I wanted to know if you guys have a line of promotions set up to keep the traffic comming year round? kind of like comming up with 4-5 promotions to do one after another yearly and then continuing the cycle. is anyone doing something that is working for them?
Why is every question you ask an undercover sales pitch?Most of us know what your product looks like,some use you , some don’t.
What
Our marketing to locals is centered on differentiation, positioning and name recognition. An endless series of deals and promitional offers is counterproductive to the goal of positioning as it tells the customer to only buy from you when they get a deal and by implication that the deal is the reason to buy…
i.e. “my deal is better than their deal” rather than “my pizza is better than their pizza” which is where I want to be.
We do use deals once is a while as a “try me” tactic to entice people to try us for the first time. Even after 10 years, with turnover and people we simply have not yet reached, there is opportunity to bring new customers into the pattern.
By the way, the question from “What” seems fair to me; your post does seem self-serving.
Our marketing strategy is similar to Bodeghawy’s in that we are strictly avoiding t5he endless stream of discounts or offers we put into the marketplace. We run lean pricing, highest quality foods we can buy, and attention to service detail. We are all about position and brand recognition. Our offers are value added and not discount oriented. these are generally focused on what needs direct attention, like dessert items or bundling salads and such for meal deals.
We have several annual items that we use for those goals. We send regular direct mail post cards to our zip code that reinforce the visual branding, the quality of our materials, and some new aspect of the business. The recent thread has been new feature pizzas to introduce. June will be a Cheese steak and a Buffalo Chicken pizza. Plus adding an apple dessert pizza to the menu. June will also be new menu month for us.
Every week we are trying top find cooperative marketing efforts with other nearby businesses. Network, network, network. We are attending a Chamber of Commerce monthly breakfast event on Tuesday 7:30am.
[size=2](seems more like surreptitiously gathering up our marketing tips/expertise to use to impress future clients . . . than a sales pitch this time) . . . . MPP, try offering new information/contributing to the group that isn’t tied into something all about your business. Pitch new creative thinking into a thread someone has started. THEN, credibility may build and answers to stuff like this will be a little more forthcoming[/size]
I don’t see the sales pitch in this one. He’s asking about promotions, which could be anything like product giveaways, certain specials, etc.
For instance, perhaps a “tailgating package” which would include 2 pizzas, 2 breadsticks, a few 2-liters, AND eating devices/utinsils. While this might go over great during football and baseball season, I’m not sure it would have the same appeal in basketball or hockey season. I’m thinking about high school sports though, not major league events where delivery would be a nightmare.
I just wanted to know how you guys are doing your marketing and see if I can come up with good ideas to post. I recently found out about a new system called “Crowd Sourcing” which really got my attention, one site in particular was www.cambrianhouse.com, where companies and individuals share their ideas to see the results from a crowd point of view, apparently Procter and Gamble is jumping on the trend for their new products.
Anyway, I was thinking that the direct mail piece you do is just a direct mail piece, I mean there is only so much you can do by showing good pictures and after a while it will become the same old thing and start to lose its magic, so I thought maybe you guys can come up with a marketing calendar which has special events to offer on specific days. It doesn’t necessarily focus on “discounting” but to bring some enjoyment to your clients at the right times.
I was thinking of like the following days:
Easter: Collect eggs to win free prize (either hidden around store or given out as sticker with each purchase)
Family day: bring in your family and receive x off, or receive free x with purchase of x.
Halloween: 
BEST COSTUME WINS!!! I would totally be there for it.
New years: email us your resolution and enter for a draw to win x
Christmas: email a picture of yourself with a snowman you built and get a coupon
Valentine’s Day: kiss your couple at the register and get a free slice (lol I’m not sure about this one)
Note a lot of these things will help you collect a database of customers that can help you with marketing. These are stuff that you guys can organize if you have the time and I think it could bring a lot of culture to your brand. Apparently the biggest way to improve brand recognition is to deal with people on personal level and play a part in their lives, which also goes into something else I wanted to talk about, which is Corporate Social Responsibility. I’ll make a post about it later.
While we only get enough snow every three years to make snowmen 
, your point is excellently made. Events that get us involved in the community are golden. Lots of what I do is Grantville Specific stuff. We play into historic and traditional events going on around here. We used to have a Founders’ Day thing on June 12th, which is the date the railroad opened in 1852, changing our town’s course in history. That event has moved to the fall, so it isn’t so much a big deal for the founding day.
Our plate is very full this year, so we are not developing as many event-related marketing stuff. We ARE working with our neighbor across the street to start antique car shows in our parking lots. They are popular in summertime around here, and they always want a new spot to gather and talk motors. Ours may not grow beyond 12 or 15 cars, but it will be another event that people can come enjoy before buying some pizza. I guess the bottom line is that we are in a lull for ready-made events . . . so we are making our own little bitty ones.
Fall big event may be a Shakespearian Troupe coming to town/county, sponsored in part by our Pizzeria.