Around 78 percent of Americans like to order dessert when they’re celebrating. The baking industry is worth $311 billion across the US. That’s certainly something to celebrate for bakery owners!
There are two ways of looking at this: customers are prepared to spend money on sweet treats; and there’s a huge amount of competition for artisan bakers. Setting yourself apart from other businesses – indie and major baked goods suppliers – is more important than ever.
An engaging video marketing strategy will encourage buyers to call into your bakery on a regular basis, for everything from fresh bread, to special celebration cakes. You don’t have to hire a video production company to action these ideas – they’re either low-cost or no-cost, and are easy to produce. Let’s get started!
1. How-To Videos
It may seem counterintuitive, but showing your audience exactly how you make your baked goods will encourage them to buy. Even if they give it a go and their efforts are delicious, let’s face it – it’s so much easier to buy the same food from your store!
By showcasing your expertise and making regular how to videos, you’ll build a reputation for your business as one of the best. Add text so that viewers won’t miss out on any tips or important details like measurements.
Tip: Wear a branded apron so your audience can always see who is sharing the advice.
2. Host Regular Events
One of the goals of a good video marketing strategy is to increase engagement, both online and offline. If you don’t currently have the resources to sell your goods online, then it’s crucial that your videos drive viewers to your store.
With this in mind, holding enticing events and classes, and recording them to promote future events, is an effective strategy. It’s an opportunity to turn online fans into customers.
Tip: At your event or class, ask attendees to share their thoughts in a video testimonial. Not only have you got the material for an event video, you’ve also got content for several testimonials!
3. It’s All About the Senses
When customers walk into your store, you want their senses to be working overtime. With so many beautiful items of food to look at, and the irresistible smell of baking, it should be rare for visitors to leave without purchasing some food to take home. The aim of your video is to convey the sights and smells that will greet them when they visit your bakery.
Sight: It’s essential that your baked goods look as good as they taste. Teach yourself the basics of lighting and work with what you have available, but whatever you do, don’t use your house lights! These will make the food appear discolored. Use a lighting system that’s appropriate for your budget. Remember, an expensive lighting kit isn’t necessary. What’s important is that you learn how to use it. Everything you need to know is in our blog Video Production 101: Lighting.
Smell: Remember that your viewers aren’t in the bakery or kitchen with you. Help them out by describing the wonderful aromas as your pastries or bread are baking.
Sound: Kitchens are noisy places; this is great for videographers who are trying to share the experience of being in that environment with their viewers. Shoot b-roll with footage of everything from bubbling pots, to a knife quickly chopping ingredients, to mixtures being whipped, and even the baker playfully blowing flour off the work surface.
For example, this 20 second clip of cookies baking is perfect b-roll. It just needs some text overlays and some audio to get viewers salivating:
Tip: Keep in mind all the senses when you’re making your video. You want viewers to be salivating by the time they’ve finished watching!
4. Embrace Your Community
A good bakery will be one of the major hubs of its community. Be aware of what’s going on in your locale – music festivals, family events, celebrity visits – and include the events in your video marketing calendar.
Don’t just be part of what’s going on – if you make your business an instrumental part of promoting it, you can ensure that you get the kind of coverage you want. Your priority is obviously baking, so to ensure you don’t spend all of your time making videos, co-ordinate with relevant organizations so you can share the workload and all benefit from the buzz.
Tip: Get involved in charity work. Not only will you make lots of new connections, it’s a good way to become more integrated in your community and be a positive force for change.
5. Tell the Story of Your Bakery.
A good story will give your business a big voice. A video that tells the story of your bakery in a compelling, heartfelt way is another way of telling customers that you’re not just another company spamming them with content about buying their products.
You’re just like them. By extension, you understand what they want, and can provide it for them.
For example, if family members were instrumental in your decision to start your own artisan bakery, ask them to be a part of your video. It will win you huge brownie points for authenticity! Our recent post on the The Best Way to Make Authentic Videos contains lots of helpful tips for making authentic videos.
Tip: By all means, show off your top of the range gadgets, but remember to feature humans slicing, mixing and piping. People respond to people!
Getting Started
The hardest thing about making a video to market your bakery is getting started. Getting to grips with new equipment and production techniques can seem daunting. Keep in mind, you don’t need to be a professional to get great results.
The SproutVideo blog is an excellent resource, with practical easy-to-follow tips on video production. Spend some time practicing the basics, then get creative!
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