Ever wonder, or at least notice, people take photos of food and share on social media before they eat them? For pastry entrepreneurs, it should provide an idea that good looking items that come out of your oven are often immortalized through Instagram posts before filling craving tummies.
So whether you’re selling cupcakes or pastries full of fluffy frosting and color combinations, the use of social media helps in promoting them and your business as a whole.
While Facebook is a popular social media destination, Instagram engagement rate — the ratio of people commenting or liking — is more than 10 times higher than the social media giant as of 2015. So when you’ve got your friends and family all abroad in the followers list, how do you expand your pastry business’ reach on Instagram?
Table of Contents
Adopt an Instagram HashTag
Creating a unique hashtag, at least highly associated with your crafted cupcakes, creates a branding identity that leaves a digital footprint on social media profiles. When someone eats at your restaurant, brings home your pastries or shares them with friends, they can append that hashtag into their photo posts.
So when people use them, your unique adopted hashtag may be exposed to their Instagram friends.
#creamery #supremecupcakes or #pamspastries are some of the sample hashtags one might use. To get this adopted hashtags known, you need to promote your chosen hashtags: in your social media profile, posts, in-store signage, flyers and promotional leaflets or even on receipts.
Create Narrative of Your Stories
Instagram is all about photos and as a business owner, you need to take advantage of this feature to tell stories to your customers. Using incredible images and blending them with awesome storytelling can create a huge impact and attract huge engagement levels.
Perhaps you can tell a story how you came up with your unique pastry recipe.Or share a snapshot of your shop’s menu for the day. Or what your staff did during a benefit feeding for charity. As each picture paints a thousand words, each image tells a story which reflects your shop’s vision and values. This will then resonate on your Instagram audience and allow them to embrace your brand and become its advocates.
So when you post your Instagram update, it can be a brief paragraph or a short phrase describing the photo or seeking engagement with your audience — caption this cupcake, perhaps?
Showcase Only The Best Photos
Note that everyone who gets hold of your cakes or pastries can share on their Instagram accounts. But perhaps not everyone displays it in a more picturesque manner, enhancing the beauty of the sweet subject. Therefore, as a business, you’d like to display your product in their most appealing form — using the right amount of lighting and proper angle without appearing superficial with fancy photo filters.
If customers are engaged with you, they’ll tag you in their posts, no matter how they look. But if you post cringe-worthy image quality, you might get flamed by an unhappy follower.
Just as product posters or homepage hero images, your business should project your products in their best appearance. You don’t want to settle anything less than that.
Stick With Your Own Style
As you build your own brand, it makes sense to stick with your own unique identity and visual style. Instagram is not about fitting in with what’s trending but is more about standing out of the crowd. If you believe that posting images in white background is aligned with your store frontage or pristine menu design, then adopting this pattern helps reinforce consistency.
Your followers, especially those with discriminating taste will take notice once your posts will appear in their feeds. As they become more engaged, it also helps increase your ability to attract and gain more followers.
Be Present in the Local Marketplace
As a local business, it makes sense to keep your focus on your shop location. Use local-centric hashtags like places, addresses and landmarks and . This is especially helpful when you may have multiple presence — popup shops in shopping malls, promotions across certain branches, or hold bake sales for charity.
You can easily keep track of what’s going on in your neighborhood by searching Places for the name of your location.
Create Call to Action
Showing these delectable photos of your baked goods can already be a mouth-watering Instagram activity. But don’t just leave it there. Make them do something — buy your cupcake or at least put them into consideration of planning to visit your shop and try one.
You can implicitly tell your followers to buy your cupcakes without being overly obvious up front.
“We love these #cupcakes — and guarantee you will too! Come and visit our First Street branch. Freshly baked ones available at 8am.”
It’s easy (and common) to write a generic image caption. Instead, write each caption as though
When you craft your content as fun, most of your followers will be invited to the experience and won’t notice you are peddling your cakes and pastries to them.
Good luck on your Instagram venture for your cakes and pastry business!
