Making delicious desserts is the first step to running a successful dessert shop. The second major step is letting people know that you make them and encouraging them to try your products. Assuming you’re mainly interested in baking and having other people eat your treats, trying to promote your dessert shop may seem like a tedious task. Especially if you have no prior experience in it.
But don’t worry. The truth is, anyone can be a marketing expert if using the right tools and putting in the right amount of effort.
Perhaps the best place to sell your cakes, especially if you don’t have a physical bakery, is Instagram. These days, tons of people have started Instagram businesses and have grown quite successful. If you wonder how they did it, you will find below the best tried and tested strategies for promoting your dessert shop effectively.
1. Upload your menu on your page
This is extremely important because people need to know their options. Not many of them want to go through the hassle of contacting you and asking about your products and pricing. A set menu displayed on your page will encourage people to try out your desserts immediately.
Add your entire menu as a highlight on your page. This way, the menu will stay on top, and it will be one of the first things people see. Because this isn’t a physical menu, you have the option to go big. Post lots of pictures of your desserts, label them, give them descriptions, and add their price.
Add a menu to your Instagram page
You can create a good-looking menu using one of PosterMyWall’s menu templates. Simply pick a template that matches your brand, customize it in minutes, and upload it to your Instagram story. From here, you can add the menu to your highlights.
2. Go live to engage with your followers
Put a face to the brand by occasionally going live from your business page. This way, you can also pitch the “small baker” idea and present a fun and wholesome vibe that will make people want to try your desserts.
Promote your dessert shop by interacting live with your audience
You can encourage people to tune into the live video to ask any baking-related questions or about your business. You can also show your baking process through these videos.
Go live about once a week, and put together a quick video to let people know when you’ll be doing it and that they can tune in.
3. Post lots of delicious video content
Video content is the perfect way to promote your dessert shop. It not only allows you to show your desserts from every angle, but it also makes it more likely for your followers to stop and engage with your work.
Using the Reels feature is the perfect way to post videos on Instagram. Reels are bite-sized videos that allow you to sell your brand in quick and creative ways.
Attract a clientele and open their appetite by posting videos of your dessert making process
Here are some fun ideas for videos on Instagram:
- A timelapse of your dessert-making process
- Behind-the-scenes footage of you working in the kitchen
- Answering questions about your business and life
- Giving quick baking tips to amateur bakers.
4. Add pictures of all your desserts
The more mouth-watering your dessert photos look, the more people will be enticed to buy them. After you finish making a new dessert, take a cute picture in nice lighting and post it on Instagram. In the caption, mention its name and the elements that went into it. Don’t be afraid to be creative with your captions. Add hashtags to build your reach and have other bakers follow you.
Never pass a chance to snap pictures of your delicious desserts
Be sure to add some diversity to your Instagram grid. For instance, don’t just post pictures of cakes (unless that’s all you sell). Show people the range of your products. If you post a picture of a cake you baked, follow it up with a picture of some cupcakes or cake pops. Occasionally, drop in a selfie from the kitchen or a behind-the-scenes photo of you at work. Finally, remember to add pictures to celebrate small victories, e.g. reaching 5000 followers, or getting your 100th custom order.
Take a look at this post by Instagram baker @cakiewakiesian. She photographed her cookies in a color-coordinated, aesthetic setting. She made sure to add a personal touch to her caption to connect with her followers. She also used a range of relevant hashtags to boost her post.
Use a variety of Instagram pictures to promote your dessert shop
Final thoughts
Running a dessert shop is a fun, creative, and rewarding job (rewarding because of all the leftovers you get to eat!). Promoting it can be the same. Remember that audiences don’t just want to see the desserts. They want to see the person behind them too. So don’t be afraid to make yourself the star of the show. Upload pictures of yourself, answer questions about yourself, and encourage people to interact with you.
Once you’ve built enough of a following, your desserts will be able to speak for themselves. The more accessible you are and the more dessert pictures and videos you post, the more people will engage with your page and do business with you. Happy baking!
Use the power of visuals to create interest in your products
If you are thinking to open a new business or are in the process of rebranding and remodeling your existing business, contact us to get a free consultation from Mindful Design Consulting. Click HERE to price your project design.
Also, take a look at the “Branding By Interior” e-book, the only book written on this subject at this time. It brings insight into how you can turn your business into a market-dominating competitor by using human cognitive responses.
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