National Pizza Month
Throughout National Pizza Month, play around with new pizza options like making it yourself, trying a new pizza joint, or trying single-serve bagel pizzas.
Drive October foot traffic and delivery orders by positioning pizza as a month-long celebration with DIY, experiential, and limited-edition topping campaigns.
- Share customer pizza creations with custom toppings on social media
- Promote family pizza-making kits or premade dough bundles in-store and online
- Partner with influencers to showcase unique/trending pizza topping combinations
- Email loyalty members exclusive October pizza deals and new menu items
Campaign ideas8
- Daily Specialty Pizza Challenge: Launch a different limited-edition pizza every day in October featuring seasonal, local, or trend-inspired toppings (e.g., chorizo, chipotle, butternut squash). Share each day's reveal on social media to drive repeat visits.
- Pizza Memories Contest: Invite customers to share their favorite pizza memories or experiences on social media with a branded hashtag (e.g., #YourPizzaMoments). Daily or weekly prize winners receive free pizza for a year, monthly vouchers, or gift cards.
- Pizza Passport Loyalty Program: Create a digital or paper 'passport' where customers earn a stamp for each pizza they try. After collecting X stamps, they unlock free pizza or exclusive rewards—drives menu exploration and repeat business.
- Influencer Pizza Collaboration: Partner with local food influencers or regional pizza creators to co-develop a signature pizza. Have them feature it in videos/content and in-store, then donate a portion of sales to a local cause.
- Halloween-Themed Pizza Week: Design festive jack-o-lantern pizzas with topping arrangements forming spooky designs (spider, mummy, ghost). Include Halloween-shaped garlic knots with marinara 'blood dip'—Halloween is a top 5 pizza delivery day.
- Local Supplier Spotlight Campaign: Celebrate local dairy farmers, produce growers, or ingredient suppliers with behind-the-scenes social content, in-store signage, and supplier features in videos. Host memorable PR moments (e.g., dairy farm delivery).
- Pizza-Making Workshop & Community Events: Host dough-tossing demos, pizza-making classes, or 'pizza movie nights' for families. Offer in-store games (guess pepperoni count, scavenger hunts) with daily prize drawings.
- Loyalty Program Boost Month: Double rewards points, 2x loyalty stamps, or award bonus points for app signups during October. Offer exclusive loyalty-only menu items or secret menu access to drive memberships.
Social angles7
- "October = our busiest, cheesiest month. What's YOUR pizza order? Tag us with #[YourBrand]PizzaMonth for a chance to win free pizza weekly."
- "31 days of pizza 🍕 Day [X]: Try our NEW [Specialty Pizza Name] — [description with local ingredient shout-out]."
- "Behind the dough: Watch how we hand-toss and bake your pizza fresh. Share YOUR pizza moment with us!" [Video post]
- "Local ingredient spotlight: Say thanks to [Farmer/Supplier Name] who grew the veggies on your slice. #SupportLocal #NationalPizzaMonth"
- "CONTEST: Submit your dream pizza topping combo. Win it on our menu + $100 gift card. Comment below or use #PitchYourPizza"
- "Halloween pizza alert 🎃 Our jack-o-lantern special drops [DATE]. Toppings arranged to look like spooky faces. Limited time, limited slices!"
- "Family pizza night never tasted so good. This October, loyalty members get DOUBLE points + exclusive menu access. App download link in bio."
Ad copy starters5
“"October is National Pizza Month. We're celebrating with a NEW pizza every single day. What flavor's calling your name? Order now."”
“"31 Days. 31 Specialty Pizzas. Local ingredients. Limited time. Join us for the biggest pizza celebration of the year."”
“"Your Pizza, Named Forever. Pitch your dream topping combo to us. Winner gets it on our menu + FREE pizza for a year."”
“"Double Your Rewards This October. Every pizza, every order. Loyalty members in. App download link in bio."”
“"Halloween Hits Different with Our Jack-O-Lantern Pizza. Spooky toppings, serious flavor. One month. One vibe. Order Oct. 25–31."”
Tips4
- DO: Start teasing National Pizza Month in late September with social previews and email hints. Build anticipation with a month-long calendar. DON'T: Wait until October 1 to launch—momentum matters.
- DO: Lean into your local story. Feature local suppliers, seasonal ingredients, and community partnerships. DON'T: generic pizza Month posts that feel like every other pizzeria. Stand out with YOUR story.
- DO: Use Halloween strategically (Oct. 31 is a top 5 pizza delivery day). Theme special pizzas or promotions the last week. DON'T: miss this built-in traffic spike.
- DO: Track loyalty signups and contest engagement early in October so you can double down on what's working. DON'T: treat October as passive—active promotion drives October-to-winter repeat business.
The History of National Pizza Month is of course, at least in part, attributed to the history of this delicious dish itself: Pizza. As mentioned above, the term goes back more than one thousand years to when the idea of a flatbread was created. The Pizza was likely derived from a version of what we now know as Focaccia bread, a roman flatbread commonly served with toppings.
From that time moving forward, there have been developments that slowly led to the wonderful comfort food that the world knows and loves as pizza.
Now, this doesn’t mean that it was a straight line, mind you, not at all. Some say that Roman soldiers created the first pizza when they added cheese and olive oil to Matzah bread. But one thing is known for certain, pizza as we know it today came into being as a result of the discovery of the tomato in the Americas, and its return to Europe in the 16th century.
So where did the pizza begin? The pizza as a flatbread with a tomato sauce started in Naples and quickly became popular. Until the 1830’s it was almost exclusively sold from open-air stands and out of pizza bakeries, a tradition that is largely followed even today.
It morphed into something closer to what we know today as “pizza” sometime around the 18th or 19th centuries in Naples, Italy.
Although no one was happy with the devastating effects of World War II, one of the positives was that allied troops who had been stationed in Italy brought the idea of pizza back to their home countries.
One other fun piece of trivia is the source of the ‘marinara’ sauce is the traditional tomato sauce. Have you ever wondered why it’s called marinara? Because it was created by “La Marinara” the mariner’s wife, to serve to her seafaring husband upon return from fishing the Bay of Naples.
National Pizza Month was originally created as an American observance and was celebrated for the first time in October 1984. It was created by Gerry Durnell, publisher of Pizza Today, a magazine dedicated to this delicious pie. For more than 30 years, this month has been a fitting tribute to this iconic dish.
Get ready to celebrate National Pizza Month!
Eat Pizza, Of Course!
If we have to encourage you to go out and eat all the pizza you can get your hands on this month, we’re not entirely certain that National Pizza Month is for you. Who needs encouragement to celebrate this month? Order in, go out to a local pizza joint and order a pitcher of beer or soft drinks, or just enjoy eating some homemade pizza in front of a movie. Whatever way you slice it, National Pizza Month is meant to be enjoyed for thirty-one whole delicious days!
Make Pizza at Home
Whether making dough from scratch or picking up a premade refrigerated dough, making pizza at home can be a fun activity for the whole family. Let every member of the family custom create their own personal pizza pies, bake them up, and enjoy!
Try Out Some New and Different Pizza Toppings
Well, if you’re wanting to truly honor the pizza, then it’s time to try some new toppings on your pizza and experience the full range of what the pizza can be! Go out, try something new, and enjoy pizza! Consider these ideas for unique pizza toppings to get started with: Chipotle Cajun Shrimp and Guacamole Pizza. Just the name is a mouthful, but the flavor of this pizza goes far beyond. Cook shrimp with cajun and creole seasoning, spread guacamole over pizza dough like a “sauce”, add shrimp and cheese. Then bake. Thanksgiving Day Leftover Pizza. Now this is a fun one! On Black Friday when everyone is sick of the leftovers from the previous day’s festivities, go ahead and pile those bits and pieces onto a prepared crust and pop it in the oven. Used mashed sweet potatoes as the “sauce”. Then spread out turkey strips, corn, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts and shredded cheese on top. Delicious! Potato and Burrata Pizza. Add thin slices of potatoes to pizza dough that is covered in lemon basil pesto. Top with piles of burrata cheese and bake for a simply delicious and unique type of pizza. Charred Brussel Sprouts Pizza with Sage Brown Butter. The title practically gives away the recipe! Char some brussel sprouts, brown some butter with sage to drizzle on top, add some prosciutto, and finish off with provolone and fontina cheese. After baking, top with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds for color and flavor.