How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Home Baking Business
- Kwincy Smith
- Mar 21
- 7 min read
Social media is a great tool to showcase your delicious creations, connect with customers, and grow your home baking business. With the right strategy, you can turn followers into loyal customers. But is social media the right tool for your business? And how do you use it for your business? Here’s how to make the most of social media for your bakery business and see if it is right for you!
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Remember this is for your business. Unless you are trying to become a baking influencer then social media is not your job. So you need to make sure that your time reflects that. In the beginning you might be spending a little more time on social media but once your business takes off you should be spending more time baking than creating content.
Choose the Right Platforms
Not all social media platforms are created equal. Choose the ones that work best for showcasing your baked goods.
A great way to showcase your work.
You sell what you post. Whatever you are posting is what you will get the most orders. Most of the time people will see your work and order based off of that with minor changes. So if you never want to make something again.. Don’t post it. If you are worried about how to take great pictures check out this blog post where I talk about how you can take great photos using your phone.
Some cons may include:
You need to be active and consistent to see growth
You need to understand the algorithm and trends, Thinsg like the time you post and the song you add can play a part in a post success.
Likes and followers don’t equal sales. Just because a lot of people follow you does not mean they are in your area or ever going to place an order.
TikTok
I am always going to be honest and let you know when I don’t know something and TikTok is something I don’t know well at all. I have never had the app and most likely never will. I’ll watch them like a millenial on youtube. But I am sure a lot of the tips about Instagram can translate over to Tik Tok.
I have seen so many amazing stories about bakers and other small businesses creating virality and demand on TikTok. It can create a Boom in your business. This is best for bulk orders. Items that you can make a lot of that have little to no customization.
Create drops of specialty flavors and people can order once a week from the preassembled flavor combinations. This is great for items that you can ship out like cookies and chocolate. The virality and low availability make it a great sell.
Here is someone that uses this same marketing style on instagram.
Pinterest is a great way to drive traffic to your website. I’m sure you know that already, you probably found my website from Pinterest. When it comes to your baking business I would recommend Pinterest for bakers who can ship out their items. This would be great for gift boxes.
When it comes to baking most people on Pinterest are looking for ideas of things they can do themselves but gifts are a great opportunity to target the traffic from Pinterest. Market your items as gifts to receive more sales.
You have to keep in mind Pinterest is all about consistency. The difference between consistency on Pinterest vs other social media is that with consistency a Pin you posted 3 months ago can still be a top performer while on social media they have a shorter lifetime. For example my top performing pin was posted 2 years ago!!! It takes time and repetition to build your account so that your Pins are reaching the right audience.
How to use social media to grow your baking business
Post only the desserts you want to make again.
If it was a pain to make but it's beautiful don’t post it. People order what they see, so if you don’t want to take those orders any more don’t post it. If you are not getting the kind of orders you want, make practice desserts and post those. If you make cakes you can buy dummy cakes and decorate those so you don’t have to waste ingredients or time baking.
Follow people
I know we all have the instinct of wanting to have more followers than people we follow. But this is a business account, it is not personal and if you want to see quicker growth you need to make some follows first. One way for people to see your account is to first make that follow. This is the best way of taking things into your own hands rather than waiting for the algorithm to share your work especially as a new account.
Don’t just follow anyone. Follow people who match your target demographic. Where does your ideal client shop? Where do they go to eat? Think local so that you have a better chance of finding people in your area. For example, find a restaurant in your area that your ideal client would like to eat at. See who is following and tagging themselves there and follow them. Follow people everyday until you start getting consistent orders.
Pro tip: Follow other businesses who could use your services like wedding planners! That is how I booked my first wedding.
My sister used this same technique to grow her dog grooming business. She looked at dog park locations and followed people who tagged themselves there. Looked at people who follow her local petsmart and followed them. She is now booked up 6 months in advance on a regular basis after just starting 2 years ago.
Posting:
To make sure you are consistent you can use apps like Later to help you schedule out your content on multiple platforms.
Use hashtags of your city and add location.
That way if people are searching for what you offer they can find you. For example: #nashvillecookies #nashvillecakes #nashvilletreats #nashvilledessert
Use as much video as you can.
I know recording yourself can feel like a second job. But try to do a behind-the-scenes video at least once a week.
Make sure your photos are clear and beautiful. I went over how to take great photos here.
Stories:
add hashtags as text and hide them under your image
add your location
add some music, and make it fun!
add some special icons (support small, Friday, etc.)
use engagement stickers to find out more about your customers and boost your account
Bio:
Link to your website and start creating an email list. This will be great for having specialty bulk orders in the future and having direct contact with your following. We all know that platforms can go away or accounts can be hacked but this allows you to still have contact with your client base if these things happen.
Phone number and email so they have multiple ways to contact you
One sentence to describe your business
Should you add policies to your bio? I would say no, don’t add your policies here. I have seen people do this. NO LAST MINUTE ORDERS, NO CASH, NO THIS, NO THAT. It just sounds mean and uninviting. The best place to add your policies are in your highlights. But don’t assume everyone will look at them. Before taking a payment remind them to take a look at your policies.
If you do not have any policies laid out make sure to review this blog post to create policies to help your business run smoothly!
Make sure your logo is clear and easy to see. It is a small space so it shouldn't be too crowded.
Highlights you should include:
Menu
Happy Customers, reviews, etc.
How to order and policies
Your specialty work. What brings in the most profit, what you want to sell more of! Could be called the best of, or wedding cakes etc.
Highlight covers should be on brand. If you have not finalized your brand image read this next.
Create a Cohesive Brand
Make sure that your branding is the same across all platforms.
It is important that when people are going from platform to platform they are able to identify that you are the same business. So keep the username, logo, color scheme, and bio the same for all platforms.
Should I do Giveaways to grow my following?
I don’t think giveaways are a good strategy. You lessen the value of your brand, I have never seen a luxury brand give away free items. Many times it just brings in people who are looking for something for free but wouldn’t actually buy from you.
You have to do it strategically so that everyone who enters has to order something. Otherwise you're giving away something to one person hoping they come back again. And chances are they won’t because they were just interested in the free item. NOT WORTH IT!
The only time I give away free desserts is when I make practice items or have extra desserts. I bring them to real estate offices.
Real estate offices are a great place to bring your practice desserts because they are always looking for content to post so there is a good probability that they will share your desserts on stories. They also are looking for items to make their open house special as well as gifts to give their clients. The best part is that these can be consistent clients that will come back on a monthly basis compared to clients who order for birthdays and special occasions.
Make sure to leave a flyer or business cards when you drop off the desserts.
Encourage User-Generated Content
Ask happy customers to tag you when they post about your treats. Repost their content with a thank-you message to build trust and engagement! Don’t forget to add it to your highlights! All of these clips would be an easy way to create future content as well.
Social media can be a great tool to turn your passion for baking into a thriving business. Stay consistent, engage with your audience, and keep sharing your delicious creations!
Are you ready to take your home baking business to the next level? Start posting today! If you have any questions on how to start and grow your home baking business make sure to leave a comment I would love to help!
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