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To successfully launch your Bakery, it’s critical first to identify your target market and then develop a bakery marketing strategy to reach them.
This information helps you choose a feasible location for your company and determine how many potential clients are ready to pay for your sweet delicacies. Additionally, market research and a bakery market analysis should be included in your business plan to demonstrate to prospective investors that your company has the potential to be successful.
The following are some popular marketing methods, as well as case studies, that may be used to assist your Bakery in accomplishing its sales targets both before and after opening day.
Why Running a Bakery is a Unique Business
Product Monitoring and Control
One of the advantages of owning a bakery is that you have complete control over the items you sell and the quantities you sell them in. As a result, you may choose from an almost limitless selection of pieces of bread, pastries, cakes, brownies, and pies. You can even customize your own. Concentrate on a particular product line in which to specialize so that you may master the recipe and production processes for it.
For example, your significant products may be a variety of muffins and bagels primarily targeted towards the morning audience. However, customers will be drawn to “products of the month,” such as pumpkin spice muffins and bagels throughout October if you provide them.
Market Resilience
Historically, the baking industry has been seen as recession-resistant. In part, this is because people need to eat and that a significant number of people appreciate and are ready to pay for high-quality fresh produce.
Baked goods are comfort meals that may be made in various ways that are both healthful and delicious. As a result, customer attraction and repeat business in your local region will likely be successful, allowing you to make a profit and remain profitable in your endeavor.
Creativity
The bread industry has the potential to be a source of enormous inventiveness. You and your team may experiment with new recipes and creative product presentations and use décor to show the Bakery’s style and personality.
The job of employees who are allowed to express themselves is more satisfying than the work of employees who are required to produce identical goods day in and day out.
Growth Possibilities
Running a bakery has the advantage of allowing you to scale up your operations as your company grows. There are instances when you have the option to expand your current facility or relocate to a bigger space altogether.
You may frequently increase the number of different goods you provide and the quantity of bread you make in a single session, even if you do not expand the physical size of your Bakery. When deciding whether or not to grow, it is vital to keep a close eye on sales and consider the price of components.
Definable Employee Roles
Employees in the bakery industry are assigned to specific responsibilities that are well defined. Therefore, the bakery business must be organized so that each employee has a clearly defined role.
You may, for example, assign people to the positions of dough preparation, chef, packager, inventory expert, and cashier to ensure that the business runs well. The benefit of well-defined jobs is that everyone understands what they are accountable for, and the manager can oversee primarily based on this knowledge and understanding.
Main Bakery Business challenges
Product marketing success
We understand that it might be difficult to adequately advertise your newest items such that they begin to fly off the shelves. Bakeries traditionally offer small events or even free samples to their clients. Still, we live in the digital era, and there is a digital alternative that is more cost-effective and less time-consuming than traditional methods. This is where we introduce… the digital catalog.
Because they do not need to be printed or sent, digital catalogs are far less expensive than print counterparts. Furthermore, you can quickly update them as you add new goods to your line of business.
Additionally, if your sales plan concentrates on seasonal items such as Christmas cookies, Easter treats, or Valentine’s day cakes, a digital catalog may be pretty beneficial. You can quickly construct a digital record that showcases all of the items that fall under your “holiday” topic and share it with your consumers through email or social media.
Running low on inventory
This is a significant issue with potentially significant ramifications. You see, if you rely only on spreadsheets or other paper-based methods to keep track of your inventory, you run the risk of missing order deadlines, wasting ingredients, overspending, and having dissatisfied customers, to name a few consequences.
There is good news in that technology can once again provide you with a quick and straightforward solution. Inventory management systems, for example, may assist you in keeping track of your stock levels so that you can identify when you’re running short.
An online inventory system notifies you when it is time to restock your inventory, and some designs can even purchase for you straight from their website. Magic.
There are a plethora of inventory management solutions available on the market today. We’ve done the legwork for you and created a list of the most acceptable options for you.
Managing several wholesale orders
Many wholesale bakeries accept orders via a variety of various channels, including phone calls, text messages, and emails. And, indeed, when you’re just starting, there may not be a lot of orders to keep track of as time goes on.
However, if you want to be the best Bakery in the world, you’ll need a better system to handle the hundreds of orders you’ll get every day.
Once again, the solution is to make technological investments. Setting up an effective order management system early on so that you can handle several wholesale orders quickly will ensure that your transition from good to great will be easy and stress-free as you go from interest to great.
An order management system consolidates all of your orders into a single location, allowing you to see and monitor them at any time quickly.
As a result, your customers will have a better overall experience since they will no longer have to phone or contact you with their purchases; instead, they will buy online in a few clicks.
Orders are then automatically entered into your production system in real-time, eliminating the need for any human data input.
As shown below, the best order management systems available on the market will do much more than handle your orders. Set up your digital catalogs and link them with your present inventory system to keep track of your stock levels. They can also help you maintain a positive cash flow by enabling your clients to pay you immediately after placing an order.
Staffing shortfalls
When it comes to your consumers, your staff are the face of the Bakery, and employees are one of the many difficulties that bakery business models have to deal with.
Having employees who cannot answer queries about ingredients used in the pieces of bread and cakes, why your Bakery is better than the competition, or why utilizing genuine cream and eggs produces a superior product leads to a loss of business revenue.
Back-of-the-house employees, such as those who mix and bake the cakes and pies, might unwittingly harm a bakery by ignoring the ingredients and measuring correctly, among other things.
Baking is a science, and precise measurements are essential for the finished items to be consistently excellent. By providing samples of correctly prepared items, you may educate your employees. Ingredient lists should be posted in a convenient location where sales employees may quickly access them. Employees should be tested on their expertise, but the process should be enjoyable rather than dreary.
Pros and Cons of Running a Bakery Business
Pros
- You will instantly build a consumer base that will be loyal to you.
- It is possible to generate quick money in high traffic areas.
- You may be able to establish a bakery from the comfort of your own home.
- There is a need for specialized bakeries.
Cons
- You have several different levels of compliance that must be satisfied constantly.
- Profit margins are often in the single digits.
- Even if supplies can be purchased at wholesale prices, the cost of ingredients is too expensive.
- Working hours are not always conducive to a pleasant environment.
Bakeries Marketing Strategies
Maximize your promotions
Of course, making a profit in the bread industry might be difficult if you do not provide specific and exceptional items.
However, if you do not publicize them, people will never learn that your brownie recipe is the greatest in the city. Therefore, one of the most significant benefits of a well-timed offer is that it has the potential to convert a one-time consumer into a loyal client.
Entrepreneurs often succeed in launching successful promotions and marketing efforts for their businesses without the assistance of advertising agencies or other third-party vendors.
If your business is functioning well and you have some spare time, you might consider exploring your creative potential.
You might begin by using some of the tactics listed below to increase your sales. They will assist you in developing your bakery marketing concepts and avoiding frequent pitfalls in the process.
Make consumers happy
You must identify the most effective technique to interact with your clients to increase bakery revenues. Discover who frequents your establishment, get to know them better, and learn about their hobbies and other interests.
Attempt to establish genuine ties with your consumers as much as possible! When you provide good service, you remember the favorite pastries of your frequent customers. Instead of grabbing a bun from the next supermarket, it’s far more enjoyable to stop and speak with a beautiful, friendly baker on your way to work instead.
Nothing compares to the feeling of walking into your favorite Bakery, seeing a grin on the baker’s face, and being asked, “How are you today?” “Do you want me to reheat your veggie croissant the same way I do it every time?” These moments may turn into beautiful pick-me-ups, and your clients will learn to appreciate this type of thoughtfulness over time.
But don’t believe for a minute that your squad can pass as pleasant! Instead, hire enthusiastic individuals about their jobs and who are easy to get along with while dealing with consumers. Your choice of employees is essential since they may have a significant impact on sales and the overall experience of your clients.
Offer reward schemes
Set up a customer loyalty program to entice individuals to spend more money. When consumers understand that they stand to gain anything by spending a few dollars on your pastries, they are more likely to continue to pay! Retail point of sale systems with a built-in loyalty program enables you to save information about discounts and incentives that your customers have earned directly in your POS system and apply them as needed.
For bakeries, the most effective promotional tools are reward and discount cards. For example, a visitor may be entitled to a complimentary bun every fifth or tenth bun. Alternatively, you may provide customers coupons for their next purchase every time they purchase pastries worth more than $25 or spend $100 after receiving their discount card.
Making a profit in the bakery industry is complex. Therefore you must be creative to succeed. For example, by offering freebies, you may encourage customers to try new goods on your menu. If you develop fresh toppings or begin offering seasonal pastries, encourage folks to come in and test them out for free.
Customers will like the fact that they can come to your Bakery and try something new for free, as well as the fact that you are open to their suggestions. In addition, they will much appreciate the fact that you are considering their preferences and likes. This generates a unique atmosphere of collaborative creativity.
Sponsor local events and groups
Putting money behind a worthy cause can allow your Bakery to reach out to more individuals in specific demographics, which will benefit your business. Whatever subject you are passionate about, there is an event or organization dedicated to it.
Starting with your target audience might be an excellent starting point when searching for an important cause to support. What issues are they promoting, and how can you get involved to help? For example, you might sponsor a local school event and distribute flyers to all parents who attend the event due to your sponsorship.
Discounts for the baker’s dozen
When you purchase a dozen cookies from one of the top bakeries in town, they will often throw you something extra. These establishments have honed their sales techniques to an art form. Consider the following: “$5 for 13” doesn’t seem like an attractive price, but “$5 for a dozen, plus you get an additional one for free” is a considerably more intriguing proposition. And it’s the same offer as before, only written a little more excellent.
As a bakery owner, you must identify strategies to increase the perceived value of your goods while also improving the whole offering. Besides a coupon, a free slice of pizza, or an additional sample, what else can you give away that is inexpensive yet adds enormous value to your present offerings?
Daily photo uploads
In the same way that bakeries produce fresh food daily, the same guideline should be observed while posting images on Facebook. Additionally, the quality of the photographs will represent the quality of the items to the online buyer, so make sure that the pictures are of high quality.
Posting photographs regularly will encourage readers to place an order for that unique cake or try a new cupcake flavor, and it will help bring them through the front door.
In many cases, bakeries have discovered that snapping a snapshot of their most significant day creation is a habit that helps them enhance sales. However, don’t forget to show off the wide range of products that your Bakery produces as well.
Use contests
They often run a fun, dessert-themed contest on their Facebook page, in which they invite participation from their followers in exchange for, of course, a tasty prize for the winning entry.
In a previous game, participants were asked to list 30 songs that used “vanilla.” For each accurate response, the first 30 people were entitled to visit the store and get a free cupcake.
The consumer feels engaged and connected with the firm due to this approach, which drives engagement and purchases. In addition, more has minor issues attracting hundreds of individuals to take part in their competitions and giveaways.
Case Studies
1. Tiffany’s Bakery
Background
Tiffany’s Bakery is a small company situated in the heart of Philadelphia’s Center City neighborhood. Tiffany’s Bakery, one of the original tenants of The Gallery at Market East, has been in operation since 1977.
Long-time inhabitants of Philadelphia have a favorable opinion of the company and its products.
Challenge
It was in 2011 when the proprietors of Tiffany’s Bakery established a Facebook Page for their company. Between 2011 and 2013, the page was controlled entirely inside the company.
Over time, Facebook started to consume more time and effort than the owners could contribute, so they employed a third-party firm to handle their company page.
Because they were dissatisfied with the results they were getting from their prior agency, Tiffany’s Bakery decided to switch to social media services in October of the same year.
Solution
- The Facebook Page header designed by the company previously is seen below. In addition, a part of the Tiffany’s Bakery emblem may be found under the “Message” button on the right side of the screen. As you can see, it’s critical to keep the Facebook page layout in mind while creating visuals for the social network.
- On the other hand, the new designs were designed to consider Facebook’s layout, high-resolution, and clean and straightforward. Overall, this resulted in a Facebook page that was more up-to-date and professional.
- The pie chart below depicts the various sorts of postings that have been made to Tiffany’s Facebook page throughout the year. As you can see, the most popular kind of post was status updates, which were the most prevalent.
- While status updates may be a component of a good Facebook campaign, the bulk of the material must contain high-quality photography and links that guide Facebook visitors to a particular landing page or other destination.
- On the other hand, they chose a photo-centric strategy, coupling our great ad language with high-quality pictures to generate the most delicate possible social media postings.
- They produced a Facebook post that included the picture and promoted it with a $20 budget to reach Philadelphia 76ers fans who live in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. In addition, they got 3,289 prospective buyers with a graphic that linked their favorite team to our client’s brand with this expenditure.
- The post received 237 Likes, Comments, and Shares on social media. This resulted in a very high engagement rate of 7.2 percent for the company.
- The most effective social media postings elicit an emotional response from the audience member who is being targeted. It was on a grander scale that the 76ers cake was created to demonstrate this kind of relationship. The Tiffany’s Bakery Birthday Club was promoted on a smaller scale by using organic postings that included an emotional plea to get people to join the club.
- They started by asking their followers about their favorite types of birthday cakes through a Facebook status update. Approximately 15 followers answered, identifying their favorite songs and reminiscing about their birthdays from years past.
- Now that the followers had been emotionally involved, the authors proceeded to urge that they join up for the Tiffany’s Bakery Birthday Club.
- They obliquely offered the Birthday Club prevented the message from coming across as overly self-promotional, and followers expressed genuine gratitude, especially thanking us for the concept.
- Initially located in The Gallery at Market East, Tiffany’s Bakery relocated to a new location in June 2015. This was a significant shift since they intended to publicize their Grand Opening Event as far as possible.
- They took advantage of the chance to enhance a post on the client’s Facebook Page, ensuring that it was seen by just those who were most likely to attend the event in question.
Results
They were able to more than triple the number of new fans compared to the previous year (a total of 1,633, from 398). This increased the total number of page likes to 2,651. (more than doubling the 1,120 existing fans that followed the page when we began management). Again, it’s vital to emphasize that this was accomplished organically.
The advertising increased the overall number of people who saw it thrice. Strategic success in and of itself, this exponential expansion of reach is a remarkable achievement. Other than that, the other two indicators are considerably more significant. The number of “People Talking About This” (also known as “Buzz”) has surged by approximately fivefold. And the total engagement rate (which was already very high at 5 percent) went to a VERY high 7 percent, which is quite impressive.
Final Thoughts
In the end, trends continue to evolve almost as quickly as desserts themselves, and different bakeries have successfully come up with their marketing strategies and calls to action.
Bakeries and other restaurants and cafes would benefit from using these case studies to prepare for the ever-changing online landscape and determine how they can best appeal to customers and grow their businesses.
