Pop Up Jawns Part 2: How to Market Your Pop-Up Event
Dive deeper into event marketing with this imaginary case study
We’re doing something a little different this week by expanding upon last week’s newsletter with an imaginary case study. I’ll walk you through step by step as to how I would create a marketing strategy for a pop-up business or special event.
In fact, let’s stick with the word play and create a business called Pop Up Jawns Pizza.
This food business specializes in custom pizzas that serve one to two people and are made with fresh ingredients from local sources when possible. It is run by a singular person—let’s call them Phil*—out of their house as a side gig.
Because Phil runs this out of his home, he often announces weekly pick-up only orders, randomly appears around the city and serves from a food trailer (not yet a full-size food truck), and attends local events as a vendor. He posts updates via a website, sends a weekly newsletter, and posts on Instagram and X.
Pop Up Jawns Pizza is gearing up for summer food truck and farmers market seasons, so the owner wants to create a marketing plan for now through Q3.
Before we dive in, be sure to read the first part so you have a good baseline of where we’re going.
Better Connections, Better Marketing ... Pop Up Jawns
Create a unique event to better connect with your audience and drum up business buzz
*Name inspo comes from the previous newsletter’s / both titles’ Philadelphia reference. iykyk
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Branding Pop Up Jawns
Thankfully, our made-up business has a full brand deck completed and in use. (Just trust me.) Yay!!
Throughout this process—and to make things easier—assume that all marketing materials and such will adhere to the brand guidelines.
If you’re not sure what all is included in brand guidelines, do a lil Google search. Or reach out and we can chat.
Pizza Pop-Up Events
In the previous newsletter, I described a few types of events and pop ups. Using that same list and format, here are some ideas that Phil could use for his business. (This goes beyond his appearances around town and at events.)
Semi-permanent pop-up shop: Phil could get a one-year lease for a pizza pop up inside the local business incubator that supports entrepreneurs of all sizes. In this scenario, Phil serves a limited menu of custom pizzas, side dishes, a dessert, and soft drinks, Wednesday through Sunday.
Location: This location ensures he’ll have frequent foot traffic. Plus, the umbrella business adds an additional marketing source that he won’t have to manage.
Good for: Testing the waters of opening a pizza shop of his own. This may not be a priority for the summer season, however.
Temporary pop-up shop: Phil could open a pop-up pizza shop in a small restaurant on the days that they are closed. So if the main restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday, he could make pizzas in their kitchen and sell them to dine-in or carry-out customers on Mondays and Tuesdays. This would be a great way to double his profits and exposure during the summer months.
Location: This temporary location for Phil is a win-win for the restaurant owners; they’re still earning money while they’re closed.
Good for: This route allows Phil to enjoy the advantages of a commercial kitchen, such as producing more pizzas in less time and not over-heating his house in the middle of a hot summer. He can also serve more customers with the added experience of sit-down dining.
One-time pop-up event: Phil could plan a “Pizza Pies in July” bash that he hosts over two days in the summer. Why? Idk, it rhymed. 😉 But, this could garner a bigger marketing and PR push to get his business name out there. The pizza party will also introduce new customers to the business, who will hopefully order again from his weekly pre-orders and tell their friends about the new-to-them business.
Location: If a local park won’t let Phil vend from their space for a weekend (sometimes local governments have, uh, quirky laws), he could partner with a local business to vend out of their parking lot. This not only gives him a good space to sling the ‘za, but it would also drive traffic to the partner business. In fact, they could go in on the event and help publicize it and run their own specials or offer exclusive products.
Good for: This is a great way for Phil to promote Pop Up Jawns Pizza and spread the word on how, when and where to find him on a more regular basis. If the event goes well, this could become an annual summer pizza party.
Immersive experience — Traditional Version: Phil could take a traditional route with this and design a cooking class around making pizza from scratch. Even if he does provide original recipes, it’s veryyyy unlikely people will run off with them, start their own pizza business, and become competitors. Instead, it’s more likely that the experience will create a deeper relationship between the participants and the brand, and they’ll buy more pizza from Phil in the long run.
Location: Phil could utilize a community kitchen, the kitchen in a local school or church, another food business, etc. Or, depending on how the class is designed, he could potentially host it in a place like an interior design studio (they design kitchens, right?) and teach people how to make dough and sauce and perfectly layer their toppings — to then bake their pizzas when they get home. That way he doesn’t have to find a place that can bake a dozen pizzas at once and deal with the added time for baking.
Good for: Developing deeper relationships with his customers and giving a behind-the-scenes look at his process.
Immersive experience — Think-Outside-the-Pizza-Box Versions: Alright, let’s say Phil reallyyyyy doesn’t want to share how he makes his pizza. That’s totally okay! So what sorts of unique immersive experiences could he host? Here are a few ideas, but the sky is the limit.
Pizza Garden Tour — Partner with a local community garden to show the types of fresh ingredients he uses in his pizzas, how they’re cultivated at the garden, and how folks can grow them at home. If some of his ingredients are actually grown there, even better!
Butterfly in the Pie: Books About Pizza — Giving a tip of the cap (and a heavy-handed pun) to “Reading Rainbow”, Phil could partner with his local library branch to host an event about books and pizza. He could share some of his favorite cookbooks, beloved biographies of chefs and food culture, and even library resources he’s used to get his business off the ground, such as small business mentoring programs and kitchen gadgets he loaned from the library.
Wine and Dine with The 500 Club — …as in the temperature at which Phil cooks his pizzas. (Oh! Even better, he could start the event at 5:00 pm. There are no bad ideas in a brainstorm!) Phil could partner with a local winery to host an Italian themed soiree. The winery could pair their wines with the pizzas Phil bakes for the event. After both entities have explained their flavor profiles and such, Phil can regale in telling the audience about his latest trip to Italy and how he was inspired to level up his pizza business when he got back.
Even though all of these sound like great ideas (at least in my humble opinion), Phil wouldn’t need to implement all of them for the summer marketing strategy. He should select one to focus on and execute well while still implementing the rest of his event schedule, marketing and in-home production.
Important to note: Whatever Phil does, he’ll need to stick to his brand guidelines. If a soiree at a winery doesn’t fit his vibes, he shouldn’t do it. Or… he should do it in a way that’s clear to his audience about why he’s doing it, how it’s a special event, etc.
🌟 Let’s Upgrade Your Digital Marketing Together
My digital marketing consulting schedule is now open! I also offer specialized services, digital marketing resources, career chats and mentoring sessions.
Whether you need advice on where to focus your marketing efforts or another set of eyes on your social media content, I’m here to help you better connect with your online audiences.
Overall pop up and event marketing advice
To help Phil have the best summer ever with Pop Up Jawns Pizza, here are some general marketing tactics he should implement this quarter.
Double check social media bios — Are they accurate and up to date? Do the links go where you want them to go?
Ensure your website is in top shape — Contact forms are routed to the right place; no 404 errors; messaging is accurate; calls to action are clear and eye-catching; etc.
Regularly update the menu for ordering — Consider adding “last updated on [date]” so folks know they’re at the right place.
Regularly update social media and the newsletter with pre-order info — New customers might be a little unsure as to how the ordering and pick up process works, so they’ll be put at ease seeing previous info that’s consistent and easy to understand.
Regularly update the events pages on the website and share event dates and info on social media and in the newsletter — People need to know where to get the pizzas if they’re not pre-ordering for pick up.
Engage in storytelling — Not every social media post, newsletter, blog post, and webpage has to be about how to buy buy buy the pizza. Be sure to include storytelling elements that provide a holistic view of the business and the people behind it. Heck, include some customer stories too!
Spread the word
Here are some ways Phil can spread the word about his pizza pop ups, pick-up orders and special events.
Post on social media
Email marketing
Events page on website
Do a giveaway on social media
Partner with local bloggers and influencers (strongly consider providing free product and/or paying them for their time)
Create a reward or referral program for loyal customers
Add events to online community bulletin boards and event calendars
Develop a YouTube or TikTok series that documents his daily business life
Share stories and reviews from customers who enjoy the pizza
Post in Facebook Groups and other online forums
Tack up printed flyers in local businesses or around town
Submit a press release about big events or major business updates to local news outlets (print and digital)
Sign up to speak at local events, business seminars, panels, etc. (It’s not as stuffy as it sounds. You’ll be surprised at what you find when you start looking!)
Ask to be a guest on a local podcast or YouTube show
Phil could even try something fun and unique like a guerrilla marketing stunt! What if he sat in a park with empty pizza slice boxes (you know the single-serve triangle-shaped ones?), then created free “orders” for a “slice of kindness” to passersby. The orders would include a coupon for a pick-up order from Pop Up Jawns Pizza, a logo sticker, and some other little goodies to make people smile.
There is an endless amount of ways Phil could market his pizza pop up. He’ll need to look at the big picture and his goals, break it down into actionable items, then go back to working toward the big picture.
Does he have to do everything outlined here? Nope! I would recommend he do what he can realistically handle while still making delicious pies. Especially if this is his side gig. He just can’t lose sight of genuinely connecting with his customers online and in person.
It’s tough being a solopreneur. You can’t tackle every single thing that you feel you should—or every single thing marketing gurus are screaming at you to do. Start with bite sized portions and work towards the whole meal. One slice to the whole pizza. And if you can, enlist some help.
Getting hungry for better marketing?
I recognize that some of this info for “Phil” was very high level while other parts were quite granular. It may be tricky to relate it all to a marketing strategy that will work for your business.
So let’s chat! My consulting schedule is open to chat about all things marketing. We can discuss your quarterly strategy, devise a game plan for an upcoming pop-up event, and more.
Book your consultation now. I’d love to hear from you.
Take care, birdies! 💙
Now, I am hungry for pizza.