The pizza business is becoming more competitive with every passing year. Domino’s for instance is already remodeling all of its restaurants to look like a “pizza theater” where guests can look at the chefs making their pizzas from behind a glass wall.
Likewise, Pizza hut is also improving the quality of its products by removing preservatives, while coming out with new recipes based on their most popular items. Like Dominos, Pizza Hut is updating the atmosphere of its restaurants by making them more spacious and inviting.
While both these giants intend to implement these changes with an eye on grabbing the other’s market share, their aggressive maneuvering is going to affect the smaller, casual pizzerias out there too. In other words, competition is about to get a lot stiffer!
However, fear not, there are ways with which you can leave your competition way behind. We have some suggestions you might want to try out.
Find out what makes you special
Are you the brilliant chef who has created his own secret recipe no one else out there has? Or, are you the strategic manager who has an operations strategy with which you can offer great products at an unbeatable price? Or, are you the creative designer who has ideas on how a pizzeria can give patrons an unforgettable experience, while they enjoy their pizzas? Or, perhaps you have the fastest delivery time in your neighborhood.
Marketing always works better when you tailor it to your unique strengths. It would really help if you sat down and found out what is it that one thing you do better than everyone else. This does not necessarily have to be making the best pizzas ever. Pizzas can always be a reason to offer something else too.
For instance, the Bookshop is a cafe in Bangkok, Thailand which looks like a wizard’s library torn apart by a tornado!
Image Credit: Pinterest.com
Likewise, Iron Fairies is a bar with the accents of a gothic ironsmith’s magical workshop…
Image Credit: Pinterest.com
While these places offer great food, it’s the experience they are actually selling and that in itself is a very inviting proposition. If you had a choice between one of these and an average restaurant with all white walls and oh-so-typical menus, which would you chose? Our thoughts exactly! People go out to have a great time, after all!
Turn your strength into highly targeted marketing messages
Once you have figured out how you can stand apart from the dough of the pizza world, it’s time to tell your neighborhood about yourself! Putting these messages on your delivery vehicles (or even other vehicles you own) will give you a lot more coverage than the average billboard or poster ever will.
Looking at the average pizza delivery vehicle, the usual marketing messages they sport includes contact info and maybe a promotion sometime. This is an awesome hidden opportunity waiting to be grabbed!
Imagine how much attention your vehicles will draw when you decorate them with messages and graphics touting your competitive advantage. Sprinkle some customized promotions on this and you have a marketing recipe that is hard to beat!
Find out who you serve and where they hang out
While it’s easy to think that pizzas are equally loved by everyone, if you looked carefully, you should notice a pattern. Every business naturally develops a clientele which will exhibit certain traits.
For instance, you may notice that most of the people coming to your restaurant are aged between 20 and 30. Or perhaps, because you are located close to an office complex, you are routinely frequented by professionals. Knowing your audience can help you create both better products, as well as more targeted marketing material.
Finally, understanding where your patrons are based can also be of use. By understanding your neighborhood better, you can further customize your services and messages to offer an even better experience. We recently published an article on how bakeries can market themselves and have some suggestions on how to target locations to your advantage, so check it out!
If you have an idea you will like to try out, then we will love to help! Contact us and we will get back to you as soon as we can!
