I know a great many of you have websites and use Facebook to get the word out about your respective pizzerias. Do any of you (or DID any of you) hire companies to set up your websites/facebook fan pages/mobile websites? This is something I’m very interested in doing and I have been talking to a company that will set everything up and integrate all three, including online ordering from all three. I want to get a few quotes first to make sure I’m not getting hosed on price.
I am absolutely, positively NOT interested in doing this myself because I absolutely, positively know my limitations when it comes to computers, lol. So those suggestions, albeit very good ones, just won’t work for this old dog.
We used a company called “Cover Boom” to build our website. I selected them after listening on on a webinar last year and like the idea they make all our social-marketing nearly one step. They made the entire process painless, provided a TON of phone & email consultation back and forth during the process and followed up with a lot of training on how to handle the various posts and specials etc.
Now, I know they are not the cheapest service out there but there was value for us in having ONE spot to make updates to our Facebook, manage our Twitter, and keep our Website fresh, all at the same time. For US, it is worth the slightly higher site hosting fee of $99 monthly to have all our social marketing done once, from the same page.
Cover boom looks cool. I’m not sure what $99 covers. However, if that is just for hosting, that’s not “slightly more” it’s WAAY more then the average web hosting so I hope it covers most of the services I see on their website. Good quality hosting can be had from dozens of reputable companies for $10 a month (that includes plenty of mailboxes, traffic, hosting space, and an ftp account).
Having a content management system is really neat. We just went to wordpress and are starting to get our feet wet with the content management.
There is a huge range for websites but I would say $1000-$2000 U.S. is somewhat standard. For that, you should get a content manager and modes bells and whistles. You may find a freelancer to do it for a lot less.
Mobile sites have little or no value. There are thousands of hucksters out there peddling this crap. I would avoid a mobile site. Mobile sites were conceived prior to iPhones and Android (the bulk of the mobile customers that will view your site). Most of these users are avoid at having to look at a neutered website when they fully have the ability to view your regular site. It gets really frustrating when businesses don’t have a link to “view full site”. If you insist on a mobile site, I wouldn’t pay more than $200.
One minor thing, please avoid Flash. As a user, I am not impressed at dancing pizzas or silly movies on your webpage. I want quick and easy navigation with an elegant layout.
As for Facebook - I can’t imagine paying someone to set that up. If so, they better not charge you more than $100. There really is very little to it - just get your feet wet and do it. Or support your local economy and have your 12 year old nephew do it for you After that, you must manage your own FB site or you may as well not even have one. You must be making the posts and responding to them. The key to social media is interaction - it’s not just a storefront. Now, having a scheduling tool for FB posts is definitely a plus. There are quite a few out there and I’m sure there are dozens of free ones that would work just fine. However, I certainly wouldn’t pay more than a few dollars a month for a scheduler.
The online ordering horse has been beaten pretty good on this forum, so I’ll leave that alone except to say that every online ordering company I’ve seen will integrate into your website as part of the cost. I’d focus more on picking the online company that works best for you rather than just looking for a package deal.
Yes a total Multimedia Marketing package is necessary for today’s Pizzeria Owner.
Website
Mobile Website
Social Media Presence
SMS Text Messaging
Front Page Google Placement
Reputation Management
Online Ordering
In Store Media Promotions
Trying to find 1 company that handles most is hard, trying to find 1 company to do all is all most impossible.
Lets use Rockstar Pizza as an example: they are on the right track for a total package but here are few things they need to work on.
No Mobile site. A mobile site will be more important than a desktop version. In 2013 more of your customer will have Smartphone that Desktops.
No SMS Text Messaging program. List building is key to success for any business owner. Text Messages get opened 95% of the time and they can be targeted for the time of day to be sent. They are cheaper than flyers.
Google’s Free Business Listing. When a customers searches for “pizza” Google brings up pizzerias in the users local area. RockStar Pizza is on the Front Page of Google in the “B” position which is GREAT, but after reviewing the listing they are there more by luck. They did take control of their list but they did not take full advantage of this opportunity, pictures, videos, description, targeted keywords are a must. A professionally optimized Google listing anchors a Local Business Owner on the front page.
I have identified other items but you get the picture. The Pizza Industry is moving into the 21st Century and Pizza Promotions are changing faster than the wind.
Thanks for taking the time to post on these forums. We value input from everyone. Obviously, you are here, in part, to peddle your product. There’s nothing wrong with that. There are lots of people that do so. However, can I recommend that you take a different approach to posting on these forums. Right now, it appears you are copying and pasting your marketing spiels into random topics. I think you would do yourself a favor by taking the time to offer your personal input on topics about which you have particular knowledge. By that, I mean actually converse within the topics rather than cutting and pasting. People on this forum will embrace you and maybe even do business with you if you are seen as a contributor. But cutting and pasting your previous writings comes off as disingenuous.
Please don’t take offense to this, just offering my opinion.
Thank you pcuezze,
I will try harder to learn the decorum of this forum. I am very passionate on how the Internet and today’s technology can promote small business, specially the Pizzeria Owner. I do apologize if I offended anyone, I have been doing this for a long time (pizza & the internet since 96). I can understand how some people think that I’m the new kid on the block seeing that I recently arrived to the forum, that I haven’t earned my wings so to speak. Let me say this, I remember talking to Steve Green at the Pizza Expo in Chicago in the 90’s asking me about email marketing and if it would be a good method of promotion for the Pizza Industry. Almost 20 years later we’re taking about facebook, SMS, Mobile Apps or what the future will hold in advertising for the Pizza Industry.
Again pcuezze, thank you, your advise is very constructive.
After that, you must manage your own FB site or you may as well not even have one. You must be making the posts and responding to them. The key to social media is interaction - it’s not just a storefront. Now, having a scheduling tool for FB posts is definitely a plus. There are quite a few out there and I’m sure there are dozens of free ones that would work just fine. However, I certainly wouldn’t pay more than a few dollars a month for a scheduler.