How Chuck E. Cheese’s became a leader in social media

In a little less than three years, the kid-centric pizza and arcade-games chain went from no social media presence at all to winning awards.

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Until the summer of 2010, Chuck E. Cheese’s didn’t have any social media presence at all. Since then, it’s become a social media powerhouse.

Last month, Restaurant Business magazine listed the brand as one of only a handful of restaurant chains with winning social media strategies. The magazine included six tips based on Chuck E. Cheese’s practices in its list of 50 strategies worth emulating.

How did Chuck E. Cheese’s get there so fast? Surprisingly enough, by not rushing into things. Working with agency partner M/C/C, the chain first tapped into its existing fan club, and it grew from there. Now, it’s got nearly 500,000 Facebook fans, about 6,400 Twitter followers, and nearly 1,500 Pinterest followers.

A toe in the water

In summer 2010, Chuck E. Cheese’s communicators called M/C/C to find out how they might ease their way into social media. They had been impressed by M/C/C’s work with a grocery store chain and asked for a discussion.

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