How to promote your cupcake bakery

I've been meaning to write this post for over a year, and will expand upon it soon (my original draft was over 1,000 words with notes and examples, but I can't find the file). I'll be expanding in future posts with examples of places I think are doing these things well. I've been cupcake blogging since December 2004 and think in an age of so many cupcake bakeries, promotion is especially important. Vital, even.

These suggestions are thus somewhat off the top of my head, but also based on the last 4+ years of observing various cupcake bakeries online and off, and being a customer. My biggest pet peeve is not being able to get the cupcake bakery information I need online. That information shouldn't ever be hidden. No one should have to work to figure out where you're located. You should come up first in a Google search. Little things, but they matter.

Bakery owners/customers, what do you think? What would you add? Bakers, what have you found that works? Customers, what would like to see from your cupcake bakeries?

1. Come up with a name that means something to you, that has a story behind it, is catchy. Do not name your bakery Babycakes or something else that every other bakery is called. Or if you do, have an excellent story to back it up. Make it something people will remember and talk about, and something you can tell the press about.

2. Have a website and only use your own photos. Your website should at the very minimum have your bakery name and address, phone number, email address, hours, menu and photos. Make sure you come up at least in the first page, ideally, first, in a Google search for your bakery. Ask yourself what you like to see on the company websites you visit and offer that on your site. Give customers something interesting to see. Don't assume your customers are only local and thus know what town you're in or where you're located. Never forget the Internet is global and that someone may be wanting to order your cupcakes for a local friend or family member, or may be traveling to your town. Update often. Make it a must-read, cultivate die-hard fans (see: Blake Lively).

3. Offer a newsletter with mouth-watering photos (especially of your new/seasonal/limited edition/specialty cupcakes), coupons and specials. Give customer something extra. Tell them about your upcoming events, give them a reason to come back in, whether they were just there yesterday or haven't been in months.

4. Get on Flickr. Flickr isn't about advertising, but community. Share and learn from other bakers and cupcake fans. Offer visuals of your cupcakes as they are actually sold, not just pretty promo photos. Tag your photos in as many ways as applicable (not just "cupcake," but flavor, city, bakery name, anything else that fits). Join groups, dozens of them, that are about cupcakes, baking, dessert, food, your city, and add your photos to them. The more people who see your photos, the better. You never know when someone looking for just the flavor you're offering may stumble upon it, or a media source, or a potential customer.

Customize your Flickr name immediately. Nobody will remember to visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/37505733720428990 but they will remember http://www.flickr.com/photos/myawesomesupercoolcupcakebakery

5. Get on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites. Don't just join and say, "Okay, I'm on there," but seek out your customers, make it worthwhile for them to join you there. Offer them web-only discounts, engage with them not just about your business practices, but what you're up to. Give them a behind-the-scenes look at what you're doing. Have fun with it.

6. Update your cupcake offerings. Do a flavor of the month or week. Use seasonal flavors. Do something that will make people both want to get your newsletter and return to your bakery. Create holiday-themed cupcakes, celebrity-themed cupcakes, pop culture cupcakes, locally-sourced cupcakes. Create a signature cupcake with a story behind it, one only you could make. Have a must-try cupcake that is your favorite. Experiment.

7. Take the time to create a personal, cool bakery logo. Plaster it all over, on your site(s), on your storefront, on your merchandise, on your cupcake wrappers if applicable.

8. Get to know your customers. Ask for their suggestions. Crowdsource, both in the store with a suggestion box, talking to customers, and online. Hold a contest asking for new flavors or suggestions. Make your customers feel a part of your bakery.

9. Blog. Yes, I'm biased because I love both reading bakery blogs and using them as sources for this blog. But still, blogging is an excellent way to give more information than you'd have room for elsewhere, to build a following, pay tribute to the other bakeries and chefs you like, share information about the kinds of products or even the brands you use, share last-minute news and sales, profile your customers, talk about pet causes, whatever. A blog is whatever you want to make it. There are bakery blogs that give the scoop on everything from the literal building of the bakery through its opening to those that share daily flavors to ones with news links and beyond. Blogs help brand your bakery and personalize it. They give fans something to check out when they're not eating your cupcakes.

10. Innovate. Try new things, online and off. See what works and what doesn't. Be a leader.