If you think digital marketing for pizzerias is all about building a website and a social media presence, think again. The field spans the gamut, from voice-activated devices to video to automated emails, blogs and more. As a supplement to our January-February 2020 article, “Marketing Your Pizzeria in a Digital World,” here are some more tips related to digital marketing for pizzerias offered by experts in the industry.
Voice Search Optimization
Natalia Wulfe, co-owner and CMO of Effective Spend in Austin, Texas, recommends that pizzeria owners optimize both their paid and organic search strategies for voice search and provides a breakdown of each:
Voice search optimization for pay-per-click campaigns: Smart speakers and smartphone virtual assistants are becoming more popular, intelligent and comprehensive in functionality, so optimize for both text and voice searches. Voice searches have unique cadences, structures and other traits; they tend to be longer, frequently target quick questions, and are great for searches that contain local modifiers like “near me” and “open now.” When buying Google or other paid search ads, restaurant owners should bid on keywords for these kinds of longer, more conversational, time-sensitive and localized queries.
Voice search optimization for SEO: Keep SEO in mind when building your website by including important information, like store hours, address, phone number, menu and even nutritional information, throughout the website. Place this information on the front end for customers to view and read and in the back-end schema so that Google bots can read and understand the information.
Be aware that Google’s search results page is changing dramatically; traditional organic search results are being pushed further and further down the page in favor of rich snippets, knowledge graphs and maps—providing the information customers are looking for on the search results page itself. This change organizes info so Google can more easily answer queries for voice searches. For example, if your location info is properly optimized on your website, your store should rank well for searches like “OK, Google, where’s the closest pizzeria?”
Automation Planning
Amber Dehn, CEO of Denver-based Bang Marketing, explains that multiple tools are available to assist in automating some aspects of digital marketing for pizzerias. Most automation tools include customer relationship management (CRM), workflows, data and list services, email marketing, and sales team integration. To get started, Dehn recommends the following plan:
- Act on insights. Sign up for a free dashboard tool that will help you to understand key business metrics. Set up alerts to help you know when you meet your goals (or when it looks like you won’t). Databox has a free account option that allows for three data sources (Google Analytics, Adwords, Facebook, etc.) and up to three dashboards. View all of your performance data in one place so you can spend less time checking data and creating reports, and more time acting on insights.
- Store customer data in a CRM. Track your contacts and customers, stay informed on business sales trends, and send bulk email using Hubspot’s free CRM. This easy-to-use database allows for a clear customer communication channel, and Hubspot has a chat tool for immediate support questions built right into the CRM.
- Text yourself key reminders. Zapier, which offers free accounts, has a new SMS text alert option that integrates with 1,500-plus apps like Gmail, Instagram and Facebook. Instead of repeatedly checking email or not knowing where your business stands with a promotion, business owners can alert themselves of key metrics, sent right to their cell phones—no coding required.
Don’t kid yourself: Digital marketing for pizzerias has gotten more complicated since the advent of the Internet. Fortunately, PMQ is staying on top of all the latest developments. For more stories on this subject, check out the links below:
Why digital marketing is so important for pizzeria owners
3 ways digital marketing beats direct mail for pizzerias
How digital restaurant signage can help you sell more pizza
5 tips to create a moneymaking loyalty program for your pizza restaurant
Build a pizzeria loyalty program that makes your customers feel genuinely appreciated
How to build a successful pizza rewards program
5 ways to fail at email pizzeria marketing
