im trying everything … emails, about once a month, i send out 5000 flyers a week, my rewards program is keeping regulars happy, i tweet and facebook twice a week. my numbers are still crap. what else is there that’s reliable to get new customers in our door. i use Grubhub.com and other websites like it; and i refuse to use groupon. most of our business is repeat customers. this is my first place and we have been open for a year and a half and i need to start getting more business. I’m in Chicago with competition on every block. i know my food is good but i need more marketing ideas. i have people calling me every day asking for $500 a month for silly services like belly and yelp, i cant afford that, i can barely pay the flyer guy. does anyone have the secret to good marketing?
The best marketing you can do to get new customers is to take your product to them and have them try it for free. Drop off pizzas and menus at various businesses.
If you have the capability to do fundraisers like “take and bake pizza” or “redemption cards” you can get your product out there and it is a win win. Schools and groups are starving for funds.
Have a “bring a friend nite” every week. Run a special on this night.
are there churches, schools, hospitals nearby? Doctor’s offices?
Offer the church staff and schools a discount–we do 25% for teachers’ personal lunches, 40% for things paid on a school account. It’s a great way to get the word out but still MAKE a little money on the advertising.
Doctors and hospitals, ask them about any drug company reps who call on them. See if they will give you contact info, or will request that a rep buy lunch from you. Don’t discount those sales! Your drivers will love the big tips they usually give, also. Unfortunately, that’s part of why our drugs cost so much…
be sure to send along extra menus and coupons with any of that. It generates word-of-mouth, which is the best and cheapest.
When was the last time you evaluated the effectiveness of each of your current methods? For example, you are sending out 5,000 flyers per week, which is a decent amount of advertising to send out weekly. Our customers that Direct Mail 5,000 pieces per week see a significant return. How are your flyers being distributed? I am assuming door-to-door being in Chicago and, if so, are you missing critical apartment complexes because the flyer guy isn’t allowed in? Are you also 100% sure your flyer guy is actually distributing them?
Do you change and or update your flyers regularly or do you print a huge quantity and run the same flyer repeatedly? Being in Chicago, I am assuming you have a high quantity of potential customers. Are you targeting them repeatedly or do you target them once and then move to the next neighborhood? Does your ad have the best design possible with strategic coupons that target the demographic of your local neighborhoods?
Have you looked at your email campaigns and tested different subject lines with different offers?
Are your Facebook posts relevant, interesting or unique to keep fans engaged?
Email, Flyers and FB are all viable ways to market your pizza shop but the fact that you are not getting a great response leads me to assume that it might be the advertisements themselves and not the strategy.
If you would like you can send me a copy of your current ad and I can hopefully make some suggestions.
i have changed up the flyers once in the year and a half. i get the best deal from the printer when i order 50000 at a time so they last a while. i cant use the EDDM around here cuz the mail carriers in this area are lazy and throw away the flyers. Door to door seems to get a better return than EDDM and its less than half the price. and I do check the areas to make sure they do the work. im now hitting a smaller area more often than before it seems to be helping.
my social media knowledge is mediocre at best. i engage customers but i don’t have many followers on ether facebook or twitter. i am gonna start doing some contests i have a few ideas.
as far as emails i get decent open rates and good returns on the coupons i offer.
I realize that as business owners we have to watch costs, however, sometimes being this way actually costs more money…If you have been using the same flyer for 1 1/2 years it will have lost some of it’s effectiveness…So while you will have saved money it may have also cost you sales…Sometimes when you incur a higher cost on marketing it actually gives you a better return on your investment…
i know i tried to call them out on it a few times basically told be they were delivered and to get bent.
i told them its no wonder the postal service is going out of business. and with customer service skills like that i hoped the guy didn’t make it to retirement.