Wondering how to get more customers? Read on for my top tips for beginners.
Your cakes look beautiful and everyone’s been telling you they taste delicious and that you could “totally sell those.”
So you’ve got yourself a catchy business name, made a cute logo and practiced your best recipes, but getting clients had been a bit more challenging than you expected.
All those people who loved your cake when you were handing it out for free have mysteriously faded into the woodwork now there is a price attached.
Or maybe they were all really sweet and ordered a cake from you but you know they were being kind and so perhaps you charged a little less that you should have.
Getting real customers
So it’s time to find some ‘real’ customers… strangers to sell to. Eek!
If that seems a bit scary or impossible right now (especially if you are an introvert) then keep reading because I was just like you.
I sold my first cakes to friends and colleagues... which was ok for a while… but I knew I needed to be more active if I wanted a proper business.
As an introvert, I needed to find ways to get my name out there without going too far outside my comfort zone, I succeeded in finding some things that worked and the orders started flowing in.
So here are my top tips to help you take your cake business from crickets to chock full!
Marketing in a nutshell.
Firstly, there are four very simple things you need to get more clients:
People need to know you exist.
People need to know what you offer.
People need to know if they can afford you.
People need to know how to buy from you.
Here are my top tips to do exactly this:
People need to know you EXIST.
You probably don’t have a big advertising budget right now so an easy way to let people know you exist is to turn every cake you make into a marketing opportunity. Here’s how:
1. Photograph/video your cakes and share on socials.
Use each order (or practice cake or even decorated dummy) to bring in more orders. How? By showing the world your fabulous work!
Take multiple photos of your cake from different angles; from a distance, from above, from the side, close-ups of the details, a video, even make a time-lapse video of you making the cake. Then share on your socials (Facebook / Instagram/ etc.)
You only need 5 photos/videos in order to post everyday for a week. Don’t worry if you don’t have many followers. In my business, I was booked out with under 800.
If you haven’t got an order yet, make a practice cake and after photographing it, gift it to your colleagues (or your partner’s or friend’s colleagues) – make sure to include your contact details, see number 2. 👇
2. Give out business cards.
I know, how old fashioned right? but they work! Hear me out.
Everyone loves to be the first to discover a fab new business and be the one to tell their friends about it. So make it easy for your customer to enjoy their moment.
How? Slip some flyers or business cards inside the cake box (under the cake, but just sticking out so they can be seen). Your customer, will love the opportunity to be the connector and you’ve just made it easy for them to give your contact details to their guests.
Also put your logo / business name on the cake box. You don’t need to invest in custom made boxes, just use a sticker. Logo stickers are an affordable way to add your branding to a plain standard cake box. Go a step further and put your website address on the side too.
Make it easy for people to see at a glance who the cake was made by and where to find you. Bonus points for having a catchy and memorable business name!
3. Tell anyone who will listen.
Let people know you make cake. This doesn’t need to be awkward, you’re not selling anything. You’re just letting them know that these days you make cakes.
In my experience most people react enthusiastically when you tell them that you run a cake business. Cakes are something people understand and can engage with. If your friends, family, colleagues, and new people you meet know where to get cake, they can help spread the word.
People need to know WHAT you sell.
Sounds obvious, but if you don’t tell them, they won’t know.
4. Tell people WHAT they can buy from you.
Tell them what products you make. ‘Cake’ can mean a variety of things. Maybe you specialize in buttercream cakes or fondant, maybe fresh cream. Or perhaps you bake cookies or brownies. Don’t assume they know. Tell them.
If you make wedding cakes, tell them.
If you offer custom-designed occasion cakes tell them.
Tell them what flavours they can choose from.
Tell them what size cakes you offer.
Don’t leave them guessing. Let them know exactly what you offer. Share this information anywhere you can, on your website, on flyers, on socials, even in the signature at the bottom of your email.
5. Tell people why they should choose you.
What makes working with you, the service you offer and your product special? Everyone’s cake are ‘delicious’ what else is special about yours? To define this you can ask yourself "what's great about my product/service?" then “and…what else?” keep repeating "and what else?" until you have a list.
Maybe you make your own fresh fruit compote to fill your cakes, maybe you bake from scratch using organic ingredients. Perhaps you cater for special diets such as lactose or gluten intolerance/allergy. Maybe you have a background in design and can create a show stopper to match any theme. Or maybe you're an expert in a special technique or style that no one else (in your region) is offering?
In your communications, be sure to highlight the benefits of choosing you.
People need to know if they can AFFORD you.
Should you show your prices on your website? In my opinion, yes! There’s no point spending time and energy discussing an order with a potential customer if they can’t afford your work anyway. So:
6. Be open about your prices.
Educating your customers about your pricing is kind to them and kind to you. By sharing information about your prices up front, your customer can decide in their own time (and in privacy) if they can afford you.
Even better? You’ll only ever spend your time preparing quotes for people who can afford you. AND you'll avoid having to deal with the dreaded “How much?!” question.
People need to know HOW to buy from you.
You’d be amazed how many businesses get this wrong. They feel uncomfortable selling and worry they’ll be seen as pushy, so they avoid talking about buying at all. We need to re-frame this.
When you tell someone what you sell, and how to buy from you, you are doing them a service by making their life easier. Don’t make them work hard to figure out how. Guide them.
They want cake.
You have cake.
Make it easy for them to get the cake.
7. Share your contact details and direct them.
Tell them how you want them to contact you to place an order. This could be via your website, through a phone call, via email or with a DM. Give them the link, phone number or email address they need.
Share this information at every point they come into contact with your business; on your socials, on your website, in your email signature, in flyers, or in real life on your business cards.
8. Tell them what they need to know to place an order.
How to order.
When to order.
What you offer.
What information you need from them.
Your prices.
If someone expresses an interest in buying from you IRL you can say “Sure, I’d love to make you a cake, you can see the flavour options, prices and fill in an order request form on my website, here’s my business card with the website address”
9. Put an order form on your website.
A well designed form will collect all the information you need to process the order without many more back and forth messages. A form makes your client’s life easy; they don’t need to do any thinking as you’ve already asked all the right questions to get the information you need to process their order.
If you need help with what to ask? Get my free order form templates here.
10. Tell them often.
Don’t tell people how to buy from you just once or twice, tell them often. Make it easy for them to find this information even if they only stumbled across your social account or website for the first time today. For example, put the info in your bio and in a pinned post at the top of your page.
BONUS: Do all this in one place
11. Get yourself a website.
These days, anyone can build a simple website in a couple of days. While not essential for a successful business, it can make your processes a whole lot easier as you can cover the 4 things you need to get more clients all in one place.
A website will help people to:
1. Find you,
2. Learn about your products,
3. Discover if they can afford you,
4. Buy from you.
It will also save you time when interacting with customers. You can direct all enquiries straight to your website where they can find all the information they need to know and fill in a cake request form.
Marketing your cake business as an introvert
When starting a home baking business, you will most likely be selling to customers in your local area. The good news is that (despite what the social media guru’s will tell you) word-of-mouth recommendations are still the quickest and easiest way to market your business.
This is great news for us introverts, as every time you sell a cake, there will likely be around 10-20 potential customers (or more) seeing and tasting your cake at the party they’re attending.
What better way to advertise than to have potential customers experience your product first hand?! So make the most of those opportunities.
Wrap-up: Getting more orders should be part of a bigger plan when your goal is to increase your income.
These ideas are just a few of the many ways you can market your cake business to get more orders. But getting started is already a huge win!
Making it easy for people to work with you, is a vital component to the success of your business.
But getting customers is just part of the story.
To maximize your sales, your marketing efforts should be part of a bigger plan with well considered pricing.
Want to boost your income and take the guesswork out of pricing? Explore how I can help you learn how to price your cakes here. Psst. There's a cake pricing calculator too!