Our onboarding program was
incredible, because it included one-on-ones with everyone I would be directly
working with, along with folks who I wouldn’t necessarily have direct
communication with. Most of the people in our office have been working for
Donatos for decades, and their knowledge of not only the history of Donatos,
but also our products, was so helpful coming in. One of my colleagues in
R&D, Donice, has been working with Donatos since the very beginning- for
over 40 years! So, when it comes to social media, it was beneficial to be
acclimated to so many facets of our business in an effort to keep our social
content unique, and to appropriately share our company’s incredible story!
PMQ: What exactly is your day made up of
with Donatos?
SH: Social media is only a small part of my role, so I get the chance
to work on everything from our email marketing program, to the launch of our
new responsive and adaptive website,
to running contests and promotions on social media (like our Pizza for Life contest),
to our mobile texting program, and more. One of the things that makes Donatos
unique is how nimble our team is- I love that social media is a team effort, and
that we get to see how it can affect stores across our system of franchise
owners and company restaurants.
PMQ: How much of your job is creating
content and how much is wading through other's content?
SH:For Donatos, it’s a
beautiful combination of both. One of the best things about being in the pizza
industry (and serving an incredible product) is that your customers are
constantly taking gorgeous photos to share. We like to create our own content,
and we’re always working to identify new ways to create our own content, but we
do share quite a bit of what we find online. Nothing can beat an authentic
experience that a customer had and shared with us, and it’s something we think
is worth sharing as well.
PMQ: What is social media to you?
SH: Social media to me is how we’re communicating with a customers. Even in the
short span I’ve been at Donatos, it’s been incredible to see the shift of
guests reaching out to us online, especially as we continue to prompt it.
Donatos has amazing brand ambassadors that we talk to daily through social
media. For us, it’s an instant connection with those customers, and it’s a
pulse on the in-store experience from far away at our Home Office. There was
one fan who reached out to us a few months ago about her father that was very
ill. He lived in Las Vegas, and one of his wishes when his daughter was
planning to visit was to have a Big Don Sub, which is one of the menu items
we’re known for. She had reached out to us through Facebook, and our Guest
Relations team was able to coordinate shipping a fresh Big Don Sub to Las Vegas
so her dad could enjoy it. He ended up passing away a few days after this, and
the outpouring of responses we saw from his friends and family were incredible
to see, and heartwarming to interact with. It’s amazing the power that social
media holds in connecting people. Our COO, Tom Pendrey, is a believer in the
term that it’s not B2B or B2C anymore- it’s H2H: Human to Human. Social media
is the prime example of this.
PMQ: What is unique to Donatos in
terms of social media?
SH: We like to seek out our Brand Ambassadors and reward
them. We call it “Random Acts of Pizza.” I find such joy in seeing huge fans
online posting photos of their pizzas, and then rewarding them with free pizza
as a thank you for being a fan. Our
company culture of promoting goodwill and making your day a little better is
something that we strive to do on a daily basis. And, it’s just plain fun to
make someone’s day who isn’t expecting it!
PMQ: Do the operators handle their
own social media in general? How does it work?
SH: Some operators handle
social media on their own, and some don’t. As a company, our presence is
“system-wide,” meaning that we are the voice
of Donatos as a brand. But, some
of our operators have their own social media channels to allow for a localized
voice to come through.
PMQ: What do you have to do
different on social media when you own more than one store but still have an
overall brand message to get out there?
SH: This is where social media tools are
very important in helping to segment out your messaging. For us, we rely
heavily on our partners in other markets to let us know what events are
happening in their neighborhoods so we can share those stories when
appropriate.
PMQ: Do you find the social media
needs to be different for different regions?
SH: I do think it’s important to have
a local voice that can speak to region-specific events, special deals, etc. Our
family of associates within each store is something that makes Donatos
different in the pizza industry. These stories are ones that we like to share
on localized pages. However, as a “brand voice,” this isn’t something that
changes market to market. The Donatos voice stands true in every store we’re
in, regardless of region.
PMQ: What type of posts and
frequency have you found to be the most effective?
SH: We see the most engagement
from posts speaking to our ingredients (people have very definitive favorites
with our Signature Pizzas because we have so many unique combinations!) as well
as posts that share customer stories. We also get to have a lot of fun with
contests; currently, we’re giving away Donatos Pizza for Life to one lucky fan.
In addition, we’re also giving away pizza for year to one customer from each of
our stores!
PMQ: What is your favorite social media personally and what
works best for the brand?
SH: Personally, I’m a raving fan of Instagram. As a
brand, we’ve had such a strong community on Facebook for so many years that we
absolutely love interacting with. However, we’re starting to see more value in
Twitter and Instagram as direct and fast communication tools straight to our
customers. And, being in the pizza industry, Instagram is the perfect showcase
for our beautiful pizzas!
PMQ: What is the key to success with social media for
any pizzeria?
SH: I don’t know that there’s a silver bullet; our efforts come from
several directions on social media. That said, one of the most important things
you can do on social media as a pizzeria is to share and create content that is
as beautiful and mouthwatering as your food is. Donatos core principle is to
“Serve the very best pizza, and to make your day a little better.” We embody
this mission in everything we do, including social media, and our dedication to
making every customer full and satisfied has been a huge factor of success for
us.
PMQ: Not every pizza shop can afford a PR firm or
a social media full time person, so for those who are busy and can't hire this
job out, what advice do you give them for social media if they just can't post
daily?
SH:
Our advice is to work smart, not hard! Spend one day a month setting up
posts throughout the week using tools like Hootsuite, and then as great stories
pop up, share those on an individual basis. Set yourself up for success at the
beginning of each month, and then you’ll be able to focus your time on
operations and serving your customers.
PMQ: We have found only about 50% of pizzerias
have a presence on social media. What advice do you have for pizzerias in terms
of social media?
SH: Have fun with it, and don’t try to do everything on social
media all at once. It’s also important to understand the different uses of
social media. You’ll find that Facebook is becoming a great platform for
communication with Boomers, but Twitter and Instagram are better with
Millennials. If you’re just getting started, it’s critical to define your
“voice” online, and then do your best to bring that voice to life on a few
channels at a time. The principle of quality, not quantity rings true in social
media.
