If You Feed Them, They Will Come: Walking Through the Marketing Plan Steps for Your Bakery

Are you opening a new bakery and need to build some momentum around it?

Though there are bakeries on almost every corner, it doesn’t mean yours can’t stand out from the crowd.

Aside from selling quality products, you need a detailed marketing plan to present your story to potential customers. Using social media to engage with your customers is an easy way to discover their needs and become their all-time favorite bakery.

Keep reading to discover the marketing plan steps you should take to grow your bakery business from day one.

Create a Marketing Plan

The first, most important step of creating a marketing strategy, has a solid marketing plan. This should include the channels you’ll be using, your marketing budget, people working on the campaigns, along with the metrics you’ll be using to track results.

The marketing plan should also include your competition analysis, target market analysis, a SWOT analysis, and marketing goals. Then, outline the exact steps you’ll take to accomplish each goal and set deadlines.

Analyze Your Competitors

Competitive analysis is a must for every business, no matter the industry.

By following your competitors’ business and marketing moves, you’ll see what works and what doesn’t. Then, you can see if something is a good fit for your own business. You shouldn’t copy their tactics, but get inspired to create your own ways to be unique.

Leverage Social Media

In a digital era, all businesses, including local bakeries, must leverage the power of social networks. Social media for bakeries is a quick, reliable, and affordable way to attract new customers, build brand awareness, and communicate with your fans.

Start by posting photos and videos of your products on your profiles. This will entice people to try your products, and you can also use customer-generated photos to share on your feed. You can also run paid advertising campaigns on different networks to reach different audiences.

Post Videos Every Day

They say we eat with our eyes first, so when you’re developing a marketing strategy, make sure to include video content. You can either hire professional videographers or use a quality digital camera and film your own footage.

You can film the process of making your products, your employees, your customers (if they agree), events you sponsor or attend, and the workshops you organize. Your videos should be creative, full of personality, and all about the senses. Stay away from pushy sales tactics, and focus on the story you want to tell.

Organize Contests for Your Fans

The best way to build a loyal fan base for your bakery is to organize contests and giveaways for your fans.

Then, you can organize contests for each segment to keep them interested and coming back for more. This creates buzz and engagement on social media, and you build trust and loyalty with your customers.

Host Events

If you want to broaden your reach and attract a new customer base, consider sponsoring local events. You can also organize and host your own events, either in-store or at a venue, where people can have fun, learn something new, and get to know your business.

You can host baking workshops, cake decorating tutorials, holiday contests, arts and crafts workshops, couple’s baking sessions, and kids’ birthday parties. Use the Facebook Events feature to promote your events, provide detailed information, and see how many people to expect.

Hand Out Free Samples

Handing out free samples is the best way to get people to try your delicious products. Make sure to give out fresh samples that’ll lure customers in and invite them to check out the full product range inside. Also, be friendly, helpful, and ready to answer their questions.

This practice is a great way to introduce new products to your customers and give them a little sneak peek of your brand. If they like what they taste, they’re more likely to go inside the store and buy something.

Create a Loyalty Program

In marketing, getting new customers can be more expensive than retaining your existing ones. With so much competition in the industry, you need something to keep customers coming back to you.

Loyalty programs are a way of giving back to your customers. Almost every bakery has loyal customers that come back every day, and probably have a favorite product. Why not reward their loyalty with discounts, coupons, and punch cards?

This simple gesture will boost your marketing strategy efforts and help you gain your customers’ trust. It’s also a great way to market your business through word of mouth without spending a dime on advertising.

Get Involved With Your Community

Community is essential for success, especially for local businesses like bakeries. You can start getting involved even before you open, or from the very first day of business. If you want to become a neighborhood staple, make sure to introduce yourself and your products to the people who will buy them.

You can do this by sponsoring events financially, donating to local charities, donating some of your products to events, or selling them at a local farmer’s market. This is a surefire way to build brand awareness and get your product in front of a large crowd.

Hand Out Promotional Materials

Handing out promotional materials is a great way to build brand awareness and reach new customers. Start by printing business cards, brochures, flyers, and menus, and hand them out to people.

Have several employees hand out materials in the area such as town squares, libraries, cafes, college campuses, and business buildings. You can also hand out coffee mugs with your logo, notebooks, keychains, aprons, t-shirts, and cookie cutters.

Take These Marketing Plan Steps to Put Your Bakery on the Map!

Whether you’re a new bakery looking to build brand awareness or an existing one aiming to boost sales, you need a solid marketing strategy.

Follow these marketing plan steps to put your bakery on the map and attract new customers every day.

Want more marketing and social media tips? Check out some of the other articles we’ve written on the blog and take your business to the next level.

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