Article

Snapchat campaigns capture a lot of dough for Virginia pizza chain

Ever thought of using that perpetual teenage social media favorite, Snapchat, in your social media marketing? Virginia-based Firenza certainly did, and the results have been very gratifying.

June 20, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Ever thought of using that perpetual teenage social media favorite, Snapchat, in your social media marketing? Virginia-based Firenza certainly did and the results have been very gratifying, said Firenza co-founder Dave Baer. 

Baer said he looked into using Snapchat because his kids used it, and with a little investigation into the platform, he said the chain's executives opted to give it a go once they realized they could "get super-local for not a whole lot of money."

Firenza, which has three locations in Virginia, has run 13 Snapchat campaigns. Its latest campaign ran in May and involved a BOGO promotion on National Pizza Party Day. On that occasion, Firenza made the filter — a special overlay that communicates the "where and when" of a Snap — available at a high school near one of the chain's locations. According to representatives of the chain, the geo-filter was available from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the day of the promotion and racked up a whopping 1,200 views and 160 uses at the restaurant.

We fielded a few questions to Baer for the benefit of any of our pizzamarketplace.com readers who might also be interested in this platform. Here are his responses:

Q: How have you used Snapchat for marketing thus far, and what have the challenges and benefits been?
A:  The benefits are again that you can target a very specific group in a very specific location. The challenges are the platform can be a little tricky. For example, each flight has to be entered separately, so a filter that runs from 10 a.m. to noon and then again at 3 p.m. has to be in two different campaigns. All campaigns have to have a little lead-time to be approved by Snapchat. 

Q: How do you think Snapchat addresses your marketing needs differently than other platforms?
A: It reaches that young pizza lover exactly when we want to reach them. 

Q: With the introduction of insertion ads between stories on Snapchat, do you think its popularity will wane since so many millennials either abhor or ignore these ads?
A: Anytime anything gets too commercial those young users may jump, but we will make sure to keep an eye on participation. 

Q:  How do you cater your promotions particularly to this audience? 
A: We make sure the promotion and the creative are both worth sharing with all of your pals on Snapchat, so (things like) really good deals, such as BOGO.  

Q: What would you suggest other chain operators consider before taking up snapchat as one of their promotional tools?
A: Dive in, but make sure that all stakeholders are well aware of the offer.   

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.