When Cardinal Pizza began talking with the SiteInSight team in late 2019, no one would have predicted the impact of coronavirus on small businesses in Central Ohio.
At the time, Cardinal Pizza was still struggling with its status as “new kid” in Uptown Westerville, and its owners felt they were failing to get a foothold with their desired customers, despite having a great location in a trendy area near the campus of Otterbein University. They were in the midst of seeking a liquor license to build out their dining room as a fun, cozy place for people to socialize and have a beer.
Together we created a marketing plan that would increase the profile of Cardinal Pizza in the Westerville community. The plan exposed the biggest challenges and the greatest opportunities, and helped us highlight what is special about Cardinal Pizza: their high quality ingredients, connection to the community, and easy online ordering for pickup and local delivery.
Cardinal Pizza already had an online ordering system, which was available to them through their payment provider, Heartland Payment Systems. It was easy to use and allowed customers to choose pickup or delivery, and get a time estimate when they placed their order. But visitors to their website didn’t get a sense of that ease, nor the variety of pizzas, sandwiches and salads available.
SiteInSight worked with their existing website to completed reimagine the homepage, complete with sharp photos of delicious food, rave reviews from customers, and lively and obvious links to online ordering. We also did the technical work to revamp their online menu, so customers could easily navigate between salads, pizzas and sandwiches.
Just as we launched the new homepage and navigation design, the public health atmosphere began to grow grim, with the Arnold festival cancellation and talk of restrictions on public events and businesses. By the time restaurants were closed for dine-in service, Cardinal Pizza was ready. They even loaded a few grocery staples, such as milk, bread and toilet paper, that people could add to their pizza delivery orders, although they ended up not rolling out that promotion. It wasn’t necessary. Business at the pizza shop is double and sometimes triple what it was prior to the stay-home order. And that’s not just because more people are ordering pizza delivery generally. That would not have helped Cardinal Pizza, because they weren’t a familiar brand.
But our marketing services, including reaching out to more schools and charities for Dine-Out Night fundraisers, expanded their reach and brand recognition. More people ordered for the first time, and those people returned again and again.
Cardinal Pizza, despite the complete suspension of its goal of increasing dine-in business, is thriving.
Even if you don’t already have a marketing plan, it’s not too late. Now is the perfect time to take a new look at the threats and opportunities currently on the radar for your organization. You, too, can emerge stronger, whether by focusing on a neglected area of your business, or by enabling online ordering/payment and increasing your reach. Please contact us today if you’d like sensible, affordable ways to move forward profitably.