Bakeries can thrive on word-of-mouth advertising, referrals and repeat business. However, they first need those first initial customers to get that word-of-mouth business. Since a bakery costs money to operate since day one (and before), it's important to bring in customers as quickly as possible to generate revenue.
A prime reason why bakeries don't succeed - even if they produce wonderful baked goods - is because they did not put a big enough emphasis on advertising and did not get the income they needed in order to survive.
Now when I say "a big emphasis", I don't mean that you have to spend your life running a bakery marketing campaign. However, it does take some thought and planning to figure out how you will attract the customers you need and then provide them with pastries, muffins, breads, sandwiches, etc and excellent service that they want so that they will return.
Drawing up a marketing plan can actually take less time than struggling at the last minute with advertisements, wondering which ads will work and which won't. Nowadays, marketing plan templates are available online, and they walk you the planning process fairly quickly. You can also find sample marketing plans on the internet and find out how other bakeries are promoting their businesses, plus possible time and costs involved.
So you're ready to put together a marketing plan. What are some of the promotional strategies that work well for bakeries?
Writing a Press Release:
Let people know about your bakery by submitting a press release to your local paper. You can get free, positive publicity while letting the public get to know you. Share a story about how your business started, what makes it unique and why people should stop by to check it out. You can even have a friend interview you and then submit the press release using portions of the interview if you find that is a better way to share your story.
Mailing Coupons:
Offering coupons through coupon mailing services can get the word out about your business while using someone else's efforts. With coupons you don't have to feel like a salesperson, since people love saving money. Coupons can also be run as ads in newspapers mailed on postcards.
Donating Free Samples or Selling Baked Goods at Community Events:
Involvement in the community can also help to build your business. This "feel good" type of marketing tends to attract customers simply because of the law of reciprocation - those who receive want to give back.
Running Radio Ads:
Radio ads can get your business instant exposure and can work fast at bringing you customers. It's important that you time your ads to run when people are thinking about meals or possibly purchasing baked items for a special event or holiday. Equally as important, you want to select radio stations that reach your target market. If you run ads on multiple stations, you may want to think about creating different ads for each particular station.
Ads need to grab the listener's attention quickly, and what better way to get somebody to listen to you than announce a sale? Don't have your advertisement last more than 30 seconds, but do have your ad run for several consecutive days or weeks, depending on if you have a time-sensitive offer. The more an interested customer hears an ad, the more likely he or she is to take action, and sometimes radio stations offer discounts on blocks of advertising.
Setting Up a Website:
Creating a bakery website may be easier and cheaper than you think. Websites generally require minimal effort once they are set up, so they are well worth the investment. Although you can hire a designer, many entrepreneurs decide to build their own sites using easy website makers. There are multiple templates exclusively for bakeries and food-related businesses, and you can customize your site to look like a one-of-a-kind storefront without having to be a computer programmer.
Advertise in Local Search Directories Online:
You can get a local listing on Google for free, and there are also several other local search directories and tools that people are turning to - before they ever open the yellow pages. You can enter your business location, contact information and services offered, but if you have a website, you can list that information as well.
The key is to use a variety of marketing methods to promote your bakery. Greater exposure leads to increased company recognition and before you know it, people will now your company by name.
In addition to using successful marketing strategies, you want to think about how you can be different, interesting and exciting in your advertising to attract more attention from bakery-goers. Remember that you've got competition from other established eateries that you don't want to ignore.
Home Business Center, Inc. lists tools and resources that bakery owners can use to market their shops. Find out more >> Bakery Marketing
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