Back then, marketing was about pounding the same message into the same heads over and over – familiarity breeds trust, and trust breeds business. Now? Same game, just a different playing field. Instead of paper in the mailbox, it’s pixels on your phone. Instead of being “above the fold” in a newspaper, you’re trying to land above the scroll on someone’s feed.

Yes, the tools are cheaper today. A reel costs nothing to post. A viral video is free – kind of. But you do bear the mental burden of your time, creativity and consistency. And now, you’re not just competing with other pizzerias in your Yellow Pages – you’re battling makeup tutorials, travel influencers and dancing dogs for your customers’ attention.

That’s where quality and quantity come in.

There’s a story I always revert to: A pottery class was split in two. One half was told, “You’re graded on making the perfect pot.” The other? “Make as many pots as you can.” Who made the best pots? The quantity group. Why? Because repetition breeds refinement. Trying over and over – not just waiting for the perfect moment – makes you better, faster and more instinctual.

The same thing applies to online content. You want to make great posts? Don’t obsess over one “perfect” video that shackles you never to make anything because, “It’s not good enough,” or “I’ll look dumb.” I wholeheartedly encourage you to look dumb. Make more. Shoot more. Post more. The quality will come as a byproduct of doing the reps.

Stories Over Side Work and Posts Over Prep

We must remember that visibility is the driver of revenue. And nothing important can become a victim of what’s essential. I’m not saying skip the tasks of the day, but don’t skip telling your story either. The prep will get done. But if nobody knows who you are? You’re invisible, no matter how good your food is.

Repetition, Visibility, Connection

Making inroads with the community is still the game – and it always will be the game. How many people see you and how often? When they see you, do they care? Building trust alleviates purchase anxiety and increases the potential for purchase pride.

I remember Jerry Seinfeld explaining why he chose Netflix to hold the Seinfeld catalog. He said it didn’t matter whether it was a network or Netflix, as long Seinfeld was showing on the “medium of the day.” That’s how you’ve got to think. Don’t romanticize the platform, romanticize the result: connection.

We need to be where our customers’ eyes are and show up consistently with content that reflects our restaurant’s values, food and vibe.

So, yeah. Everything’s changed. But really? Nothing has.

Mike Bausch is the owner of Andolini’s Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Instagram: @mikeybausch

Read the June 2025 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

This month, we focus on restaurant technology. See what’s hot in tech trends this year. Explore kitchen automation that can save labor costs and improve quality. See how digital menu boards can help you stay on top of menu prices in a fluctuating economy. After a record-breaking Pizza Expo and International Pizza Challenge, we explore pizza trends from the world pizza competition. Find summer dessert inspiration. Discover how to take your side salads to entree status. Go to the June Issue.

The post Everything’s Changed and Nothing’s Changed | Mike’s Monthly Tip appeared first on Pizza Today.

No one needs to tell Gina Bolger and her colleagues at Home Run Inn how important dine-in traffic is to the company’s longevity.

At the flagship Home Run Inn on Chicago’s South Side, guests have filled the eatery’s 200-seat dining room for decades. The restaurant remains a place for families to celebrate milestones together, old friends to reconnect and parents to enjoy a chore-free meal.

Steady year-over-year dining room traffic has fueled Home Run Inn’s expansion, including five additional full-service restaurants and three carryout spots. It’s also prompted continued attention to and investment in the dining room experience for guests – from developing new and unique menu items to incorporating private party dining spaces.

“Our dining room experience is key because it allows us to connect with guests on a deeper level, creating memorable moments that build stronger, lasting relationships,” says Bolger, Home Run Inn’s chief marketing officer.

For as much attention as carryout and delivery generate in the pizzeria industry, the dining room might offer the most significant performance-driving benefits. An active dine-in business helps a restaurant drive sales of high-margin items such as cocktails and pasta dishes, differentiate itself from competitors, showcase its identity and build personal connections with guests.

“Ambiance and vibe are what make restaurants special and separate them from eating at home or getting takeout,” says Matt Calidonna, instructor of service, beverage and hospitality at The Culinary Institute of America. “The fuller the dining room is, the better the energy is, and the more guests and employees enjoy their time in the dining room.”

State Of Dine-in Traffic

Since the COVID-19 pandemic halted restaurant dining room traffic across much of the country and transformed consumer habits five years ago, dine-in numbers have steadily rebounded.

In a recent survey of nearly 1,800 U.S. adults, Aletheia Marketing and Media found 76 percent of consumers dine out at restaurants at least once a month. Of those, 54 percent dine out between one and four times each month, while 21 percent are considered high-frequency diners who eat out at least once or twice each week. The group that dines out most frequently are adults ages 18-44 with children under 17 and an annual income over $100,000.

In December, meanwhile, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) reports results from a national survey showing a strong desire among consumers – especially younger generations – to increase their presence at full-service restaurants. Nine out of 10 Millennials said they would like to dine out more often, while 87 percent of Gen Z adults and 84 percent of Gen Xers similarly want to visit restaurant dining rooms more often.

Make no mistake, consumers’ appetite for the dine-in experience is healthy, and many consumers remain attracted to the convenience of dining out as well as the social environment and food quality restaurants can deliver. The question is how restaurants might effectively capitalize on consumer desires and market their dine-in experiences to drive energy, interest and, ultimately, sales.

1. Spotlight Appeal Of Dine-In Environment

Restaurants need to separate themselves from the pack and emphasize what makes them unique. Aletheia Marketing Research Director Colleen Howell urges pizzerias to showcase what makes their dining room worth the visit – whether it’s cozy interiors, vintage arcade games, televisions showing live sports or kid-friendly environments.

“But make sure it’s true to life,” Howell cautions. “Today’s consumers – especially the younger ones – demand and reward authenticity.”

2. Promote Opportunities To Socialize

Many consumers turn to restaurants as a place for socialization. From trivia nights to watch parties, pizzerias across the country regularly host special events that nourish relationships and facilitate good times.

Full-service pizzerias should actively work to position their restaurants as a go-to place for connections. Restaurants can highlight this in marketing materials by featuring scenes of friends laughing over drinks, families celebrating milestones or sports fans cheering for their team.

“Tailor this to your specific clientele and make the social aspect of dining a focal point,” Howell says.

3. Highlight The Hospitality

Research from Aletheia shows 75 percent of diners prefer restaurants that create an experience beyond just eating and drinking. It’s a nod to the importance of providing first-rate hospitality rooted in friendliness and service as well as clean, lively environments.

“Today’s diners are hyper focused on quality hospitality, so businesses should be focused on training their staff to be hospitable and genuine in their service,” Calidonna says.

Guests come for service, not sass, and entrees, not eye rolls. Restaurants delivering true, genuine hospitality on a consistent basis should promote this in marketing materials and on social media to encourage visits. Sharing images of smiling staff engaging with customers or positive snippets from online reviews, for instance, signal hospitality.

4. Entice With Value And Promotions

While the NRA survey found the majority of consumers want to dine out more frequently, something notable stands in their way: cost. Four out of five full-service customers said they would visit restaurant dining rooms more often if they had more money.

Restaurants might overcome this financial hurdle with a few thoughtful, cleverly promoted discounts on appetizers, weekday happy hours or free kids’ meals – all of which can help drive dine-in traffic on slower days or periods, in particular.

“Our research shows that – specifically for pizza fans – these can be powerful dine-in motivators,” Howell says.

5. Champion Quality

Quality food is one of the primary drivers of restaurant visits – and the convenience of enjoying quality food in a restaurant dining room, where no one has to dice up veggies, clear the table or wash dishes, only elevates the appeal. It’s precisely why Howell suggests restaurants shine a spotlight on staff members who make the dine-in experience shine.

“Get some video of your friendly servers, your skilled bartenders and your pizza-oven guy stoking the 800-degree fire,” Howell says. “Campaigns that celebrate great service can resonate as much as those highlighting the food.”

DANIEL P. SMITH is a Chicago-based writer who has covered business issues and best practices for a variety of trade publications, newspapers and magazines.

The post 5 Ways to Market Your Pizzeria’s Dine-In Experience appeared first on Pizza Today.

Each year, I load up my bicycle and ride hundreds of miles across as many bike trails in the U.S. as I can. In 2024, I ventured from Albany, New York to Buffalo by bicycle on the Erie Canal Trail in seven days, eating at least two meals a day in towns along the way. I was one of nearly 4 million visitors to the trail last year. Before that, it was the Katy Trail in Missouri, the Great Allegheny Passage in Pennsylvania, the Ohio to Erie Trail – the list goes on and on.

I’ve eaten my fair share of pizza along the way, and I’ve encountered growing opportunities for even the smallest pizzerias in the most rural areas. And it’s not just me, travel is on the rise nationwide.

It was estimated that Americans’ travel spending was to exceed $221.6 billion in 2024, up 3.5 percent over the previous year, according to the Allianz Partners USA’s 16th Annual Vacation Confidence Index. Furthermore, the National Restaurant Association reports that around 30 percent of restaurant revenue comes from travelers and visitors. The total tourism industry is expected to reach $2.1 trillion in 2025, according to Travel and Tour World.

Whether by bicycle, automobile, airplane or transit, the one thing travelers have in common is they need to eat. Though it can be challenging to anticipate dining cycles and behaviors of travelers, it’s a market that is hard to ignore.

Let’s get a better grasp on how you can reach travelers without a big spend on your part.

But let’s face it: in the restaurant business, it’s all about repeat visits and the travelers’ spend often gets overlooked. Think of the “repeat” business as the referral source and you have a plethora of those in your area, from hotels and travel bureaus to attractions and regional food influencers.

Travelers often fall into two groups: business/professional or holiday/leisure. I would also add a third — special
interest. These are your traveling baseball teams and such that don’t necessarily fall under the previous two.

First step is to take stock of who visits your area and why.

Knowing who you are trying to reach will help you identify marketing opportunities and partners.

Next, assess your online presence. Visitors often do not know you exist, so it is vital to create and maintain a high ranking on search engines and review sites. Navigation services like Google Maps and others become even more important as travelers do a simple search en route to find “pizza near me” or “pizza, Louisville, Kentucky”.

If you can’t find your business, someone new to your area won’t either. Be sure you have claimed your profile on all search engines, review sites and social media. This goes for directories and third-party delivery sites (if applicable). Make sure they are complete. Add hours and photos (include meta data describing what’s in the photo along with your pizzeria name and location). Add an item to your weekly task list to keep that information updated.

Don’t forget to pay close attention to your website, as well. Check your site for its searchability. Is it a mobile responsive site? That’s a must now. Is contact info, menus and ordering easy to find on homepage? The No. 1 issue I find when I visit pizzeria websites is often I cannot find what city and state they are in without clicking around. Make it prominent on your homepage. Are phone numbers active and clickable to call? Are location details clickable to directions? Is the menu easy to read in body text format? Don’t hide menus in PDF links or in images. Do all photos have meta descriptions.

Hone in on Your Unique Community

Grassroots marketing is where pizzerias shine. You can apply this to tourists and travelers, as well. Here are some actionable items you can do right now to increase traveler visits to your pizzeria:

• Get your menus and promotions into every hotel, vacation rental, b&b and campground.

Often lodging will compile a list of restaurants with a QR code for guests to access or they provide a big binder of menus. If you are providing physical menus, do not forget to provide them with an updated copy when your menu changes.

• Create local promotion geofencing. Optimize technology to drill down your promotions to a specific area.

This makes it so much easier to find visitors that are in your immediate area.

• Partner with attractions.

This is a win-win. Sit down and come up with fun cross promotion ideas to drive traffic. A common tactic is for visitors to receive a discount at each when they show a current receipt or ticket stub.

• Collaborate with other restaurants.

Ban together to create a neighborhood or district food scene. You can host events and build cross promotions. Creating culinary guides and tours is a great way to encourage visitors to eat local. Food-related passports are popping up everywhere. I have one for local pizza, beer, coffee and donuts.

• Infuse traditional tactics that work.

Think community boards, street level signage, brand ambassadors and flyers.

• Leverage local, regional and state tourism bureaus and other agencies.

These organizations were created to help increase tourism, and they are at your disposal to partner with. Work with your tourism bureaus on local packages and promotions. If you can accommodate large parties and groups, contact the group sales and meeting professionals at the bureaus to work with them on group visits. Other great partnerships are conference centers, sports facilities and large companies who bring in travelers.

There are so many ways to attract travelers to your restaurants. Just make sure it’s on brand. Have fun with it. It’s what travelers expect.

Denise Greer Is Executive Editor at Pizza Today.

The post Capture the Tourism Market for Added Revenue in Restaurants appeared first on Pizza Today.

Most restaurant marketing advice assumes you’re in an urban area. What about pizzerias in small towns? Can they succeed by the same rules? Or is marketing a different game when you’re located in low-population rural or recreational areas?

We talked to three pizzeria owners, all thriving in small markets, to find out.

Rick Herman is CEO of Log Home Wood Fired Pizza in McGregor, Minnesota, population 350. He launched the business with his wife Nancy in 2014. They offer counter service and whole pies, with indoor seating and seasonal outdoor seating.

Weather Grace Preston is co-owner with her parents of Cross Eyed Cow Pizza in Oro Grande, California, population around 1,000. It’s on old Route 66 between LA and Barstow. Their model is counter service and whole pies, along with a two-slice-and-a-drink special. There’s plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.

Joe Ledwidge and his wife Maria founded Ranger Joe’s Pizza in Kalispell, Montana, population around 25,000. Their business is primarily pickup and delivery, with a few indoor and seasonal outdoor seats. They offer a slice bar from 11-2 weekdays, but focus on whole pies.

Here’s their advice.

Customer Relations

Our sources agree that focusing on the customer is vital, especially in a small town. “Get to know your customers by name, know what they like to order,” says Ledwidge. “Customers truly appreciate this, to them it is huge. Show them that you’re happy they picked you.” He trains staff to offer a friendly greeting to everyone who enters the shop and doesn’t let anyone slide on this. He believes it’s important to
“resolve issues immediately — things get around quick in a small town.”

Herman says “we focus a lot on our customers because we know most of them when they walk in the door. Being in a small town, it makes a huge difference.”

Ledwidge points out that “if you are the face of the brand, people often look at you as a celebrity figure. Don’t disappoint them. Customers really love hearing directly from the owner. Be present as an owner, let them see who brings them their favorite pizza through the work of your amazing staff.”

Small-town newspapers still play a vital role in their communities. All of our sources emphasized the value of the local newspaper. “I know paper is kind of a dying thing,” says Preston, “but it’s still a primary source to learn about things to do in small towns. We can pay money for all these different advertising experiences, but your local paper and word of mouth are gonna be your best bet. Word of mouth and knowing your base, your customer, your community is the gold mine for marketing.”

Log Home Wood Fired Pizza advertises weekly in the food section of the local paper, “so anytime we have a new promotion or a new item, they’re here taking pictures blowing it up for us,” and tasting it, too. Herman observes that local outlets are hungry for anything new to print, so it’s easy to be part of the news.

Log Home’s tagline is “Artisan Pizza of the Northwoods.” Their menu reflects this identity. You’ll find pizzas named Lumberjack, Smokehouse, Hunter and Evergreen on their menu. They serve a giant pretzel called Sasquatch. It’s all part of maintaining a strong brand that identifies closely with their location.

Social media is essential. Herman’s wife Nancy is a marketing professional and handles their social media marketing. “We focus on what message we want to get out. Our colors and graphics are always the same, and that makes a huge difference.” Their number of Facebook followers is well over 10 times the local population.

Ledwidge says it’s important to “respond in person to any social media comments or questions. Don’t let too much time pass by. It dulls the impact of your response.” He urges operators to set up alerts from review sites so you are notified immediately if there’s a negative review and you can “jump in to figure out a resolution with the customer right away.”

Authenticity

“Be yourself,” advises Ledwidge. “Customers love authenticity. This is critically important if you are the face of the brand. Show people who you are and why you love doing what you’re doing. Your passion will become contagious.”

“Get your story out there,” urges Preston. Everyone wants to hear your story. Don’t let other people write that story for you — only you can tell your story.” She says, “we’re a creative family” and it’s reflected by the décor. Their barn-like structure is topped with an airplane wing and chock full of funky, creative stuff. “We’ve got local art all over the walls. We’ve got murals outside. There are photo opportunities
everywhere. We’re just trying to improve the customer’s experience every time.”

Community means everything in a small town. Every source emphasizes the importance of collaborating and contributing.

Log Home procures its Sasquatch pretzel from a nearby bakery in Duluth, and partners with other local small businesses to use their products. As a small business in a tiny town, they’ve had to coordinate with other businesses including the grocery store to source ingredients. Herman is a very active member of the local chamber of commerce. He personally plays Santa at the pizzeria’s “cookies with Santa” event. As a former educator, he’s launched a program that rewards kids with pizza for reading at home, and he’s also established a scholarship.

Preston’s pizzeria hosts the annual Oro Grande Round Up, and a huge car show every April. “We have street vendors, a DJ, a band, we do t-shirts and trophies. There’s free games and face painting for the kids and all the proceeds that we make from that event, we try to put back into the community.”

As a business owner in a small town, “you have the ability to know the community on a more intimate level,” says Ledwidge. “Give to the community whenever possible,” with gift cards, pizzas and your time, such as cooking classes. “Support local charities, schools and organizations. Participate in community events, non-profit events and even for-profit events. You will get the benefit of helping others and free marketing at the same time. It’s also important to support and promote other businesses. They are part of the community that is your bread and butter.”

While operating a pizzeria in a small town may have unique challenges, it can be rich with rewards. Our sources have found success and satisfaction by become part of the fabric of their communities, a pie at a time.

Annelise Kelly is a Portland, Oregon-based freelance writer.

The post Small-market Success: Marketing for the Small-town Pizzeria appeared first on Pizza Today.

“A brand becomes a brand when it is consistent.”
– anonymous

There is always a debate on what is marketing and what is branding. There is one factor that runs into both, and that is consistency. When crafting your message, it must ring loud enough and often enough to make an impact.  We talked last month about implementing pizza styles that make you stick out from your competitors. When putting together the marketing campaign around the new style, you want to make sure your branding message is entrenched in the overall campaign.

We recently introduced a Tavern Style pizza to our menu, and we now are advertising it. We built this campaign for a 90-day stretch of time. In the past we have done monthly pizza specials. However, we have found that 30 days is not enough time to run a Limited Time Offer pizza. We like to run somewhere between 4 to 6 limited time offerings throughout the year. Some examples of LTO’s would be our stuffed crust pizza, our pickle pizza, a new style of pizza or a collaboration with a non-profit.

We like to run these LTOs because it keeps things fresh and new. When we run a new campaign, here are the ways we promote and position the new pizza:

• We start by taking great pictures. Set aside a few hours where you can take some great photos of the new pizza. We usually start this process at least two months before we launch the special.
• Once we have the pictures, we then create in-store displays. This includes posters, table tops and sometimes box toppers.
• We also create digital ads for social media. We have found that if we create fresh digital ads for all of the social platforms (each one having their own ad) that the results are higher. Additionally, we have found that if we use another fresh digital ad halfway through the campaign we likewise end up with higher visibility.
• On top of the digital static ads, mixing in videos in the form of short videos is a huge plus. Short videos of staff talking about the creation or trying it goes a long way in the eye of the customer. We typically have some paid Facebook and Instagram ads to which we allocate some of these advertising dollars. That further helps push these specials to introduce them to the public.
• Finally, training your staff to offer the LTO is another key to success. We let the staff try all the new LTO pizzas so that they understand the item and can get excited about it. We always offer it at a fair price — a fair price for the customer, but also a fair price for us so that we can still run a profitable restaurant.

If you have other forms of advertisement in your arsenal already like direct mail, TV, billboards or radio, I suggest you use them around your limited time offers as well. Since we mentioned profitability, that’s what we will get into in the next installment of Building Blocks!

Nick Bogacz is the founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh.  Instagram: @caliente_pizza

The post Building Blocks: Promoting Your Limited Time Offerings appeared first on Pizza Today.

When veteran restaurant industry executive Mike Burns took the helm of fast casual pizza chain &pizza earlier this year, overhauling the 55-restaurant chain’s tech stack was among his top priorities.

While &pizza had an existing loyalty program, it relied heavily on discounting and mass texting and was falling short of its potential. Burns knew it could work better, particularly at generating repeat visits, by becoming more dynamic, seamless and unique.

Burns leveraged his existing relationship with Thanx, a prominent loyalty and guest engagement platform for restaurants, and focused on “building loyalty organically.” He and his team adopted a quirky and memorable loyalty program name – the Dead Presidents Club – aligned with the brand’s counterculture vibe and roots in Washington, D.C. They created a redemption program featuring both food and merchandise and developed random surprises and VIP experiences. They initiated A/B testing to assess what efforts propelled results. Within four months of its launch, Burns saw results as &pizza scored a five-point swing in sales.

“If you’re doing loyalty right, it should prompt repeat visits and build a dedicated fan base for the brand,” Burns says.

In a competitive restaurant landscape, a loyalty program is becoming an all-important tool for restaurants to drive repeat visits.

“A loyalty program is crucial because it gives your high-value guests a compelling reason to dine with you more often,” Thanx Vice President of Marketing Emily Rugaber says. “It’s why so many are looking to ramp this up.”

Building Return Visits With Loyalty

Citing years of data, Paytronix, a leader in guest engagement for restaurants, finds adding a basic loyalty program creates an 18- to 30-percent increase in spending and visit frequency among program members. That’s enticing, of course, but merely having a loyalty program isn’t enough. To optimize a program and woo repeat visits, strategy and thoughtful action matters, which is why savvy restaurant operators take these steps:

Create a Differentiated Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs have been around for decades and the old-school “punch card” method – buy 10 pizzas and get a free large pizza – fail to inspire in contemporary times.

“Customers don’t want to wait until their 10th visit to see the value of the program,” Paytronix Senior Strategist Julia Bigwood says.

Shrewd restaurant loyalty programs create differentiation through tiered levels, allowing members to earn rewards more frequently and, even more, choose the rewards they want. Potential rewards might include complimentary appetizers or desserts, merchandise, exclusive access to new menu items or VIP experiences such as a special beer-and-pizza-pairing event.

With the Dead Presidents Club at &pizza, members earn coins with purchases. Coins can be redeemed for both food and merchandise, including irreverent – and undeniably unique – t-shirts like Abraham Lincoln sporting a mohawk or George Washington with a nose ring and gold teeth.

Choice and uniqueness, Bigwood notes, helps generate excitement and return visits.

Personalize Offers to Entice Returns

Diners are individuals, which is why blasting out one-size-fits-all messages rarely achieves objectives. Today’s consumers – who regularly see personalized recommendations of television shows, books or footwear they might like based on past history – expect tailored communications created just for them.

In fact, Bigwood calls “driving the right offers to the right people at the right time” the bread and butter of loyalty.

Pizzerias can learn about their customers and craft relevant, personalized offers for them by leaning into the personal information members provide upon loyalty program registration as well as the purchase history they build up thereafter.

With customer data in hand, pizzerias can design targeted, focused messages to invite a return. Such communications might include: the traditional birthday or anniversary free-dessert offer; an introductory reward for the new enrollee to use on their second restaurant visit, or early access to a returning limited-time offer menu item for loyalty program members who previously ordered the item.

“We want to retain our customers and make it compelling for them to keep coming in,” Burns says.

Make Loyalty Programs Seamless for All

Too often, restaurant loyalty programs are clumsy and difficult to interact with, which makes it easy for customers to discontinue use and dine elsewhere. From signing up and earning points to redeeming rewards, Rugaber says loyalty programs “should be easy, intuitive and quick.”

At &pizza, all customers using the company’s mobile app are automatically enrolled in the loyalty program – and 90 percent of loyalty customers have their credit card on file. Whenever they use their credit card for an &pizza purchase, they earn coins. There’s no giving their phone number or name, and the friction-free process is something customers appreciate, Burns says.

The seamless experience also should extend to the operational side as well. At &pizza, Thanx talks to the restaurants’ point-of-sale and online ordering platforms, so there are no extra steps required of store staff. This frees staff to focus on service, speed and hospitality, some of the most important ingredients to stimulating return visits.

Evolve the Loyalty Program

In too many cases, Rugaber says operators launch their loyalty program, and then … that’s it. The program never changes and becomes rote, predictable and static. There are no exciting rewards such as secret menus to keep things exciting or tech-fueled advancements to make things more seamless or personalized for guests.

“Historically, a loyalty program is a check-the-box item, but it should always be evolving and finding ways to grow,” Rugaber says.

Rugaber suggests routinely testing different options to see what resonates. For instance, a free dessert offer might spur more traffic from loyalty members than a free appetizer, so the more cost-effective option could drive better outcomes.

Leveraging automation, a pizzeria might send “almost there” messages to nudge guests just shy of a reward to return. In its Loyalty Trend Report 2024, Paytronix recommends sending these offers via e-mail and including images of the reward guests will receive alongside their current point balance. By simply sending that reminder message – with no additional incentive – Paytronix helped one quick-service brand achieve a 5.5 percent visit lift.

DANIEL P. SMITH Chicago-based writer has covered business issues and best practices for a variety of trade publications, newspapers, and magazines.

The post How pizzerias can use loyalty programs to propel return visits appeared first on Pizza Today.

People might not always save room for dessert, but it’s possible to get them to order one anyway. Pizzeria owners say certain marketing cues can boost dessert sales, even after the customer eats some delicious, filling pizza. It helps to have attractive visuals, and to make the ordering process easy.

For some, it’s a wonder that people even want dessert. “Sometimes we sit and we laugh at our menu,” says Steven Dilley, owner of Bufalina, Bufalina Due, and Palm Pizza in Austin, Texas. “We pull fresh mozzarella and fresh bread, and people order that and then pizza, which is essentially more of that, and we hope they order dessert.”

Dilley says his approach is to have a signature item, which is Vanilla Ice Cream with Sherry. That dessert evolved from Bufalina’s investment in an ice cream machine, the restaurant’s decision to use expensive real vanilla, and a wine vendor’s visit one day after a sales call at another eatery. “He ordered ice cream and poured sherry on it that he had brought,” Dilley says. “We all tried it, and it’s been on the menu ever since.”

Also on the menu is Olive Oil Cake. The cake was one of the original desserts when Bufalina opened in 2013. The restaurant took the cake off the menu in 2016, then reintroduced a new version when the chef produced a different iteration. The cake is not only delicious on its own, Dilley says, but serves as a canvas for seasonal fruits such as summer berries and peaches or autumn apples. The changes are often inspired by produce available from a local farm, and the eatery announces the various offerings on social media.

Just as the seasonal fruits change, so does the availability of the cake itself. Bufalina takes the cake off the menu occasionally, and then brings it back, letting people know through Instagram that the popular dessert has returned.

Visual cues

Social media can play a role in generating excitement about desserts. “They are included in our social media presence,” says Samantha Monterosso, brand manager for Dough Counter in Denver. “Obviously people love to see pizza on your social page, and they want to see extras too.”

While high-quality food photos can help increase online orders of desserts, at the restaurant it helps to have an appetizing display. “Dessert is an order with your eyes,” Monterosso says. “Remember when you went out for a nicer dinner in the 80s or 90s and they brought out the dessert tray? You were getting excited for cheesecake before your appetizer got to your table.”

Dough Counter, from the family that owns the two-location Marco’s Coal-Fired in Denver, opened in September 2023. The cake slice display case is one of the first things customers see when they enter the space. The case shows slices of Bumpy Cake, an iconic Michigan layer cake that features a fudge frosting poured over ribbons of vanilla buttercream, creating bumps. There are also Celebration Cake Slices, and for a limited time, Triple Chocolate Mousse slices.

The appearance of buttercream, sprinkles, and chocolate evoke nostalgia, a big driver of dessert sales. While Dough Counter occasionally offers decorated cakes such as for Halloween, the pizzeria typically sticks with the three different layer cakes. That simplifies operations, and helps the eatery establish its brand. “We’re not going to do the honey lavender lemon zest,” Monterosso says. “Others have French bakery in their lane. We are Bumpy Cake lane, Celebration Cake lane.”

Another driver of post-pizza dessert sales, perhaps counterintuitively, is that the slices are oversized. “For pizzerias, something sharable is nice,” Monterosso says. “We market it as to share, or have some tomorrow, that sort of thing.” Dessert sales are higher during weekends when customers are in treat mode.

Online ordering

About 65 to 70 percent of the pizzeria’s orders are takeout or delivery, so it’s important to have the right packaging for the large cake slices. “We have many guests whose only interaction with Dough Counter is online and they never come in,” Monterosso says. “Little things like giving them the right size container matter.”

Customers tend to order dessert more often when they order online, says Antonio Gambino, co-founder of Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks, with six locations in Minnesota. “Specifically the cookies, they can just click and boom, it’s in their bag,” he says. “They have more time to look at it.”

When people order at the counter, they might feel rushed by the prospect of other customers waiting to order, so they skip dessert. That might change, as Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks recently installed two ordering kiosks at one of the stores. Not only is it easier to order by tapping on a screen, but the system is set up to ask the customer if they want to add cookies or ice cream to the order. Although the location still has an area to order at the counter from a human, the technology relieves the staff from having to do a verbal upsell, and frees them up to perform other tasks.

Other selling points

Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks offers two desserts, cookies and ice cream. Both are sourced from local vendors, a detail that helps sales. “People love to support local businesses,” Gambino says. “We don’t brand it as our cookie or ice cream. We brand it as theirs.” The cookies are from Sweet Troo Vi, a vegan bakery that is based in the Twin Cities and sources ingredients locally. The ice cream is from Minnesota Dairy Lab, and is available in flavors such as Heath Bar, Cookies & Cream and Vanilla.

The cookies are also on display at the stores, which helps boost impulse sales. People grab a cookie and add it to their purchases as they stand at the counter, and eat it after their meal or later in the day, as a snack at the office or at home. Because of their portability, cookies outsell ice cream, but both are popular among families. “If they have kids, they say, ‘All right, you ate your dinner, you can have a cookie and/or ice cream,” Gambino says.

NORA CALEY is a freelance writer who covers small business, finance and lifestyle topics.

The post Marketing Desserts appeared first on Pizza Today.

Time is running out! Buy now before it’s too late! Don’t miss your chance!

It’s a cold hard fact that scarcity sells. Companies like eBay and StubHub are valued in the billions because of it. We get excited every time the McRib comes back and there’s mayhem when Pumpkin Spice Latte season returns. Fortunately for you, it’s also useful to independent pizzerias. A limited time offering, or LTO, can provide the power to do more than just boost sales. By tapping into the customers’ fear of missing out you can increase sales, attract media attention, and strengthen your community relations.

Seasonality

Every summer, pizza fans flock to Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana’s sixteen locations for a taste of their fresh tomato pizza. This is a pizza that’s only available while tomatoes are in season, unlike the restaurant’s perennial pies that use canned tomatoes. Sales surge as customers grab what they can before time runs out. When summer ends, so does the fresh tomato pizza.

The rhythm of seasonality keeps Dan Richer engaged with both his customers and local farmers through his ever-changing menu at Razza in Jersey City. “Customers want to know when corn is coming back and when zucchini will be on the menu again. The truth is that I don’t know! What we’re doing is alive.” Richer bases his entire concept on perpetual change. He reprints menus every day so he can adjust to the limits of nature. There are some pizzas that will always be available, but the ability to constantly add items based on seasonality gives Razza fans a reason to come back more often.

Collaboration

What’s better than marketing to your own customers? Marketing to someone else’s customers! You can use LTOs to do both by offering a limited-time collaboration with another local business. Greenville Avenue Pizza Company in Dallas teamed up with a popular Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood to create a hit. “They told us their number one seller was the Dan Dan Sausage, so we took inspiration from that dish to create a super popular pizza that lived on our menu for just a few weeks,” says owner Sammy Mandell.

Alex Coons has had great success collaborating with like-minded businesses through his restaurant Hot Tongue in the Silverlake section of Los Angeles. “We recently ran a collaborative pie for just one weekend with a fantastic local restaurant called BeeWali’s. The collaboration proved to be a fantastic marketing tool for both of us, drawing in lots of new faces. It was one of our best weekends of the year.” Collaborations like this don’t just build a restaurant’s audience, they also strengthen communities.

Publicity

The main reason Greenville Avenue Pizza Company runs limited-time offerings is to stay relevant. “Our focus is on staying top of mind,” says Mandell. “How do you get yourself press coverage if you’re doing the same thing every day?” By having a rolling series of LTOs, Greenville Avenue Pizza Company has established a reputation within their community. It’s so much a part of their identity that the largest local magazine in Dallas recently featured them on the cover of their pizza-centric issue. Even better, the magazine asked GAPCO to collaborate on a special pizza in celebration of the issue. It doesn’t get any better than collaborating with the press!

On the social media side, an LTO provides loads of content opportunities. Images and videos of your new creation will generate buzz and provide a nice break from the same photo of your pepperoni pizza. MaiPai Tiki Bar in Hamilton, Ontario uses Instagram Reels to announce a new featured pizza every week. These videos rack up thousands of views and lead to a spike in pre-orders. MaiPai once ran a social media campaign that invited their followers to vote for their favorite weekly feature. They scored lots of engagement and used the results to update their regular menu.

Boosting Slow Periods

Time-sensitive offers have the ability to bring people through the door in times of need. Mama’s Too in New York City creates a new sandwich every week to be sold only on Wednesday. Regulars who usually come in for pizza make an extra visit on Wednesday just to pick up the weekly sandwich. The pizzeria announces the sandwich one day in advance via Instagram and they regularly sell out.

Diana Huynh, owner of Cici’s Pizza & Wings in Toronto, fired up an LTO when she noticed her merch line wasn’t selling. Last October, she celebrated Pizza Month with a special offer of a free slice with the purchase of any piece of Cici’s swag. She usually sells just five pieces of merch per month, but the free slice incentive increased that number to over forty.

Challenges

Creating temporary menu items takes a lot of work. You’ll have to devote time to R&D, especially if you’re working with an unfamiliar ingredient or process. Seasonal items pose a particular challenge because a short season won’t give you much time to experiment.

Before you can take your new item public, you’ll have to train your staff. The kitchen has to know how to prepare the dish and your servers need to be able to sell it. A complicated process that clogs up your makeline will give you more headaches than solutions. This is another reason it’s great to collaborate with another restaurant that can handle some of the prep for you.

One of the most popular LTOs at Greenville Avenue Pizza Company is their Pretty Pickle pizza. “We get more requests for this than any other pie,” says owner Sammy Mandell. “We would have already added it to the regular menu, but each pie gets 100 slices of pickle and that’s just too labor-intensive for my staff.”

Dan Richer agrees. “I can spend months perfecting chocolate cake but if it’s not a process my staff can execute perfectly every time it’s not worth adding to the menu.

The loudest refrain from pizzerias that use limited time offerings is that they have to become part of your routine. Greenville Avenue Pizza Company spent two years building their LTO program but now it’s an essential part of their restaurant. Razza and MaiPai consider short-run items to be part of their DNA. They’ve trained customers to anticipate LTOs as a way of holding their attention. It’s important to put in the work of establishing consistency, otherwise the occasional one-off will go unnoticed. It takes time and energy to build a rhythm, but the results could pump a new lifesource into your pizzeria.

SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City and SliceOutHunger.org  Instagram: @scottspizzatours

The post Using FOMO to create an LTO appeared first on Pizza Today.

E-mail marketing is the cheapest marketing a restaurant can use. It’s also the most effective. Here are the basic 101s of e-mail marketing. To start with, do you send e-mails? If you answered yes, you have separated yourself from around 75 percent of restaurant owners. The next thing is, what e-mails are you sending? There are many approaches to e-mail, but here are the three most common restaurant ones. The first and the most dated one is the newsletter, which has so much information that it overwhelms the reader to the point that they immediately click delete. The next is a middle ground with a story, which only works if you have a very engaging story. I’m all for this if you can add photos and build a narrative that genuinely entices purchase or brand loyalty.

Mike Bausch, owner, Andolini’s Pizzeria

The simplest is what I call the Instagram e-mail. The Instagram e-mail is just a photo and a basic explanation of the one photo, just like you would have on a regular Instagram post, but it’s done via e-mail. A photo of a food item and the description of it with a call to action. Or a photo of a thumbnail of you doing something cool in your community that links to your social or YouTube page. The beauty of this e-mail is that it goes into people’s inboxes, which is the method most of our customers will check more than social media. People are not living and dying by what you e-mail, so make it quick and effective and pass the 1.5-second rule; if it can’t be absorbed in 1.5 seconds, it’s too long.

There is still value in social media if you show up in your customers’ feeds. But a lot of the time, that’s more challenging than it used to be. So, a top-of-mind awareness e-mail sent out from you is completing and checking the box of the basics. If you would post a video or recipe in the Instagram post, you do it by e-mail. If it is just a new menu item, you do it in the e-mail and let simplicity work. SIMPLE WINS ON E-MAIL.

The next level of e-mail marketing is an automated workflow or a drip e-mail campaign. E-mail providers like MailChimp and Constant Contact can send endless amounts of these, and they’re fantastic. When someone signs up for your e-mail list by getting a freebie or potentially because they’ve ordered with you in the past, they are automatically entered into your e-mail campaign, where they now receive a whole campaign of information on autopilot, which is fantastic. Those e-mails should start with who you are and what you’re about, and keep sending with info on your signature items, along with your charitable works and everything about your company vibe.

Even grander than that are e-mails directly connected to your Point of Sale System. Certain POS providers have become so advanced that you don’t need to transfer the e-mail to the e-mail provider from the point of sale. They’re interconnected because they’re one. This is great. Some POS providers can even tell you the total money earned in TRUE ROI from an e-mail campaign, which is better than simply knowing how many total e-mails were opened, which is what classic e-mail companies can do. POS e-mails have better customer reporting when tied to loyalty, while classic e-mail service providers (ESPs) like MailChimp and Constant Contact provide more e-mail bells and whistles.

An e-mail list consistently growing and nurtured with interesting content, offers and infotainment will yield an ROI. It’s mathematically impossible for it not to because of how affordable the e-mails are. Not using e-mail consistently at this point in the game goes beyond naivety and falls into the category of business negligence. If you were forced to choose between deleting all your social media or never sending another e-mail, keeping e-mail would be smarter. It’s smarter because it yields more direct results from your nurtured audience on your terms.

Mike Bausch is the owner of Andolini’s Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Instagram: @mikeybausch

The post Mike’s Monthly Tip: Email Marketing in 2024 appeared first on Pizza Today.

Social media plays a huge role in today’s marketing arena.

Mastering this notoriously fast-moving, ever-changing landscape is an ongoing challenge for pizzerias.

Are you wondering whether you’re missing some critical developments in the social media world because you’re too busy crafting amazing pizzas? We talked to a couple of experts in the social media marketing profession to find out what’s new.

Sara Huntington is a content producer and TikTok specialist at Firebelly Marketing in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Chad Richards is the founder of Sidework Social.

Do I Really Need To Be on Social Media?

“Social media is where the people are, right?” says Richards. “So, in order to reach people, they really need to be where the people are.”

Social media platforms are actually some of the most cost-effective places for paid advertising. While platforms typically launch with a focus on free user-generated content, “it’s increasingly difficult to reach people organically or for free,” according to Richards. “You are competing with everybody’s friends that they follow, with other brands that they follow, and with brands that are running ads trying to reach your same audience. So, if you want to guarantee exposure you really need to be running paid ads.”

He emphasizes that “you don’t have to spend a lot of money.” For example, instead of posting every day and relying on organic exposure, “you’re better off to just post one time a week, and front an ad promoting it through the end of the week.” He observes that many smaller pizzerias may devote virtually their entire marketing budget to social media, whereas larger brands will diversify their efforts.

What’s Hot in Social Media?

Video is extremely hot, and it’s got an obvious affinity with food of any kind. Nothing can match seeing the sizzle and stretch of nice hot pizza straight out of the oven.

The two most influential platforms today are TikTok and Instagram Reels. Many other platforms are capitalizing on the video trend. YouTube, dedicated to video, has initiated “YouTube shorts” to capture this element of the market, and Facebook has long been video-friendly.

The appeal of video is obvious. “It’s storytelling, right?” says Richards. “Video’s very popular. I would include that in your arsenal because there are people that love to consume video content, so that should be available for your guests.”

What’s Not?

Both Richards and Huntington warn operators against trying to anticipate the trends by being an early adopter.

“I hate to come on as the contrarian, but I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I’ve seen so many new things come and go. It’s the shiny new object syndrome, but really, I just say focus on where your customers are,” offers Richards. “There aren’t any new emerging platforms right now that I would say are must-have for pizzerias outside of TikTok.”

Your Video Marketing Strategy

The advice is to be where your customers are, and today that means the big, dominant platforms.

Huntington emphasizes that you need to cultivate an authentic identity. “To be able to grow on social media, you really have to be able to find what your niche is,” she advises. “There’s a level of realism you have to show on social media. Is it family owned? Is it artisanal? People want to see more than just half-off coupons. They want to see where do your ingredients come from? What’s your family’s background like?”

Richards says “the recipe for success for pizzerias, no matter which channel they’re on, it’s really simple. You want to provide guests with content they wish to consume and provide them with an amazing customer service experience. And these pizzerias are already doing this in their restaurants, so they just need to do the same thing on their social channels.”

Utilizing Metrics

That’s where metrics come in. They enable you to evaluate whether your content is resonating with your audience.

Huntington says valuable metrics are available “with pretty much any platform. You can see your engagement rates, your reach, your audience, it’ll tell you the age of your audience, where your audience is located. TikTok will show you a graph of your retention rate — at what point people stopped watching your video. The average length that people watch a TikTok video is around three seconds, but you’ll know if you have a good or bad video if it drops off before those three seconds. If they watch the whole thing, then you had a good video. Even if it didn’t have your highest engagement, people still watched the entire thing.”

Richards says metrics can reveal clues such as “when we post a trivia question, that has a really amazing engagement rate. Or maybe when we post a coupon, we don’t get many comments, but lots of people share it and we’re reaching so many people. So it helps you know what to include moving forward in your content mix.”

Different Social Platform, Different Style

TikTok expert Huntington emphasizes that the different platforms favor different productions styles.

“The thing with TikTok is it’s not this overproduced video showing how beautiful the pizza is. It would be an actual person in their kitchen showing them how they make the pizza.” TikTok users “wanna see live raw footage, which is so different than what we’ve seen in other social media in the past.”

She refers to research her firm did on Taco Bell. “If you look at their Instagram, it’s all pretty overly produced. And then you get on their TikTok and it’s just someone that they’ve hired, showing how they make each one of the tacos and the ingredients and everything. And then you get on YouTube shorts and it’s just some young employee in their kitchen making Taco Bell. It just progressively becomes more realistic and not so highly produced.”

Benefits of a Social Media Pro

Both experts encourage you to enlist a professional.

Huntington emphasizes that pros will know the trends and how to get a video to land on users’ “for you” page. “There’s a cadence of when to post, and what sound to put on it that’ll make it trend with other videos.”

Richards observes that when businesses DIY their social media, “they run out of steam.” He says professional service ensures pizzerias post consistently in terms of schedule and voice. He also notes that community management should be a part of your customer service experience. When guests reach out via direct message on social media apps, they expect a prompt response.  You should make sure they get one, which takes dedicated monitoring.

Annelise Kelly is a Portland, Oregon-based freelance writer.

The post How and Where Pizzerias Succeed on Social Media appeared first on Pizza Today.