By Matt Plapp
In my last article, I shared how pizza restaurant owners can build their own AI co-CEO using Custom GPTs. That concept opened many eyes, but this week, I want to focus on one role that’s desperately needed in every restaurant: the marketing director.
Because let’s be honest: Most restaurant social media content sucks! It’s 90% pictures of food and discounts. It gets scrolled past, doesn’t engage and doesn’t build relationships. And without engagement, social media is just noise. Nobody sees the post. Nobody takes action.
The Real Problem
Restaurant owners know they should post on social. But when it’s time to hit “publish,” most don’t know what to say beyond, “Here’s our special!” Many of you have simply replaced your 1980s Money Mailer direct mail piece with Facebook posts.
Here’s the truth:
- Repetitive food photos don’t build community.
- Constant discounts kill your margins.
- Most posts go ignored because they don’t connect.
Something many of you don’t realize is that due to your lack of engaging content, the algorithm has forgotten you. The more your content fails to stop the scroll, the more it fades into oblivion.
More from Matt Plapp: Is Your Pizzeria’s Tech Stack Hurting Your Sales and Marketing? Here’s What You Need
But imagine this instead: Each month, your restaurant has a full content plan in hand. It’s themed, strategic, and built around your story, your staff and your community. All you had to do was answer a few questions, and boom—you get a plug-and-play marketing calendar in a clean PDF.
Welcome to what a Custom GPT can do.
Enter the Custom GPT
If you missed my last article, here’s a one-line summary: A Custom GPT is an AI assistant trained with your data, goals and tone of voice. It becomes a digital extension of you.
This week, we’re giving that GPT the title of marketing director. But unlike a $60,000-per-year hire, this one shows up 24/7, never complains, and delivers consistent content plans without needing an office.
Here’s how it works:
Monthly Use: Strategic Planning
Restaurant owner (or manager) chats with the GPT. They provide:
- Upcoming events (local parades, school games, etc.)
- Special dates (menu launches, anniversaries, National Pizza Day)
- Staff stories or milestones
- Community causes or partnerships
The GPT processes that info and builds:
- A four-week content plan
- Weekly themes
- Daily post ideas (with suggested CTAs)
- Tips for boosting engagement
It then wraps it all up into a branded PDF that the owner can use or hand off to a staff member.
Weekly Use: Tactical Support
- Need help writing a caption? Ask the GPT.
- Want to tweak a post idea for TikTok? Done.
- Unsure which hashtag to use? It’s got you.
It’s not just a planner. It’s a coach. A copywriter. An idea machine.
Setting Goals
Why does this approach work? Because restaurants don’t need more posts. They need better posts. Specifically, they need posts that:
- Tell stories
- Showcase community
- Make staff feel like heroes
- Engage customers emotionally
This GPT helps restaurants stop selling all the time—and start connecting.
So what’s the goal? This isn’t about ads. It’s not about collecting emails (yet). It’s about getting attention. Because if you can’t get attention, you can’t get traffic. This GPT helps your restaurant get seen again. And that’s the first step to winning online.
More from Matt Plapp: Stop Renting Customers’ Attention: How to Build Loyalty With a Robust Marketing Database
Now let’s look at what to do next. If you’re still posting random food photos and getting three likes, this is your sign to evolve. You don’t need a marketing agency. You need a better system. That system could be a Custom GPT trained to think like your best marketing director. If you’d like to see what that looks like, contact us.
Because the restaurants that win in 2025 won’t be the ones with the best food—they’ll be the ones who show up the best online. Your next great hire might not be a person. It might be a Custom GPT.
But as you venture into this new world of using AI to help you run your pizzeria, don’t forget about Geoff Woods’ four-step process: Context, Role, Interview and Task. Read my last article, linked here again, for a refresher.
As an example, if I were you, here’s how I would prompt ChatGPT for the task of creating a marketing plan for next month. Check out this sample prompt:
I need a social media campaign every day for May 2025. I’d like to have five types of campaigns each week:
- A post that asks a fun question, like “Pineapple on Pizza—Yay or Nay?”
- A community event, highlighting something happening in our city (Union, Kentucky)
- A pizza special/an appetizer special
- A story about our restaurant and food
- Highlighting an employee
Acting as my restaurant’s marketing director, ask me 10 questions, one at a time, that will help you build this May’s social media posting plan.
Want to see the results? Click here to watch a screen recording of this ChatGPT conversation and see the final product!
My name is Matt Plapp. I’m the CEO 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 a new weekly column for PMQ to help restaurant owners understand the gold mine we have to market in 2025—and beyond.
