By Matt Plapp
First off, I have to give the PMQ Pizza team props…the 2nd annual Pizza Power Forum (PPF), held September 2-4 in Atlanta, was an awesome event!
I truly mean that. It was unlike any other I’ve personally been to.
Typically, when I travel to industry shows, I spend days walking endless aisles of booths, where everyone’s trying to sell restaurants the next “magic bullet.” But this event flipped the script. It was built around the education rooms, where the real action took place. There was a panel or presentation for everything restaurants actually need help with.
And I’ll admit: Sitting in the front row of a panel I wasn’t on was tough. I had a really hard time not running up and grabbing the mic!
Next-Level Networking at the Pizza Power Forum
The hotel layout at the Pizza Power Forum’s host site, the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, was made for real conversations. Too often at industry shows, the environment kills connection: It’s loud, crowded and sterile. But this setup? Around every corner was a comfy spot for a legit conversation.
And the people? Just WOW! Maybe it was because the event was intentionally small, but the vibe was perfect. The room was filled with like-minded, growth-oriented restaurant pros.
One of our core values at America’s Best Restaurants is “growth-oriented,” and that perfectly describes the people I met. The conversations weren’t just about problems; they were about finding solutions.
My Top 6 Takeaways From the Pizza Power Forum
These are all inspired by real questions I was asked or heard multiple times.
1. “I don’t spend money on marketing.”
This one came from a pizzeria owner, and honestly…a part of me died when he said it.
Let’s get this straight: I don’t make a dime when you run ads. I’m not Mark Zuckerberg. But if you think not spending money on marketing is smart business, you’re 100% wrong.
Sure, there are unicorns out there. But saying “I don’t need to spend money on marketing” is like telling Michael Jordan he doesn’t need to lift weights or practice more. (FYI, research what MJ did after Detroit knocked him out of the playoffs—it laid the groundwork for six championship rings.)
Spending zero dollars on marketing is not a badge of honor; it’s a closure waiting to happen. And in 2025, it’s cheap to advertise! For example:
- I can build a Facebook ad today that’ll reach people within five miles of any restaurant for pennies.
- I can get them to engage for 25 cents.
- I can capture their data for around $1.
- And I can get them in the door for every $3 spent.
Every restaurant should be spending money on marketing. Period. Who spends the most on ads? Brands like McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks and Papa John’s—not the struggling independents.
Here’s what I told a Pizza Power Forum group: “Ninety percent of digital media is bought by massive brands targeting people under 25. That means you can reach the 25-plus crowd—the ones with money—for pennies on the dollar. This isn’t 1999. You’re not stuck with TV and radio anymore. Facebook ads give you the precision of a sniper.”
2. “Should we use influencers? What should we pay? And how do we measure ROI?”
This question came up during a panel, and I swear I almost jumped on stage. Here’s the reality: Food influencers are not who you think they are.
Yes, find your local TikTok foodies and send them a gift card. Let them post. That stuff helps…once. But that’s not the real power.
The true influencers in your community are the high school football coach, the band director, the Little League organizer and the PTO president. They influence parents, kids, clubs and the people spending money nearby. We call this your Dream 100: your hyper-local list of real-life influencers who you want eating at your restaurant every week, not just posting once.
That TikTok video might get 10,000 views, but it’s one and done. A football coach who brings the whole team every Thursday night? That’s real ROI.
I’ll go deeper into this in an upcoming article. Stay tuned for the full Dream 100 blueprint.
3. “Branded pizza boxes: Are they worth it?”
This one came up a lot, which surprised me. I wasn’t aware it was even a subject of debate.
Some folks think there’s a massive cost difference between generic brown boxes and branded ones. I haven’t seen that, but let’s think it through.
There’s only one time in my career when I’ve seen unbranded boxes work well, and it was by my good friend, chef Santiago Campa from Donut Bar in San Diego. He told me how he’d take plain white boxes to large events to spark curiosity and have people asking, “Where are these from?”
Genius move. But let’s be honest, that’s a unicorn tactic—not applicable to most restaurants. For most, branded boxes = impressions in the home. You’re in their kitchen. On their counter. In their trash can.
Now let me shout out a standout: Pizza Bib boxes. I first saw them at Little Italy in Groveport, Ohio, and it was love at first slice. These things stop the scroll on social media. They also create UCC, or user-created content. Your customers become your marketers.
We helped Little Italy build social campaigns around their boxes. The response? Fire!
So, should you brand your boxes? Yes. Always. And if you thought I’d say otherwise, you clearly haven’t seen how often I wear orange.
4. “I don’t have time to create social media content.”
This one gets me every time. Restaurant owners are 10 years behind the tech curve, and this proves it.
I started ABR back in 2008 for one reason: to help small businesses learn how to use Facebook. And in 2025, it’s never been easier to create great content if you have a system.
Here’s the tool we use: Click here for my full weekly social media planner, one-page monthly attention plan, and detailed promo planner. If you carve out one hour per week, you can schedule out seven days of content that’ll keep your brand top-of-mind and drive visits to your pizzeria.
5. Quote of the Event: “Sales Is My Oxygen.”
This came from speaker Hengam Stanfield, co-owner of Mattenga’s Pizzeria in San Antonio, and she’s absolutely right. If you don’t have a marketing and sales plan to grow your business, you’re already heading toward decline.
I call these RGAs: revenue generating activities. Every day, you should have a plan to drive revenue. You can’t wish for better sales. You have to work for them every day.
6. “Should we hire marketing companies?”
This one cracked me up. When someone asked this question, everyone turned to look at me, like we were going to fight! Here’s what I said: “Why do your customers come to you instead of making pizza at home?”
Because they can’t do it like you. Even if they tried, they’d need years of experience, the right ovens, the right ingredients—and they’d still fall short.
So ask yourself: How many ads, campaigns, emails and social posts have you built this month? At America’s Best Restaurants, we’ve worked with more than 1,000 pizzerias. We create more marketing assets in a week than most pizzerias will in 100 years.
The good news is, there’s a marketing company for every budget. Even the ones I wouldn’t hire myself are still probably 10 times better than a DIY approach.
And the best part? Hiring the pros lets you get back to what you do best: hospitality. So, yes, hire accountants, lawyers, marketing firms—they are experts at what they do, just like you are when it comes to making pizza.
Final Thoughts
There you have it: my six biggest takeaways from the Pizza Power Forum. I want to extend a huge thanks to the PMQ team for letting me grace the stage (twice), and a bigger thanks to everyone who chatted with me in the lobby, hallways and late-night meetups.
The pizza community is one of my favorites: passionate, hungry and willing to evolve. Let’s keep the conversation going. Let’s keep pushing forward.
My name is Matt Plapp. I’m the CEO (chief energy officer) of America’s Best Restaurants. I’ve worked with thousands of restaurants since 2008 when I started this company, and over the next 12 months, we will help 2,500-plus restaurants with their marketing. This is the latest article in an ongoing series of columns for PMQ Pizza to help restaurant owners understand the gold mine we have to market in 2025—and beyond.
