By Tracy Morin
If you think TikTok doesn’t deserve your attention, you might want to think again. According to a 2022 TikTok restaurant survey commissioned by marketing agency MGH, more than half of millennial TikTok users (53%) had visited or ordered from a restaurant after seeing it on the platform. And 38% of its users across all generations—equating to about 51.8 million diners—had visited or ordered food from a restaurant after seeing a TikTok video about it.
“TikTok has completely leveled the playing field for restaurants,” says Ryan Goff, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for MGH, a marketing and advertising agency based in Hunt Valley, Maryland. “Any restaurant or business, no matter how big or small, can grow brand awareness and a loyal following at almost no cost—it just takes a little creativity, some patience and a willingness to experiment.”
Whether you’re totally new to TikTok or looking to boost your success on the platform, read on for two pizza and marketing experts’ top tips to help you increase engagement—and maybe even go viral.
The Expert: Ryan Goff
executive vice president/chief marketing officer, MGH, Hunt Valley, MD
Familiarize yourself with the platform.
First-timers to TikTok should take some time to explore the platform before diving head-first into creating content. The most important thing to keep in mind is that TikTok rewards authenticity and creativity and will quickly downgrade content that comes across as an advertisement. If you’re too promotional in the TikToks you produce, you’ll quickly see your views and engagement plummet, wiping out any potential benefit you could see from the platform.
Hop on the trends…
There are some similarities between TikTok and Instagram Reels. But trends tend to originate on TikTok before eventually migrating over to Instagram. Restaurants and other brands who quickly jump on these trends are often rewarded with high reach and engagement among new audiences.
…But keep it real.
The only real formula for success is authenticity, creativity and a willingness to stay on top of changing TikTok trends. TikTok users have a tendency to “speak in their own language” and reward restaurants and brands who understand that language. That said, you still want to be yourself. Figure out what makes your pizzeria unique and use your TikTok content to shine a bright spotlight on it. If you get that right, hashtags, music and trends won’t matter as much.
“TikTok has completely leveled the playing field for restaurants. Any restaurant or business, no matter how big or small, can grow brand awareness and a loyal following at almost no cost.”
—Ryan Goff, MGH
Know your audience.
There’s a widespread misconception that TikTok is a platform for teens only, but the reality is that TikTok spans all ages and demographics. Its users are incredibly active and loyal to the platform, often spending hours per day consuming TikTok content. These users also love discovering new brands and products and will patronize businesses they see doing a good job on the platform.
Show off your personality.
Personalities play very well on TikTok. If you have an owner, manager or employee who has a big, interesting or endearing personality, and they’re willing to regularly put themselves out there in front of the camera, TikTok users will quickly become loyal to them—and to your business. Sally Slices (@sallyslices) is arguably the most successful and famous example in the pizza space, amassing 4 million-plus followers, seeing customers fly from out of the country just to visit his shop and recently launching a frozen pizza product that’s selling fast.
Post regularly.
A pizzeria should post as often as possible. A lot of learning what works and doesn’t work is pure trial and error, and that only comes from frequently posting—with a willingness to fail at times.
Be patient.
Give it time and calibrate your expectations. You are not going to go viral overnight, and TikTok is not going to change the direction of your business within the first month of posting. Just like with any other marketing tool, it’s not a silver bullet. But, with some patience, a lot of time spent consuming and interacting with other restaurant and pizzeria videos, and some thought around what makes your spot unique, you may just find yourself as the next TikTok success story.
What Are Users Looking For?
According to MGH’s TikTok restaurant survey, of those who visited a restaurant after seeing it on TikTok, here’s what drove their decision:
- 72%: Appetizing-looking food
- 45%: A unique menu item
- 42%: Because it looked like a fun place to go with friends or family
- 38%: A cool way of serving food or drinks
- 37%: A cool atmosphere
- 30%: A great view
The Expert: Maria Trujillo
senior vice president of marketing, Cicis Pizza, Coppell, TX (279 locations)
Create value—and entertainment.
Cicis has been on TikTok since 2021, and we’ve learned that the most important thing is to embrace what your audience is doing on TikTok and not try to force polished, overly branded content. You have to create content that feels native to the platform and that has some value for viewers. For us, we want to entertain and delight viewers, with Cicis as a character in our content. Since other social media platforms have been following the TikTok model with their short-form feeds, we think TikTok-first for our video content and then cross-post for efficiency.
Mix it up.
TikTok is a great way for us to reach a younger audience—75% of our followers are under 35—and entertain them with funny and engaging content, whether original or trend/meme videos. Some of the best performing videos are the ones that hit on a customer truth relevant to their Cicis experience or when we participate in cultural conversation through trend/meme videos. We aim for at least two posts per week and incorporate one trend post per week into the mix, depending on what trends make sense for us to jump in on.
In addition to creating paid-specific videos, we also look at top-performing organic videos and turn them into Spark Ads. Our efforts on the platform were recognized by TikTok for successfully leveraging and raising awareness of new pizza offerings while continuously driving customers into restaurants through the use of both organic and paid best practices.
Mind the details.
The best advice would be to first understand who your audience is and what value your brand can offer with your content. From there, videos should have a strong hook at the beginning and pay off that hook in the video. If there’s a call to action, then make that clear at the end. And, yes, using audio and trending sounds is an absolute must for the platform. SEO-friendly caption copy is also becoming more important as younger users are using TikTok for search.
Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment on the platform. Try things and see what works for you and your brand. Oh, and have fun!
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
