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Often, one of the hardest things about getting into business is the starting point – getting your business set up and ready for trading.
However, one of the most important parts of starting and running a business, and particularly a bakery business, is to get returning customers and become the go-to place which people come to for their baked goods. One of the best ways to do this is to establish an effective marketing strategy, but it is also one which many businesses fail to implement and is often the hardest part of running a business.
No matter what products your bakery business specialises in, whether it be celebration cakes or traditionally baked bread, you should be looking to create a strong and successful marketing strategy for your business, otherwise, you may find that you struggle to reach new customers, increase your sales and revenue and overall brand awareness.
Follow these 5 marketing strategy tips for your bakery business and see the results.
Make The Most Of Promotions
When starting out, it can be hard to make a profit, even without unique, quality products. Running promotions when you are starting out might seem counter-intuitive, but actually, if you don’t run a couple of promotions then people are unlikely to be willing to try you out, especially if they are a brand-new customer who has never heard of your brand before.
A lot of new businesses use effective marketing campaigns and promotions in their first few months of trade and from this, earn the respect and loyalty of customers, who go on to be regular and repeat customers.
You do not need to offer huge discounts or freebies as a way to get attention, as these will likely cause your revenue to spike, to then drop when there is no promo running. So, start off small with 10% off or free delivery if you operate online so as not to devalue your products and brand, but to attract new customers and orders.
Prepare for Holidays & Calendar Occasions
Considering these events happen every year, a lot of businesses always find themselves struggling to prepare in time. Whether it is deciding on website artwork or marketing messages, if left to the last minute, these can often provide substandard results, which then impact your revenue and sales.
In the run-up to these occasions, sit down and write down your plans for any promotions, deals, or special offers and ensure these are secured well in advance of the holiday period. Be sure of the ways in which you want to advertise your business and products if this is something you want to do, and get artwork and messaging finalised at least a month in advance.
If you are running special product lines to celebrate the holidays or calendar occasions, it is good to predict your total sales and ensure you have plenty of stock to hand. You do not want to over-estimate your prediction so that you are left with surplus stock, but you also do not want to run out in the first few days of launch and leave potential customers disappointed.
Use Social Media
Promoting your business via social media is one of the best ways to increase your customer base and is easy to do, but doing it well is what makes all the difference. As well as creating accounts and getting attention from new customers, social media is also a great way to advertise your business.
Many campaigns that work on social media don’t require a large investment, but they do need some initial time to be set up properly. Ensuring that your target audience is correct, your artwork is attractive and correctly sized, and your advertising copy is bang on all seem like small things, but make all the difference when it comes to ensuring that your social media campaigns are successful.
Use social media to tell your customers about new products, special offers and provide useful and engaging information and content. People do not want to be sold to constantly on social media, so try to add some of your brand’s personality into your posts and incorporate UGC (user-generated content) to showcase the real customers buying and investing in your delicious bakery products.
Make the Most of Your Website
We are in a time where customers want information fast and for purchases to be quick and simple. With this, it is essential that you have a well-performing and attractive website. Website speed is a hugely important factor now, as is ensuring that your website is both desktop and mobile optimised, so that it works optimally for both devices.
As well as this, good quality content and images of your bakery products, which are SEO optimised, will not only help with your revenue and sales but also increase and improve your website rankings. Set up a blog page to add useful content for users and to keep visitors and customers informed of news and upcoming products and promotions and further boost your ranking positions.
If you are selling products online, then ensure that the product pages are attractive and encourage prospective customers to buy your products. Keep the price clear and distinctive, so that there is no confusion and avoid having a lengthy and unsecure checkout process, as a lot of customers will become disinterested and go elsewhere if the process is too long and time-consuming.