We all consume baked goods in our daily lives in one way or another. Whether it’s bread for breakfast, cupcakes or muffins with our afternoon tea or coffee, or a cake for a special occasion; baked goods make our lives delicious, and all the better.
As a bakery, the competition is tough since there are tons of food outlets out there. Not only do you have to compete against other bakeries, but against other food joints as well. However, with a robust digital marketing strategy, you can give your bakery a substantial edge and ensure that your business is a success.
Employ Digital Signage
A picture is worth a thousand words and a moving picture says the equivalent of a book. As such, you will go above normal signage for promotion and display useful information, and use digital signage instead. It features a digital screen that can be programmed to show a variety of content.
A single screen can show dozens of messages and such saving up both space and money in the long run without the hassle of changing signs. To create content for this digital signage, you will need a designer service, such as PosterMyWall. You can find hundreds of digital signage templates to choose from to save you time and effort. Since you will be modifying an existing template, the overall time and effort that goes into making a digital sign would be reduced substantially.
Get A Business Website
In the digital era, any business looking to survive and thrive out there needs to have a professional website. It is crucial for achieving online visibility and creates a much better impression on your customers and the like when you have a business website. A business website is a marketing tool that helps in generating online traffic and awareness for your bakery.
If you don’t have one already, you should look towards having one made. You can update the website with any news you may have regarding your bakery, new items, deals, and the like. You may also set up an online store so people can order items online.
This way your website becomes a one-link stop that every promotional material online redirects to. Social media posts, posters, etc will all feature a link to your website which people can visit, browse and ultimately order things online which can be delivered to their locations.
Develop Your Brand Logo
People are more likely to remember your brand if you have a memorable logo. It will convey the branding and feel of your bakery and assist people in recognizing you faster and easier. Ask yourself, what do you want your customers to think of when they see your logo? Do you offer sweet goods or savory or a combination of both? Do you prepare your goods live or do you have them ready beforehand?
All of this can be shown via the logo you pick, the feeling it gives, and the parts it has. Create a strong and impressionable logo and it will promote your bakery itself. Anywhere people see your logo, they will be reminded of your bakery and the delicious goods you offer, and in turn, be compelled to visit you.
Social Networking
For any business to survive in the 21st, an active social media presence is a must-have. People nowadays spend a significant amount of time on social media apps. As such, it gives an excellent opportunity for different businesses to reach out to their prospective customers directly. For this purpose, you should create social media accounts on multiple platforms. Facebook and Instagram are excellent for this purpose, but you may also look into Pinterest to show off your delicious foods.
You may share some of the items you have for sale and such along with any promotional posts you may make. Users react better to graphical content over text posts and so you can share posters and the like to promote your bakery or announce anything important. You can use a free online poster maker such as PosterMyWall for this purpose. Promotional posts, announcing deals, showcasing your baked items, etc, you can use these posters in a plethora of ways.
For example, a bakery by the name of Small Cakes which specializes in cakes, as the name suggests, used a poster to advertise some holiday deals. They used a festive orange background, used some pictures of their cakes, and added the text using a festive type font as well. It informs the readers regarding the offer and also lets them take a peek at the goods as well. Since its graphical content, the reader can retain the information better than compared to text posts. For more tips on social media marketing for your bakery, check out the infographic below!
Infographic created by Clover, a restaurant POS system company
Online Listings
Chances are that there already exists a page for your bakery on popular review sites such Qype or Yelp. A review can both make or break a business and can either boost your digital marketing efforts or throw a wrench in your plans. As such, you should check these sites periodically and read these reviews to see what your customers think of you.
Thank the people for their positive reviews, but you must also contest negative views whenever possible. A few negative reviews might not ruin your business, but if the number increases or if people’s grievances go unanswered, then you’ll have a problem. Address the concerns as they come up and use this opportunity to improve the quality of your bakery.
There isn’t any rocket science involved in promoting a business and oftentimes, it is simple strategies that yield the most results. The advice listed in this article may seem so, but do it consistently and you will see the results yourself. Times are changing rapidly and as such, you should be flexible in your approach to promotion as well. Feedback is your biggest tool and you must use it effectively to alter your marketing strategy where necessary. See how your customers are responding and then make changes where required and your business will be booming for years to come.