With hundreds of businesses in the food and beverage industry, starting a bakery business does not end at just opening a bakery store or making baked goods to sell. To be successful in the baking industry and with seasonality in business, you need to integrate unique bakery ideas for marketing and promoting your business.
Key Takeaway - While it may take a lot of effort to create the perfect bakery design for your store and set up your bakery equipment, you’ll come to realize that these are not the hardest part of starting your bakery business. So, what is the hardest part? Staying in business and ahead of the competition.
Oftentimes most bakery business owners neglect bakery marketing operations. However, if you want to become a go-to place for delicious pastries and baked goods, then it’s time you start investing in your marketing to increase your sell through rate.
You cannot rely on just the smell of freshly baked goodness attracting passersby to your brick and mortar bakery shop. No matter the baked products you make in your bakery, having a bakery marketing strategy will make it easier to promote your bakery business and reach new customers.
Let’s explore how to promote a bakery business and some fresh bakery ideas for marketing.
12 Ways to Promote Bakery Business
There are various ways to promote your bakery business and reach your customers. However, it is important to first understand your bakery marketing strategy, draw out your marketing plan, and set your marketing budget.
So, let’s look at some bakery ideas for promoting your bakery business.
1. Invest in a Bakery Website
Having a bakery website gives you access to the many benefits the internet offers. With millions of internet users worldwide, creating a website will make your bakery business more visible to potential customers.
You can add your unique brand elements and voice to the website. This will set it apart from other bakery brands. It is important to use the right colors, high-definition images of your sweet pastries, and the perfect content to attract leads and increase sales.
Bakery Marketing Ideas
- Optimize your website to make it visible to search engines.
- Create individual landing pages for each paid advertising campaign.
- Invest in attractive visual assets.
- Tell your brand story with each piece of content on your website.
- Showcase your best products.
- Integrate data analytics software to monitor consumer purchase behavior, and use this data to your advantage.
2. Create a Unique Content Marketing Strategy
Content is indeed king. Having an eCommerce content marketing strategy is important in promoting your bakery business online and offline.
Your content strategy goes beyond the blog content you publish on your website or the trending posts on your social media. Creating a unique content strategy will help you maintain a consistent brand voice and style in all marketing activities. It will also influence the way you interact with customers.
Bakery Marketing Ideas
- Define your voice.
- Create a content calendar to help with consistency.
- Outline your narrative.
- Tell your unique brand story.
- Be creative and share a variety of content.
- Use different visuals including behind-the-scenes videos and images.
3. Try Digital Marketing for Bakery Business
Digital marketing is another way to promote your bakery business online. If you have a home bakery business, or just started an online bakery business, then digital marketing is an asset you want to invest in now.
From running paid advertising campaigns on social media and Google to creating email newsletters and blog content, digital marketing explores every marketing angle on the internet. However, it is important to know what works for your business and what doesn’t.
Bakery Marketing Ideas
- Run various A/B tests before setting a high marketing budget for each campaign.
- Conduct market research for your bakery business.
- Use social media marketing for restaurants.
- Explore eCommerce email marketing channels.
- Do keyword research.
4. Automate Your Bakery Operations
Automating your bakery operations will greatly improve your productivity and make it easier to adopt new food trends. Customers are constantly changing their preferences and it can be difficult to keep up with these changes.
Implementing automated bakery management systems will make it easy to keep track of what your customers want and delete what they don’t. For instance, integrating order management software will help you keep track of sales numbers and identify high demand products to sell.
Using robust restaurant management software and a restaurant POS system will help you keep a tab on new products. This, in return, will improve your sales and invariable promote your business.
In addition, you can automate the way you accept payments online by integrating online payment processing software with your website. Mobile ordering options, as well as making your menu downloadable after a quick restaurant QR code scan are other ways to automate your bakery operations.
Bakery Marketing Ideas
- Implement automated billing options in eCommerce accounting and payment processing.
- Use inventory management systems to manage your inventory.
- Integrate contactless payment methods.
- Invest in digital catalogs and menus.
5. Take Advantage of New Bakery Technology
Bakery technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, and the metaverse are changing the way bakery businesses operate. For instance, chatbots and conversational AI can help improve customer service and support.
You can improve how customers relate with your business by taking advantage of the metaverse. New bakery technology helps you create better shopping experiences for customers online and offline.
Bakery Marketing Ideas
- Explore your options.
- Try AI and machine learning.
- Integrate voice search options into your website.
6. Make Your Customers Happy
Making your customers happy is one of the best ways to promote your bakery business. One happy customer will write great reviews and tell others about your bakery. However, it also takes one angry customer to damage your brand image.
From excellent customer service in your bakery to sending thank you messages after purchase, maximum customer satisfaction should be your priority. You can implement a feedback system where customers can express their feelings and drop suggestions about your services.
Additionally, you can create special menus to show that you care about your customers. For instance, you can add a special display for gluten-free items or sugar-free baked goods, making it easier to find.
Bakery Marketing Ideas
- Know your customers by name and preferences.
- Hire passionate and nice team members.
- Appreciate your customers.
- Send thank you notes and messages on special occasions.
7. Offer Loyalty Programs and Giveaways
Loyalty programs are another way to keep your customers happy and promote your bakery business. Everyone loves a good giveaway - use this to your advantage.
Offer rewards and discount cards as an incentive when your customers make a purchase. For instance, a customer can get one bun free when they buy five buns. You can give coupons to new customers after their third purchase.
It is important to be creative with these loyalty campaigns. You can even extend the campaign online and increase your followers on social media or grow the traffic to your website.
Bakery Marketing Ideas
- Introduce freebies for new menu items.
- Encourage customers to tell their friends.
- Ask for feedback.
8. Remember Traditional Media
Yes, it still works! Traditional media will help you promote your bakery business locally. You can feature your bakery store in the local newspaper or monthly magazine issue. This will give you more reach locally.
You can design a flexible banner that you can use at local events, trade shows, concerts, and conferences. Listing your business in a directory is also not a bad idea.
Bakery Marketing Ideas
- Keep it simple.
- Reach out to the local newspaper.
- Attend trade shows and local events.
- Implement word-of-mouth marketing.
9. Integrate the Latest Food Trends
A good way to do bakery marketing is to be the first in untapped markets. This can be done by staying ahead of the competition with the latest food trends. Here are a few examples.
- Vegan products. In recent years, a growing number of customers search for vegan food products. Being the first business in the area that offers such products can be of great benefit for your bakery marketing.
- Gluten-free baked goods. A lot of people suffer from gluten intolerance. That’s why businesses in the food sector aim to offer gluten-free baked goods.
- Baking as an art. Eating has become an experience for many people. That’s why the trend of pastry arts has become increasingly popular. Offering unique baked goods can significantly help a bakery’s marketing efforts. Furthermore, a lot of people might be interested in workshops or classes related to baking and pastry art.
10. Start a YouTube channel
In recent years, videos have become the preferred type of content for many people. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok have become more popular than other social media platforms. That’s why it might be beneficial to do bakery marketing with the help of video content platforms. An easy way to do so is to shoot and upload videos of recipes, bakery tricks, and advice for running a bakery.
Starting a YouTube channel will not only help your bakery marketing, but it can also become an additional revenue stream. YouTube channels can be monetized with ads and can bring good revenue long-term. Furthermore, having a YouTube channel also opens the door for sponsored content like reviews of different bakery equipment or partnerships with other brands in the food industry.
11. Free Product Samples and Direct Marketing
Offering free product samples can be an excellent bakery marketing strategy. Most people enjoy baked goods and sweets. Thus, you can set up a booth near an event or at a location that gathers a lot of people like a park. The exposure will have a great brand awareness effect and an increase in the traffic to your website as well. Another crucial element of bakery advertising through free products is to also give people your contact details. This can be a business card or a discount coupon on their next order. That way customers will have an incentive to keep your advertising material instead of throwing it away.
An additional benefit of offering free product samples is that this is a form of direct marketing. You’re meeting directly with your potential customers and you can tell them more about your products and how your business can serve them.
12. Collaborations with Influencers
Influencers have truly changed the marketing field. There are two main approaches to do bakery marketing with influencers. Let’s examine them.
- Work with niche influencers. These can be food vloggers or accounts of foodies who are known for their recipes and cooking. You can partner with mom influencers or healthy living influencers as well. Traditionally, niche influencers charge smaller fees to advertise products. Additionally, you might be able to get a deal based on mutual benefits – they promote your brand and you send them free products and promote them as well.
- Work with top influencers. Well-known influencers charge businesses a lot of money to advertise their products. That’s why it might not be cost-effective to use that approach. Instead, you can partner with top influencers and offer them a partnership. They might be interested in offering white-labeled products under their own brand.
Doing Marketing for Bakery Business on Your Own VS Hiring an Agency
There are pros and cons to both approaches. Generally speaking, small businesses don’t have a large marketing budget. That’s why they’re more likely to do the bakery marketing on their own. Let’s dive a little deeper into these two options.
Hiring Agency for Bakery Marketing
The main advantage of using the services of an agency is that they possess the knowledge and tools to do it properly. Furthermore, a marketing agency usually employs people to take care of the different marketing channels of their clients’ campaigns. This leads to higher ROI and an optimally spent marketing budget. Another benefit of using a marketing agency is that you can focus on other tasks such as growing the business or improving business processes.
Here are the cons of hiring an agency for bakery marketing:
- It’s more expensive;
- You’re not as involved in the marketing process and can be left out;
- Your company becomes somewhat dependent on the marketing agency;
Doing Bakery Marketing on Your Own
The marketing process is constantly becoming more complicated. Nevertheless, there are a lot of things a business owner can do to help their bakery marketing efforts. The main advantage of doing all promotion-related tasks on your own is that you don’t need to pay for the services of a freelancer or an agency. That way, the majority of your marketing budget can be spent on online ads or other forms of marketing.
Here are the disadvantages of doing marketing for a bakery business on your own:
- Lower ROI. People with little or no experience in marketing can’t achieve the same ROI as an experienced marketing professional.
- No usage of complicated tools or channels. If you’re fairly new to marketing, you’re likely not aware of the full spectrum of marketing options available. Therefore, doing bakery marketing on your own has a lot of limitations.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bakery Marketing
Implementing unique eCommerce marketing strategies for your bakery business is the key to success and staying in business. Some aspects of marketing may take time, However, once you know what works best for your brand, put all your efforts into it.
Let’s answer some questions about bakery marketing.
How Do You Attract Customers to Your Bakery?
You can attract customers to your bakery through the following ways:
- Bake delicious and trending food items
- Invest in online marketing
- Offer free samples
- Use social media marketing to your advantage
- Prepare and package your products well
- Aggressively promote your business
Which of the Promotion Methods is Most Applicable to Bakeries?
The following promotions methods and channels are applicable to bakery businesses:
- Implement digital marketing strategies
- Using new bakery technology
- Offering discounts and coupons
- Attending local events and trade shows
How Can a Baker Stand Out?
A baker can stand out by following these steps:
- Specifying a niche
- Creating great recipes
- Promoting the brand
- Having a unique selling proposition (USP examples)
- Offering great customer service
- Being creative
How Can Social Media Help My Bakery Business?
Social media is a powerful tool for bakeries to reach a broader audience, showcase their products, and engage with customers. By posting regularly, using relevant hashtags, and interacting with followers, you can build a loyal community. Social media also allows you to run targeted ads and promotions, driving traffic both online and in-store. Social media is now a huge part of any bakery marketing strategy.
What Role Does Local SEO Play in Bakery Marketing?
Local SEO is crucial for bakeries as it helps your business appear in local search results, such as "bakery near me." Optimizing your Google My Business profile, using relevant keywords on your website, and encouraging customer reviews can significantly increase your visibility to potential customers in your area.
How Can I Use Influencer Marketing for My Bakery?
Influencer marketing involves partnering with local food bloggers, Instagram and TikTok influencers, or other online personalities who can showcase your products to their followers. By offering them free samples or hosting them at your bakery, you can gain exposure to their audience, which can drive new customers to your business. This is smart way to do bakery marketing in this day and age.
Bake and Promote
It is important to create your marketing strategy and plan before anything else. Just going with the flow will be very expensive and, sometimes, not yield the needed results.
Remember to A/B test each campaign you want to run before going all in. Setting eCommerce metrics is necessary to monitor what works and what doesn’t. You can also invest in eCommerce automation tools to streamline your marketing operations.