Let’s Look at Some Ways to Market your Bakery Online- So Let’s Start Cooking

(P.C.- https://jbbakery.com/about/our-story/bakery-collage/)

With the food and baking industry spanning across the country, especially during the lockdown when people harnessed their talent and started their own boutique bakeries, nor only has the competition risen on the horizon but also provided more options to the consumers, who will now have plethora of options to choose from, thus, acting as an incentive for you to further evolve and become creative with not only your products but also your marketing tactics. The baking industry generates more than $30Bn approximately, every year. Though the industry is highly fragmented and dispersed, but still there are a little more than 6000 retail bakers and approximately 3000 commercial bakers, operating across USA, this goes on to show the humongous size of this industry. As creative is the bakery sector, so shall be the numerous ways of reaching out to people, let’s look at some ways it can be done.

Website and Social Media Marketing-

1. Images and Content – Sharing delectable pictures of your bakery products; won’t only tempt your website visitors but also create positive imagery regarding your products and prompt willingness to try your offerings. Being in a creative field, your website should depict the same, i.e. it should be bright, colorful, and easily navigable but most importantly should be real, because stock photos won’t do much good for you and your business, as well as create trust deficiency between you and your clients.

     The content or the description of your products on your website should always be there and shall be accurate, this helps those users who might have some issues in loading pictures present on your website as well as placing SEO keywords, would help you rise up organically on Google Ad-word search rankings.

2. Easy to Navigate – Your website shall not only be aesthetically designed but should also have strategic placement of all important information related to your business, be it your work hours, location, products and services offered, contact form, etc. You can facilitate this process for your visitors by providing navigation and search bars on the top of your web-pages as well as have drop down menus, to help the users go through various snippets of information present on your website. We at Zivanta Analytics can help you come up with some really quirky and creative web designs, to give your business a Midas touch.
3. Online buying facility – Due to the COVID-19, people avoid going to public places an opt for home-delivery services, thus, if you offer online buying facility, then it should be mentioned on your website, as well as, if there are any specific instructions or information regarding the same, then that shall be mentioned clearly on your website, too. You can place your number or address, if there is a physical store and/or an e-mail id, where customers can reach out to you easily and can get quick responses.
4. Let’s talk about your USP – Your USP can be anything, whether it is your success story or your passion or some secret recipes passed over generations…anything that gives your brand a magical touch and makes it different from your competitors. Customers are always attracted to something which is unique, as that gives them a feeling of satisfaction and being part of a niche’ crowd. It always helps to have done your SEO research before-hand, by placing long-tail keywords and attractive images to help you push up on the search rankings of Google and other search websites.

(P.C.- Unsplash, @sutanto)

5.  Social Media – Social media is one such tool, where you can promote your content to a larger audience and that too at economical rates or even free if you are just starting…the plethora of options available on social media are endless as well as there is no dearth of options, be it Instagram or Facebook or Pinterest, where you can post your pictures and content easily and regularly.

But it should mean that you are respecting the time and privacy of the users and not constantly pester them with your posts, as that might irritate and alienate them from your brand for being too intrusive and generating a  negative connotation for your business. The way to win over and stand apart is by adopting a healthy mix of conversation, user engagement, promotion, and content, and this can be determined suitably by gauging your market, customers, and business mix and the resultant matrix.

Offline Marketing

 This form of marketing is very effective for those who have a physical store and would want to expand their business with the help of all accessible channels;

1. Entice your customers – This is the strategy which isn’t only free but most effective to build a relationship with your customers, just open the doors and let the aroma of your products waft through the streets, not only will this tempt the consumers but give them a chance to enter your store and make a purchase. It is here where you can strike up a conversation and tell them about your services and products offered, for instance if you offer healthy vegan options, gluten-free cakes, etc., thus, anything and everything which gives you a chance to connect and establish a relationship with your customers. For Instance that’s how Starbucks or Costa Coffee or many major cafes place themselves to entice the walking customers with the aroma of coffee and freshly baked goods.
2. Offer free samples – Who doesn’t like good and tasty stuff …that too free? It does sound an amazing offer and people will mostly be up for trying your products, the best part is that not only you and the other people get to know about your business, but you can experiment with the product variety offered by you and get a genuine feedback on those products, this shall give you a first-hand idea about what the customer wants and how successfully are you meeting the demands. Not only this, let’s say if 100 people try your products and even 10 return back to buy something from you, that implies new business opportunities.
3. Offer classes to learn baking and patisserie items – One way to tap into what people like and getting to know them as well as generating a personal touch is where you can offer baking classes, where you can teach them how to bake certain items famous from your bakery. This will help build a close knit relationship with some of your customers, generate positive word of mouth publicity and give you an insight as to what your consumers want. You can try this on a pilot basis, if this turns out to be successful, then you can create some packages to attract people, this shall help in cultivating a positive brand image for your bakery.
4. Offer discounts and sell custom merchandise products – Offering products at reasonable rates or at discounted rates is always a great idea to attract customers and generate curiosity regarding your products amongst the people. For instance selling Macaroons at baker’s dozen for $10 won’t be the same as getting 7+6 Macaroons for $10, the difference lies in perception and how well are you able to market upon that. As a bakery business owner you need to continuously come up with strategies and tactics, that enhance the value of your business, offer tremendous growth and outreach and at the same time is cost-effective, for instance offering coupons, free samples etc. on a regular basis to maintain the interest of your consumers and attract new ones.You can offer customized merchandise to your customers, as many customers like supporting and patronizing local businesses, therefore you can offer them mitts, aprons, mugs, cooking trays, chopping boards, etc. all embossed with your logo, or conduct events from time to time and give these products as free giveaways to make the customers feel special.
5. Work with the community or volunteer groups – Self volunteering and/or engaging with local community to help them better their lives, is always a good idea to be associated with, not only does this make your brand value more positive, enhances your relationship with the local community. So you can go ahead and align yourself with the goals that sounds most favorable with your audience and this you can do by analyzing their preferences.

We have presented you a mix of ideas to further your bakery business, by incorporating a healthy mix of online and offline methods, the matrix to be followed shall depend upon your business needs and resource availability. As the bakery business is booming, so shall the needs for smart and strategically crafted Digital Media strategies.