Pizza is the most telegenic of foods, a gastronomic beauty queen that looks even better in close-up. And since video is now a driving force in pizza sales, you should put some serious thought into crafting a video marketing strategy for your pizzeria. Here are five tips to keep in mind.
- 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.
- 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.
Related: 8 tips for creating better pizza videos for your pizza restaurant
- Go for the glamour. Nothing says “delicious” like that classic cheese-pull shot we described above. 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!
- 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.
- 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.
This story was adapted from a longer article that appeared in the March 2017 issue of PMQ Pizza Magazine. Read the full article here.
Related: How to sell more pizza through video marketing
