Time and again, when I question successful pizza operators in the pursuit of sage marketing advice, I'm confronted with the answer, "I don't do any marketing. It's all word of mouth."
I hate that answer. Not because I disagree with it... the truth is, good pizza really does sell itself. I hate the answer because it makes it is detrimental to my long-term job security. (Why have a magazine about marketing pizza if nobody needs to market pizza?) It also gives me nothing to work with.
Okay, fine. So you're selling enough pizza, and don't want to bother with any marketing. Fair enough. But let me give you an argument as to why you SHOULD put more effort into marketing. Everybody loves a story. And everybody IS a story. Without marketing, you let everyone else tell your story. Marketing gives you an opportunity to control your own narrative. Marketing gives you the chance to reach new customers.
So some of you may be saying "I'm selling all the pizza I can handle. I got enough customers already." Sure... but through marketing you could turn those same consumers on to higher profit margin menu items and steer them away from high-cost, low-profit pies. That way you could be slinging the same amount of pies, but have an increased profit margin. There's ways to engineer your menu to do that for you. Check out this article for some ideas on how to do that.
Marketing also gives you a chance to cement yourself from one generation to the next. Maybe you're doing fine now, but if you ran brand campaigns in your region, that could help indoctrinate the next generation of consumers into loving the brand and product they grew up with. Once Mom and Dad retire and move to Florida, you need someone to replace them with. Through marketing, you can help ensure the next generation can be buying pizza from the family you leave your pizzeria to when you're ready to retire and hit the bocce courts.
My final point is this: People love to be sold to. The musical Chicago probably puts it best:
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Razzle dazzle 'em, and they'll beg you for more!
Give em the old double whammy
Give em the old double whammy
Daze and dizzy 'em
Back since the days of old Methuselah, everyone loves the big bambooz-a-la!
Everybody wants the ole ballyhoo. But don't take my word for it. I bet you can think of someone who watches the Superbowl just for the ads.
So now, if I've convinced you to give marketing a try, can I interest you in a subscription to PMQ Pizza Magazine? Tips and tricks delivered monthly to your door, absolutely free! Now even the late, great Billy Mays couldn't beat that offer. (OxyClean not included.)
