Vicky Taylor

Industry Expert

@vicky-taylor

Wow amazing cakes – well done. Manaaki and Swiftly have an offer to assist with set up of websites for businesses going online…see details here

Enter your email to secure your free website and we’ll send you the details to get you up and selling online

Then I am going to shamelessly replicate some of the advice already posted by other industry experts that I think will help you. Social media is a wonderful place for your products – facebook and insta. Fits the mindset and occasion of shopping for treats. It is also relatively low cost, and you can track your ROI – return on investment – and see what is working and what is not and quickly and easily change tack.

The first and most important thing on social media is to really understand your audience, so you can target effectively and optimize your spend. Where do your customers live, what do they do for work, where do they spend their personal time, which magazines do they read, what age groups are they, etc.
I’d also recommend that you draw up a 2×2 matrix to define your unique selling proposition (USP) relative to your competitors. What do you do that is different to everyone else in the market – what is your secret sauce? If you plot this on a two by two matrix based on how your customers view your market segment, you’ll be able to find your position and differentiate yourselves from everyone else. By way of an example price and value as axes is a really easy 2×2 matrix, but in your market, there is likely something more specific to your services that you can substitute – eg your service quality, breadth of offering etc.
Use this USP to shape your brand strategy, and from there create a content strategy that is aligned to your audience needs (which you defined in step 1 above). You can then translate this into your social media strategy across the different social networks on which your clients are most active.
Defining/Understanding your USP:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225659
https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/5-steps-to-determine-your-unique-selling-point/
Brand Strategy resources:
https://hbr.org/2015/06/a-better-way-to-map-brand-strategy
https://hingemarketing.com/blog/story/a_10_step_brand_development_strategy_for_your_professional_services_firm
https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31739/7-components-that-comprise-a-comprehensive-brand-strategy.aspx
Here are some social resources:
https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-posting-schedule/
https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-create-a-social-media-content-calendar/
https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-marketing-tips/
https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-analytics-insights-beginners-guide/
https://blog.hootsuite.com/google-my-business/

Keep on posting those amazing pics…and from a content perspective I would suggest adding some testimonials from happy customers and even event context of happy people enjoying and celebrating with your cakes. Good luck!

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Claire O’Connell

Industry Expert

@claire-oconnell

Hi there,

Amazing cakes!

Firstly, Manaaki is giving away 1000 free websites so apply here. https://www.manaaki.io/1000websites/

There are a few ways to boost visibility on Instagram – paid and organic.
Paid is the quick way, organic is free but it takes a lot longer.

With the paid ads on Instagram you can boost the photos of your cakes to people within your area who are engaged or interested in weddings.
You can also target Mums for your birthday cakes, and people with upcoming wedding anniversaries.

For the free stuff – localise some of your hashtags. #aucklandweddings is better than #weddings as they are more likely to be potential customers.

Can you collaborate with others in the wedding or party industry and mention each-other on Instagram, do combined photo shoots or competitions etc.

Good luck!

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