Beyond The Dough Presented By

My brand is obviously more of a millennial brand. So we already had a delivery app with loyalty points that allowed me to stay in front of our customers. We use push notifications with a text message or alert about our specials sent through the app. If you haven’t ordered from the app, you get 15 percent off. We have a loyalty rewards program— at 100 points, which is a handful of orders, you get a free small pizza or wings. But I don’t want to be that guy who’s sending 100 messages a week and pinging you all the time. It’s about marketing with a purpose. We send out a text or a push notification every two weeks. That’s something people will be interested in as opposed to being annoyed. We also sent out our menus for delivery-carryout with the number right on front. The over-65s are old-school, so they pick up their phone and call your store. Some of them are not on social media or aware of these specials, so I still do the old-school advertising by mailing out our menus. We also put out signage in front of the store for curbside customers and used our app to let them know about that.

PMQ: Speaking of social media, you work with a company called BaggottsBOTS, which specializes in chatbots, artificial intelligence (AI) and “conversational commerce.” How has that worked out for you? Stetson: I’m currently using BaggottsBOTS in four of my locations— Midtown Savannah; Fort Lauderdale and Davie, Florida; and Columbia, South Carolina. Additional locations are testing it now. Working with BaggottsBOTS, we were able to launch contests to engage people on social media and connect them with our brand. We started with movie quizzes, then moved to a Wheel of Fortune game, where you spin the wheel to get a free item. Then it was a dodgeball game—you hit the guy, you get a free item. This got people engaged so they’d stay on our page for more than that split second it takes to look at your meme or a picture of your pizza. The goal is to make that person a customer who is ordering from you. You can go halfway by getting them to your Facebook page or website, but what do I want

You will never outperform your self-image.

Really think about that: How HIGH, or LOW, are you setting the bar for you and your business?

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What are you aiming at today? How high is your bar?

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To learn more about Perfect Crust’s pizza liners and other products, visit perfectcrust.com or email Eric Bam at Eric@perfectcrust.com

About Eric Bam:

A Boston native now living in Tulsa, OK, Eric Bam is VP of sales and marketing for Perfect Crust, with 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry. A powerful force in the workplace, Bam uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. He has a wife and three children and loves helping the men and women of the pizza industry grow their businesses.

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at the end of the day? I want them to order. I want to know who they are—their name, their phone number and what they like to eat—and I want to do that in the most efficient way possible. BaggottsBOTS lets customers place an order that goes directly from Facebook into my POS system. People are looking for the most efficient way to get what they want, and that’s why we’ve seen, in the last several years, the growth of apps. People are glued to their phones, and this is a really fast, efficient way to place an order.

The ROI with chatbots has been tremendous. It has allowed me to communicate directly with the customer. Instead of just posting an ad or a meme, I’m engaging with the customer with our specific brand content. And instead of just having that one transaction, I’m now able to follow up with that customer and give them a targeted special. For instance, I know John always selects wings during our contests. I will be sending John all of our wing specials during our promotions. The future of marketing is through AI, and this funnel is exactly that: analytics that will help convert the click into an order.

PMQ: But you still use old-school marketing strategies, too. Why?

Stetson: There are still people who look at the menus that come in their mailboxes. I do 2,500 to 5,000 menu drops each week. And I go to all the hotels, high-rises and businesses around us with free pizzas. I introduce myself to the concierge and the front desk manager. If a driver is taking a delivery to the 10th floor of a highrise, I ask them to bring some extra menus. Maybe that customer’s neighbor wants pizza, too.

I also carry around these free pizza cards in my pocket. If I’m in line at the grocery store and see someone buying a frozen pizza, I hand them a card and ask if they’ve heard of Stoner’s Pizza Joint. I use car toppers, too. If you see one of our car toppers on the road, you’re gonna look at it. It’s a vibrant red color that stands out on a busy street.

PMQ: So what’s the future look like for Stoner’s Pizza Joint? Stetson: Stoner’s was fortunate to grow significantly in the past year. Since I took over as CEO, the brand has grown from 10 units in April 2020 to 19 units as of March 2021. In addition, the company signed a 10-unit franchisee deal for central Florida and Kentucky.

In terms of non-digital marketing, we are still trying to be creative. Since we do not have a national presence, our focus is working inside out. For each new location, we approach the community as a new resident and neighbor. Our first mission is getting to know all the local organizations and businesses. We believe the community needs to get to know you first before trusting you as their go-to pizza joint. Through this methodology, we’ve been fortunate enough to partner with several nonprofit organizations, schools and hospitals to provide food for those in need. If you can show your support to your new community before asking for their support, you have a much better chance at success.

Our goal for 2021 is to grow with our existing franchisees, attract new franchisees and continue to build additional sales channels through our marketing efforts.

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For more information about the VAPSC, rules and registration, visit uspizzateam.com/vapsc, or contact Brian Hernandez at brian@pmq.com or 662-234-5481 x129.