High-Intent Pizza Marketing

You’re doing some marketing, mostly the marketing you’ve been told will give you bang for your buck (or “dough” for your dollar), or marketing that seems to be enjoyed by current and prospective customers. You’re sending a bit of direct mail, posting a few times a week on Facebook, advertising your specials in a few places, and even noticing some ROI while keeping things within budget (phew, you feel like you’re really doing a lot!).

New marketing trends arise as quickly as new and exciting pizza ingredients (which is pretty much all the time), with more and more avenues and strategies to reach the specific audience(s) you hope to target. With all of these different tactics and shiny new tools, how do you know you’re actually getting to your key audience, one that wants your tasty pizza, at the right time? Are you “hitting the spot”, not just when it comes to the flavor of your za, but when it comes to your current and potential customers?

High-intent marketing hits the spot for your most interested customers, in a focused, particular way. One where you’re not just tossing pizza pies at a broad target, but aiming at the oven. You’re probably thinking, “that’s nice, but what exactly is high-intent marketing?” Don’t worry, we’ll lay it all out for you like a secret sauce on the whole crust.

High-Intent Marketing – Explained

High-intent marketing targets a specified end user’s intent – not only what they need (or want), but when they’re ready for or even looking for it. The most recognizable type of high-intent marketing is search marketing. Users and potential pizza lovers (in your case) are targeted based on what they’re searching for right now, and are hit with ads, messages, and other forms of marketing communication to meet their current needs. Again, high-intent marketing differs from simply targeting an audience in that it puts emphasis on the timing of needs. For example, maybe I (the customer) am searching for “meat lover’s pizza near me”. I’m looking for it now, but I wasn’t looking for it at lunch today, and I probably won’t be tomorrow (unless I’m on a pizza kick this week). Oppositely, sometimes a buyer’s looking for a future purchase, or just trying to get a feel for the market or their area’s options. For instance, a person could search “pizza shop catering” today, but they’re really looking to purchase it for a graduation party in three months. For this reason, high-intent marketing is all about the “time stamp”. Understanding your customer’s journey can help you reach them with what they want, exactly when they want it.

Potential customers have an overload of media and advertising to sort through, so the timing and reactionary nature of your marketing is how you stop them in their tracks (and serve them your za instead of that of your competitor). If you’re not combining their demographic with their current desires, you’re losing them. Using high-intent data to strengthen your marketing strategy results in more precise detail in consumer personas and journeys, more pointed offers and services, and highly effective marketing content, call to actions, and keywords.

High-Intent Markets that Often “Hit the Spot”

If you’re still unsure of what markets would be labeled high-intent, here are a few customer bases to think through:

  • Recent college graduates: Ready (or not) to take on the world, college graduates are highly focused on improving their resumes, networking with friends and professionals, and ultimately, finding a job. They’re also often on a tight budget and looking for some quick and tasty food (ahem, PIZZA).
  • Expectant & new moms: Nervous and constantly searching for the newest and best newborn knowledge, expectant and new moms can’t stop googling pediatricians and childcare facilities.
  • Newlyweds: Young, middle-aged, or older, many newlyweds are looking for another way to intertwine their lives – buying a home. And, when they get this new home, they may require a few nights of much needed take-out or delivery while they unpack (again…PIZZA!)
  • New movers (our speciality): This more generalized audience base is nothing but uneasy in a new territory. According to recent studies, 40 million people move every year and they’re all looking for a new salon, doctor, grocery store, drycleaner, and…you guessed it – a new favorite pizza shop!

“How Can My Shop Capitalize on These Markets?”

Tracking and acquiring customer data is the first step for any high-intent marketing strategy. With data, you can analyze your customer base’s behaviors over time, and get an understanding of their customer journey(s). If you have a website, track any customer activity that leads to or has led to conversions in the past. If possible, track broader trends like intent indicators in search. As an example, when a customer searches for “restaurant quality ratings in NJ”, they’re likely looking to travel there and visit some restaurants in the near future. Before this customer makes a decision, they’ll need to do a bit more research and use terms such as “visit” “purchase” and “buy”. This customer is more likely to definitely travel and eat than a customer who has simply traveled and eaten in the area before. So, they have high intent, and they’re indicating that in their search.

As a closer to home (or should we say, closer to “shop”) example, a customer of yours could come in at any day and time of the week simply because they’ve been to your shop before, but if they search “pizza near me”, or even more, “coupons for (your shop)”, they’re highly likely to purchase some of your pizza – today.

You can also get high-intent customer data from CRM analytics, customer service communication, online company reviews, and social media. The goal is to compile data that establishes your desired buyer’s journey, and more specifically, when they approach, get to, and leave each stage.

The Stages – Defined

Even when you feel you have a sufficient amount of data, it’s important to separate the data into three different buyer stages – awareness, consideration, and decision/buying. Look for the following words and phrases to pin-point these stages:

Awareness – “best”, “how to”, “where can I”

Consideration – “cost of”, “reviews of” “what people say about”

Decision/Buying Stage – “buy”, “shipping”, “coupons for”, “[your company name]”

Not as Tough as Burnt Crust

These days, consumers aren’t usually following a linear path when it comes to purchasing, but thankfully, “88% of consumers pre-research their buys online before making a purchase either online or in-store”. It’s important to use this data to understand where your customers are, what they want, and where they’re going. Although high-intent marketing may seem complicated, it doesn’t need to be as tough as it sounds. Don’t think of it as an out-of-reach, expensive project. Instead look at it as a continuous system, and an ongoing learning process to get the best ROI for your shop. There are simple, quick marketing tools like ZaHub, that can help you embark on your high-intent expedition without breaking the bank. We’ll help you reach the high-intent, new mover market with highly intentional direct mail marketing. Simply give us a call to give it a go.