How Wildfire Helped One Small Business Power Its Social Media Campaign Original Joe's adds fuel to its online marketing strategy using a tool from Wildfire that helps businesses boost their social media status.

When your restaurant operates under an old-school, back-to-basics brand name like Original Joe's, chances are many patrons walk in expecting old-school, back-to-basics dining--you know, classic meat-and-potatoes fare. But Original Joe's, with 40 locations across Western Canada, couldn't be more au courant: Its globe-trotting menu spans everything from chicken gyoza (Japanese-style dumplings) to Mediterranean short ribs to poutine (French fries topped with cheese curds and brown gravy--a signature dish from Quebec, just a few provinces over). There's even a special menu for gluten-sensitive diners.

Original Joe's takes a similarly progressive approach to its digital marketing outreach efforts. Like many rival restaurant franchises, the chain is increasingly active on Facebook, but the company struggled to translate customers' in-store enthusiasm to online interest. "We realized social media is here to stay, but we couldn't figure out the best way to capture an audience," says Jeff Humphreys, the Original Joe's Franchise Group's manager of digital and social media.

Original Joe's spiced up its Facebook presence with the help of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Wildfire Interactive, which provides companies of all sizes with web-based tools that creatively engage users across the social networking landscape. Wildfire's solution helps small businesses develop branded, interactive campaigns, including sweepstakes, coupons and user-generated content competitions. The campaigns run on Facebook, Twitter and company websites, complete with widgets that make it easy for consumers to share the promotion with friends.