These tips were originally shared in PMQ's March 2017 article "Why Video is Pizza's New Best Friend."

One-third of the time spent online is spent watching video, according to statistics. Are you creating videos for your pizzeria?

There are many ways to craft and present your message in a video for your pizzeria.

The first and most important consideration needs to be your message and the lasting impression that you want to leave with the viewer, according to PMQ publisher Steve Green.

Here are nine examples of some of the most effective selling strategies we identified with the help of PMQ readers during PMQ's My Pizza Video Contest: 

1. Stress authenticity. It seems like everyone’s trying to sell you something these days, so more and more consumers, especially millennials, prize authenticity. And pizzerias have authenticity in spades. Polished branding is always a good thing, but make sure your branding message reflects who you really are and why you do what you do. Stress your family’s and your pizzeria’s roots in the area and how you give back to your community. If you truly love making pizza and serving your community, make sure that love shines through in your videos—and viewers will respond.
Lasting impression: You’re not just selling a product. You’re sharing the food you love with your entire community.

2. Emphasize quality and artisanship. The major chains have the advantage of omnipresent branding and market share, but many believe independents still make better pizza. Do you prepare your dough fresh in-house every day and work with local growers to find better ingredients? Do you use decades-old family recipes handed down from your great-grandmother? Do you constantly work on new recipes and create signature pizzas that the big chains can’t offer? Does your pizzeria frequently win local “best of” awards and earn rave reviews on social media? If so, make all of these things part of your video story.
Lasting impression: You’re more than just a business owner—you’re a true artisan and pizzaiolo (or pizzaiola, as the case may be).

3. Go for the glamour. Nothing says “delicious” like that classic cheese-pull shot. It can take some work to capture glamorous, mouthwatering images of food, but they will sell your pizza better than any talking head or blaring caption running across the screen. Don’t just point and shoot—think carefully about lighting, angles and color. Imagine the visual impact of a simple 30-second video, boosted to Facebook users in your market, depicting your most delicious pies fresh and steaming-hot from the oven!
Lasting impression: Your pizzas and other menu items are a feast for the senses that must be experienced to be believed.

4. Feature your customers (and your employees). Enlist your regulars and longtime employees and give them starring roles in your videos. Let your customers speak directly to the viewer and explain in their own words why they love eating your pies. And let your employees talk about why they love making and/or serving the pizzas those customers love to eat.

Lasting impression: In addition to serving the best pizza in town, you provide a safe haven for your customers.

5. Capture the overall experience. Do you offer a family-friendly atmosphere where Mom and Dad can bring the kids and everyone will have a good time? Prove it with bright visuals of happy children chomping down on pies, kids’ birthday parties and smiling servers interacting with families at the table. Do you cater to a hipper crowd that’s looking for more adult fun? Make sure to get visuals of bartenders pouring locally brewed craft beers and attractive people enjoying cocktails with their pies. (Make sure the lighting of these shots reflects the ambience of your restaurant.) Are you all about delivery and carryout for pizza lovers on a budget? Emphasize your bundle deals and establish value with plenty of mouthwatering food shots.
Lasting impression: Your potential customers will know exactly what kind of experience to expect at your pizzeria.

6. Profiles in Pizza: One of the most popular and effective ways to endear your pizzeria to customers is to let them know more about the people behind the logo. 

7. The Demonstration: This is a tried-and-true way for your customer to visualize the experience that you offer. This simple video of a pizza being made captures the imagination and rouses the appetite of customers. 

8. It’s All About the Kids: If you can get the kids, the parents will follow. And that’s what Johns Incredible Pizza had in mind when they created a high-energy video about a mascot contest and a break-dancing bear.

9. Get ‘Em Laughing: Many of our readers attempted humor through a funny story or ridiculous spoof. The result was, at the very least, engaging, giving customers a chance to peek behind the scenes and bond with a pizza crew not afraid to show their silly side.

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