Pizza Today - February 2025 - 31

First step is to take stock of
who visits your area and why.
Knowing who you are trying to reach
will help you identify marketing
opportunities and partners.
Next, assess your online presence.
Visitors often do not know you exist,
so it is vital to create and maintain a
high ranking on search engines and
review sites. Navigation services like
Google Maps and others become
even more important as travelers
do a simple search en route to find
" pizza near me " or " pizza, Louisville,
Kentucky " .
If you can't find your business,
someone new to your area won't
either. Be sure you have claimed your
profile on all search engines, review
sites and social media. This goes for
directories and third-party delivery
sites (if applicable). Make sure they
are complete. Add hours and photos
(include meta data describing what's
in the photo along with your pizzeria
name and location). Add an item
to your weekly task list to keep that
information updated.
Don't forget to pay close attention
ers have in common is they need to
eat. Though it can be challenging to
anticipate dining cycles and behaviors
of travelers, it's a market that is hard to
ignore.
LET'S GET A BETTER GRASP ON
HOW YOU CAN REACH TRAVELERS
WITHOUT A BIG SPEND ON YOUR
PART. But let's face it: in the restaurant
business, it's all about repeat visits and
the travelers' spend often gets overlooked.
Think of the " repeat " business
as the referral source and you have a
plethora of those in your area, from
hotels and travel bureaus to attractions
and regional food influencers.
Travelers often fall into two groups:
business/professional or holiday/leisure.
I would also add a third - special
interest. These are your traveling baseball
teams and such that don't necessarily
fall under the previous two.
to your website, as well. Check your
site for its searchability. Is it a mobile
responsive site? That's a must now. Is
contact info, menus and ordering easy
to find on homepage? The No. 1 issue I
find when I visit pizzeria websites is
often I cannot find what city and state
they are in without clicking around.
Make it prominent on your homepage.
Are phone numbers active and clickable
to call? Are location details clickable to
directions? Is the menu easy to read in
body text format? Don't hide menus in
PDF links or in images. Do all photos
have meta descriptions.
HONE IN ON YOUR UNIQUE
COMMUNITY
Grassroots marketing is where
pizzerias shine. You can apply this to
tourists and travelers, as well. Here are
some actionable items you can do right
now to increase traveler visits to your
pizzeria:
* Get your menus and promotions
into every hotel, vacation rental, b&b
and campground. Often lodging will
compile a list of restaurants with a QR
code for guests to access or they provide
a big binder of menus. If you are
providing physical menus, do not forget
to provide them with an updated copy
when your menu changes.
* Create local promotion geofencing.
Optimize technology to drill down
your promotions to a specific area. This
makes it so much easier to find visitors
that are in your immediate area.
* Partner with attractions. This is a
win-win. Sit down and come up with
fun cross promotion ideas to drive
traffic. A common tactic is for visitors
to receive a discount at each when they
show a current receipt or ticket stub.
* Collaborate with other restaurants.
Ban together to create a neighborhood
or district food scene. You can host
events and build cross promotions. Creating
culinary guides and tours is a great
way to encourage visitors to eat local.
Food-related passports are popping up
everywhere. I have one for local pizza,
beer, coffee and donuts.
* Infuse traditional tactics that work.
Think community boards, street level
signage, brand ambassadors and flyers.
* Leverage local, regional and state
tourism bureaus and other agencies.
These organizations were created to
help increase tourism, and they are at
your disposal to partner with. Work
with your tourism bureaus on local
packages and promotions. If you can
accommodate large parties and groups,
contact the group sales and meeting
professionals at the bureaus to work
with them on group visits. Other great
partnerships are conference centers,
sports facilities and large companies
who bring in travelers.
There are so many ways to attract
travelers to your restaurants. Just make
sure it's on brand. Have fun with it. It's
what travelers expect.
DENISE GREER Is Executive Editor at
Pizza Today.
FEBRUARY 2025 / PIZZATODAY.COM / 31
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - February 2025
