Do you want to open a bakery and you want to raise awareness or sales on launch day? If YES, here are 20 smart tips for launching your bakery in grand style.
If you intend opening a bakery shop, you are likely going to come across some bakery shops that are already in existence in your location.
Even if you don’t have competitors within the location, you will surely have some bakeries in operation within a reasonable radius where you intend opening yours.
Having said that, it is one thing to get it right when it comes to choosing an ideal location for your business, but another kettle of fish for you to make your presence known in the city and get people to start buying from you, and that is the whole essence of this article.
As a matter of fact, your publicity and advertising strategy should not solely be for selling your products but to also effectively communicate your brand.
In this article we will give you sure-fire tips that will help you announce your presence with a bang in the city you intend opening your bakery business.
Tips for Opening and Launching your Bakery in Grand Style
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Open Your Bakery with a Party
If you are opening a bakery and truly you intend launching in a grand style, then the first thing you should do is to ensure that you organize an open house party for residents of the community where you intend opening your bakery. Interestingly, you may not spend so much money to organize the party.
If you are operating on a low budget, you can just play good music from your sound system and give attendees your baked food and drinks.
Please ensure that you specifically throw out open invitations to people in the community. Trust me, after the party, a major percentage of those who attended the party will become your loyal customers and they are likely going to help you win over their family members and friends.
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Place Adverts on Both Print and Electronic Media Platforms
Another important sure-fire tip that you need to adopt if you intend opening your bakery business in grand style is to ensure that your place classified adverts on both (community – based newspapers and magazines) and electronic media platforms (TV and radio).
Please ensure that you pay for spot adverts and prime time adverts and ensure it is not a one – off thing but do it consistently for a period of time. With that, the picture of your business will be implanted in the minds of people.
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Sponsor Relevant Community Programs
Although this tip is usually for existing business, but if you work with a PR strategist, they will be able to guide you on how you can leverage on sponsoring relevant community programs to help you announce the opening of your bakery business in grand style.
For example, if there is a baking competition in your county or city, you can ride on it to announce your presence. All you need to do is to ensure that you negotiate with the organizer of the event to make use of your facility. As a matter of fact, offering your facility for such event is a good sponsorship deal and you may not have to pay more.
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Leverage on the Internet and Social Media Platforms
In this dispensation, there is hardly any business that is not taking advantage of the vast opportunities that is available on the internet and social media platforms.
In essence, if you are looking towards opening and launching your bakery business in grand style, you can leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest et al to announce the opening of your business. Interestingly, you can target only people within the city or community where you intend opening your bakery.
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Run Instagram Contests
Apart from paying for adverts on social media platforms, you can engage your followers to carry them along on your plan. All you need to do is to run Instagram contests where customers can share their photos or video suggesting what they want to see in your new bakery and how they would want to be served et al.
The photo that receives the most “Likes” can be rewarded with a discount or a free bread or cake or other baked food on the day you launch. This tip will help you build and gather momentum towards the D-day.
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Invite People to Attend and Post Pictures of Your Opening Party
Another strategy you would need is to encourage people to attend the launching of your bakery. Let the people know they can get a reward (like free bread, cake or other baked food) if they post an Instagram photo of your products and mention your brand’s hashtag(s).
The pictures must be taken on the day of the launching of the bakery or perhaps within the first week of opening the bakery. Trust me, this will give your bakery business free publicity on the internet and if you are lucky, your bakery will trend for a while.
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Install “Coming Soon” Billboards in Strategic Locations
If you travel round the city frequently, you would have come across billboards announcing the coming in of new businesses to the city. This is a strategy that is delivering results and trust me it will help you announce the coming in of your bakery business.
Although it is going to cost you money to install standard billboards all across major roads in your city announcing the opening of your bakery, but trust me, people that come across the billboards will eagerly await the opening of your bakery.
Please note that if you want to capture the attention of majority of people that come across the billboard, then you must be highly creative with the pictures and wordings that you put out there.
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Engage in Roadshows
The people that are going to patronize your bakery are people who live in the community where you intend opening your bakery.
So, what is expected of you to do if indeed you plan towards opening your bakery in grand style is to ensure that prior to the D – Day, you go on a roadshow, preferably a week before launching the bakery, announcing the opening of your bakery in the city. You can even use the opportunity to invite them for the opening party.
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Distribute Fliers and Handbills
Although the emergence of the internet and social media platforms is indeed affecting the effectiveness of hard copy fliers and handbills, but sincerely some people still prefer hard copy handbills and fliers to get direction and information of a business.
So, if you are looking towards opening your bakery business in grand style, then one of the options you can leverage on is to print attractive fliers and handbills and ensure that you distribute them in and around targeted location. Please note that aside from the fact that you are announcing the opening of your bakery, you can also make use of the flier to invite them for the opening party and to inform them of other promos that is ongoing within same period.
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Position Your Flexi Banners at Strategic Positions
Another sure-fire tip that you need to implement if you want to launch your bakery in a grand style is to ensure that you leverage on flexi banners to announce the opening of your bakery and to give direction to your bakery.
Just make sure that you position your flexi banners at strategic positions where you intend getting customers. Please note that aside from the fact that you are announcing the opening of your bakery with the flexi banners, you can also make use of the flexi banners to invite them for the opening party.
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Encourage the Use of Word of Mouth
One of the long lasting and time – tested publicity techniques that has been working over the years with rapid astonishment is the use of word of mouth. This tip is ideal for all forms of businesses whether service or product – based.
So, if you intend opening your bakery business in grand style, all you need to do is to make a list of your family members, friends and neighbors and inform them of your plans of opening a bakery in the community and appeal and encourage them to help you tell their friends, family members and colleagues at work about your new bakery that is coming into the city. Trust me, you can get loyal customers from these recommendations.
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Brand Your Delivery Vans
Another tip you need to adopt if you intend launching your bakery in grand style is to ensure that you brand your staff and delivery vans with the “coming soon” inscription and make sure they go round town. With that, people that are curious will ask to know when the bakery will be opening and how they can get to the location.
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Brand Your Bakery Beyond Normal
Aside from branding your delivery vans, another sure – fire tip that you should carry out if indeed you want to open your bakery business in grand style is to brand your bakery.
Branding your bakery beyond normal could be making use of attractive colors, playing music regularly in the bakery prior to the opening day, and of course making use of attractive lightening. Trust me, people that are curious will walk in to make enquiries and with that you will be able to win them over and convert them as your customers.
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Invite A Known Celebrity/Musical Artist to Your Opening Party
If you have money to spend on your opening party, one of the ways to make it happen in a grand style is to ensure that you invite a known celebrity.
The celebrity could be a musical artist, a comedian or an actor / actress et al. The bottom line is that people who are not interested in attending your opening party may find it appealing attending because of the performance of the celebrity you are inviting.
Interestingly, you may not have to spend a fortune to invite a celebrity to the opening party especially if you have existing relationship with the celebrity. You can as well invite a local celebrity that has followers in your community to help grace the opening and launching of your bakery business.
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Organize a Live Performance Outside Your Bakery
Another sure – fire tip that you would need to adopt if you are looking towards opening and launching your bakery business in grand style is to organize a live performance just outside the premises of your bakery. The live performance should include dance, music, comedy and of course give away with the aim of engaging passersby.
With this, you are not going to spend much, just create an elevated platform, get sound system and invite up – coming young guys and girls that are into dancing, singing and comedy. Usually this set of people don’t charge much since they are looking for platforms to perform.
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Encourage People to Reserve Seats for the Opening of the Bakery
If you don’t intend throwing an open party for the launching of your bakery but you just want to invite some selected few to be part of the opening, then you should ensure that you encourage people to reserve their seat if they want to attend the event.
Seat reservation process is one aspect of event planning that must not be omitted. Trust me, with this process, you will be able to control the number of guests and you will be able to properly prepare for them and make the party worth it. With this tip, you can even invite the mayor of your city or council boss to attend the opening of your bakery.
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Distribute Your Promotional Materials
The fact that you are going to be inviting people to witness the grand opening of your bakery business means that you should be able to take advantage of the moment. Taking advantage of the moment means that all those that attended the opening of your bakery should be able to go home with your promotional materials.
They can actually become your brand ambassadors and your promotional materials should be part of what you need to equip them with to carry out this task. Of course, your promotional materials range from your brochure to your branded T-shirts / Polos, to your face caps et al.
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Hire Professional Ushers for the Party
The importance of making use of professional ushers for any of your events cannot be over emphasized. So, if you are looking towards opening your bakery business, especially if you are organizing a party, then you should ensure that you engage the services of professional ushers.
They will be able to treat your guest in a way that will communicate your brand to them and of course that may win their heart to start patronizing your bakery.
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Get Feedback From Your Guests
Another important tip that you must not take for granted if you are looking towards launching your bakery business is to ensure that you get feedback from your guests. This is how it works; you are expected to give your guests sample of your bread, cake and other baked food that your bakery will be producing.
Once they are done eating or tasting it, you should give them a feedback form. The purpose of the feedback form is to give you ideas on how good your products are, areas that you need to improve on and perhaps other flavor or type of baked food that you need to introduce to your product offering going forward.
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Work with an Event Planner
Lastly, if you intend launching your bakery in a grand style, aside from the fact that you must have paid a business consultant to help you set up the business, another key professional that you should look towards paying is an event planner.
Trust me, the professional touch of an event planner will go a long way to help you achieve your aim of opening your bakery business in grand style.
Conclusion
In as much as the sure-fire tips listed above will help your achieve your aim of opening your bakery in a grand style, it is important to state that some of the tips will require that you pay a visit to your local council to get permits to play loud music, go on a road show or place your banners and bill boards in strategic locations.
So, make sure you make enquiries to know the laws as regards publicity in your city or state or country before going ahead to implementing these tips.