Having a Facebook page used to equate to being digitally savvy, now there are research firms like L2, which just released its inaugural L2 Digital IQ Index: Restaurants US 2017 report, that combs through 126 restaurants in the US to break down which ones have the best digital performance.  

In the report, according to QSR Magazine, L2 used the following four categories to score the digital savviness of each restaurant: Site & Courier Services (loyalty programs, menu navigation, courier services such as UberEATS, etc.); Digital Marketing (SEO, email marketing, etc.); Social Media; and Mobile (sites, search, app).

Not surprisingly, Pizza Hut and Domino's ranked in the top four most savvy digital restaurants, sharing the "Genius" category with Starbucks and Panera Bread. Papa John's was five points below Domino's in the "Gifted" category.

Six more pizzerias showed up further down the list of 126, including California Pizza Kitchen, Papa Murphy's, Little Caesar's, Blaze Pizza, &Pizza and Pie Five.

So why are these restaurants considered digitally savvy?

According to L2, Pizza Hut thrives because of its mobile site. Frequent Hut Rewards promotions resulted in 5 million Facebook interactions during the study period. It also places fourth in desktop impressions thanks to investment in display advertising.

Domino's had more than 10 million downloads of its ordering app on Android, and the company appears against two-thirds of keyword searches for the pizza category on mobile SEO.

The evidence is clear. Investment into SEO and display advertising may be the next big business boost for your pizzeria. It can start with a simple "boost" of your Facebook posts or an ad on Google. Test the waters and see what works for your business.