Advertising Your Pizza Shop

For many small pizza shops and restaurants, success or failure can be determined by one crucial and often overlooked element: advertising. Proper advertising can push you to the top of your game. Lack of advertising can cause even the best efforts to come up short.

Of course, advertising alone isn’t going to make yours the most successful shop in town. You still need to have all of the other important factors such as great food, fabulous customer service and a clean, comfortable shop in a good location. If you have those and then add appropriate advertising, your chances for success are good.

Here are two of the main ways to advertise your business.

Paid Advertising

Paid advertising includes ads that you pay for in newspapers, magazines and on television and billboards. The cost of the ad will depend on where you choose to advertise and how many people your ad will reach. For print ads, many newspaper and magazines will help you create an ad if you don’t already have one. For television spots, you’ll most likely have to produce the ad yourself which will, naturally, add substantially to the cost.

Public Relations

Public relations efforts involve finding ways to get the name of your business out in front of the public without purchasing an ad. There are many ways to go about this, but one important thing you must remember is that unlike paid advertising, you have no control over what is written about your shop.

Some ideas include hosting a charity event or going for some sort of record such as largest pizza or most people fed in an hour. If a tragedy happens in your area, offer to hold a special event where a percentage of all money raised will go to help the victims.

Once you decide on a special event, send press releases as far in advance as possible. Send press releases to local news stations, newspapers and anyone else you think might be interested in covering your event.

If you are unsure how to write a press release, you can have one custom written starting at around $50 on websites such as Elance.com.

Of course, there is no guarantee that the press will cover your event, but local news teams are looking for news just as much as you’re looking for coverage. If your event is newsworthy, you have a great chance of scoring some coverage. Below are some more specific ideas for special events.

• Sponsor local events such as 5k runs. Your name will be displayed on signs at the event, and will be printed on any written materials, such as programs.

• Have a contest or giveaway. Giving something away is a great way to get the attention of a lot of people. Make it a funny contest and you just might get the added bonus of news coverage. For example, everyone who comes to your shop dressed as a slice of pizza gets a free slice. Again, press releases in advance are key!

• Offer a program for neighborhood children who make good grades such as a free slice for every A or B. Let the schools and the press know about your program.

Other ideas:

• See if a local movie theater or bowling alley wants to team up. You could promote each other’s business by selling packages such as “movie tickets and a pizza for only $??” You would sell the packages at both locations increasing sales for each of you.

• Pick a day of the week that is typically slow and make it, for example “Two for One Tuesday”. You’ll want to back this up with some local advertising, but everyone likes a deal. Your slow day just might turn into your best day.

Getting your name out there is an important part of the battle. Doing so in whatever positive manner you can will only help your bottom line.