how to market a pizza restaurant?

i have been given the opportunity to market a pizza restaurant but i dont know how to do it. i know how to do regular seo but seo for restaurant is a beast of its own that i dont understand.
they dont sell just pizza, they sell other food like lasagna and pasta
it's a fast food place where you pick up and leave. it's got a couple of tables where you can sit if you want but it's not a high end place where the waiter comes and harasses you every 5 minutes ("how is it going?") while you are eating.
they already have plenty of reviews on yelp and gmb
they already have profiles with doordash ubereats grubhub
i think marketing a restaurant comes down to paid influencers. you pay someone and they say on instagram they tried it and it was so good?
would ppc work? what keywords? pizza near me?
is there anything else i can do?

Focus on Google Maps ranking, reviews, and “near me” searches like pizza near me or best pasta near me.
PPC can work, but only with tight geo-targeting and strong offers like discounts or combos.

Your GMB and delivery apps are already doing the work. "Pizza near me" PPC is just feeding Google while Domino's outbids you.
Fix your DoorDash photos and you're done.

Xen0v said:

Your GMB and delivery apps are already doing the work. "Pizza near me" PPC is just feeding Google while Domino's outbids you.
Fix your DoorDash photos and you're done.

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I'd go with this, so real!

A long time ago, about 10-12 years ago, I had a beer and beer snacks store. It was located deep inside a residential area, not in a very high-traffic location. My task was to attract customers. I started distributing advertising flyers into the mailboxes of residents in nearby buildings. Then I hired promoters who handed out my advertising flyers near the nearest grocery supermarket, inviting people to a free beer tasting at my store. True, this promotion mainly attracted only various local drunks and freeloaders who loved to drink for free, and they were very disappointed that they were only given 50-100 grams of beer for the tasting.)) Nevertheless, a buzz was created.

Alternatively, you could run an account on TikTok or Instagram. Make entertaining videos, host giveaways for reposts, etc
Also, get Google Maps to the top, work on reviews, that definitely will work

don6644 said:

i have been given the opportunity to market a pizza restaurant but i dont know how to do it. i know how to do regular seo but seo for restaurant is a beast of its own that i dont understand.
they dont sell just pizza, they sell other food like lasagna and pasta
it's a fast food place where you pick up and leave. it's got a couple of tables where you can sit if you want but it's not a high end place where the waiter comes and harasses you every 5 minutes ("how is it going?") while you are eating.
they already have plenty of reviews on yelp and gmb
they already have profiles with doordash ubereats grubhub
i think marketing a restaurant comes down to paid influencers. you pay someone and they say on instagram they tried it and it was so good?
would ppc work? what keywords? pizza near me?
is there anything else i can do?

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I guess your better focus on location related and look out for famous pizza sellers and figure out how they look like in the market, you know nowadays everything gives a neo minimal vibe that people comprehend as luxury

don6644 said:

i have been given the opportunity to market a pizza restaurant but i dont know how to do it.

Click to expand...

Black Hat SEO is best for short term churn-and-burn sites, not an established brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Since they already have GMB and online platforms, I'd focus on optimizing those, and adding a user-driven social media boost. I've personally had great results with 'post a photo of your meal and get 10% off your next order'.

Make up some crazy viral rumor about the restaurant, like Nicholas Cage gonna be there on thursday night, promote the viral post on reddit or twitter

Food is actually a gold mine for marketing.

Even though you have a lot of competition, people just love food on social media, unlike something very
utilitarian like plumbing. What I would recommend is to focus on creating media for Instagram and TikTok
promoting the restaurant there and then thinking of an angle for drawing people in, like dollar slice pizza
hour, or have some unique sales position that you create out of the culture of the restaurant.

By the way, asano came up with a great idea about creating content for Instagram and TikTok. It's just that the content needs to be fun and funny.
For example, hire some teenagers for a small amount of money who will greedily race to gobble up the pizza, lasagna, and pasta, getting covered in sauce, licking their fingers, and talking about how delicious everything is, or something like that.
Maybe these videos will go viral, but you'll need to somehow focus them more on the local target audience.

For a quick-grab pizza spot, definitely hit up local instagram foodies for authentic posts and run "pizza near me" PPC, but also spark some buzz with user-generated content contests or fun local collabs

I think you should promote on Instagram and TikTok with videos and posts of what you offer, and run social media promotions to attract people to the restaurant because of the promo.

restaurant marketing works best with a mix of local SEO, Google Ads, and social media content. Yes, PPC with keywords like “pizza near me” or “best pizza in ” can convert very well because intent is high. Influencer marketing also helps, especially local micro influencers who can show real food experiences. Overall, focusing on Google Business Profile, simple ads, and short form videos usually brings the best results.

AccSellerMen said:

A long time ago, about 10-12 years ago, I had a beer and beer snacks store. It was located deep inside a residential area, not in a very high-traffic location. My task was to attract customers. I started distributing advertising flyers into the mailboxes of residents in nearby buildings. Then I hired promoters who handed out my advertising flyers near the nearest grocery supermarket, inviting people to a free beer tasting at my store. True, this promotion mainly attracted only various local drunks and freeloaders who loved to drink for free, and they were very disappointed that they were only given 50-100 grams of beer for the tasting.)) Nevertheless, a buzz was created.

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Haha, sounds like a universal restaurant struggle. Whenever we run a promotion, it always ends up attracting nothing but "freeloaders."
I'm a bit curious though—did you manage to get customers through social media or Google rankings back then?

Focus on Google Maps reviews and local SEO for steady customers. Then use Instagram ads with good food photos and offers for quick orders.

Ambiguiltor said:

Haha, sounds like a universal restaurant struggle. Whenever we run a promotion, it always ends up attracting nothing but "freeloaders."
I'm a bit curious though—did you manage to get customers through social media or Google rankings back then?

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Everyone loves freebies in all countries of the world, regardless of social status or religion.

Back then, I created a local group for my store on my country's national social network. Groups on this social network can be clearly targeted by region and city. I also launched a monthly giveaway promotion for 10 liters of beer for regular customers who had my store's discount cards. These 10 liters of beer were divided among 3 winners: 1st place – 5 liters, 2nd place – 3 liters, and 3rd place – 2 liters of beer. The promotion was aimed at increasing the average check. A customer could only participate in the promotion if they purchased goods for a certain amount. After the purchase, a coupon with their discount card number was filled out, and these coupons were placed into a special transparent lottery-style drum. The minimum purchase amount eligible for 1 coupon was $5. If a customer made a purchase of $10, they received 2 coupons, and so on. So, the more money a customer spent, the more coupons with their discount card number were in the lottery drum, and the higher their chances of winning a prize. At the end of each month, I would schedule a drawing day and invite regular customers to the event. One of the customers would spin the drum, pull out a coupon, unfold it, and announce the winners by reading the discount card numbers on the coupons they pulled. I recorded a video of each drawing and posted it in my store's group. This promotion was successful and attracted other buyers, friends, and acquaintances of my subscribers. I also posted various news about my store in the group, such as fresh arrivals of snacks and beer, new varieties, and so on.