• Surveys have shown that customers would order more soup if restaurants offered a better selection, so consider offering scratch-made soups of the day and soup flights.
• Think outside the bowl and surprise your guests with heartier flavors like Thai and Hungarian.

Related: Boost check averages by up to 15% with a Soup of the Day

Winter’s here for real, and your customers are likely warming up to the idea of a Soup of the Day. And that can mean additional profits for your pizzeria. If you’re ready to soup up your sales, here are some marketing tips:

1. Offer a flight. Feature several varieties of soup in a single sampling. Surveys have shown that more customers would order soup if the selection was better. Let your guests experience a wider range of soup possibilities, and they’re more likely to order one of them in the future. Try serving three 2-ounce portions of soup in a flight instead of a single 6-ounce bowl to gain incremental profits.

2. Offer a Soup of the Day. Create them from scratch, with a focus on both classics—such as minestrone, fagioli and Italian wedding soups—as well as seasonal flavors like Roasted Butternut Squash or Pumpkin. To cut back on labor costs, you can also consider high-quality premade soups.

3. Use local ingredients. More customers today want to know their favorite restaurants are supporting local farmers while also providing the freshest possible ingredients—and what could be fresher than zucchini and squash grown right there in your own area?

4. Try some bold new flavors. Surprise your guests by thinking outside the traditional soup bowl. Consider heartier flavors like Thai, Mexican, Cajun/Creole and Hungarian.

5. Add a flavor boost. To liven up your chicken, vegetable or beef soups, stir in 1/8 teaspoon each of thyme, oregano and crushed rosemary leaves for every two cups of soup. For Butternut Squash Soup, stir a sprinkle of turmeric into one tablespoon of low-fat plain yogurt and swirl the mixture into your soup.

6. Offer combo deals. You can pair a cup of soup with a pizza slice or a sandwich, but you should also let customers order a standalone soup served in a larger portion.

7. Promote soups at lunchtime. Soup is a popular lunch choice, in part because it’s a lighter, healthier option. It has a high water content, which makes you feel full, and if it’s loaded with veggies, it’s even better for you. Promote your lunchtime soup offerings as a way to stay trim in the wintertime, and don’t forget to include meat-free options for vegans!

8. Send out soup alerts. Text out soup-of-the-day alerts to your customers or post alerts on your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. Make sure to get high-quality photos of each soup for these alerts.