September 27, 2019, is the third annual National Bakery Day, launched by The Retail Bakers of America (RBA). While of course, the holiday is a wonderful time to celebrate your successes, it also presents an opportunity to make your bakery more known in your community and entice new customers to come in and join the party. Here are 15 ways to celebrate September 27, National Bakery Day.
1. Countdown to the Day
Build up excitement for National Bakery Day by celebrating a few weeks before September 27. Create a countdown calendar that lists your different events and specials as the day gets closer. Print this on flyers in advance or post it on your social media so your customers know what you’re celebrating, and what kind of special treats you have in store for them.
2. Tour the Kitchen
People love to see how things are made, and their favorite baked treat is no exception. Set up guided tours of your kitchen to show people the ins and outs of your bakery. Not only will people enjoy sneaking a peek behind-the-scenes, but you can cement a relationship between the kitchen staff and your customers. In some cases, these two groups rarely see each other. And offering free samples during the tour is never a bad idea.
3. Conduct Demonstrations
Whether you have a particularly unique process or maybe you just bake with flair, share that with your customers. A demonstration works well with cake decorating like piping techniques or using fondant.
4. Host a Class
Baking classes give your customers a wonderful experience and your bakery more awareness. Let your students get their hands messy (after they’ve washed them, of course). Classes could be as straightforward as how to make scones or custard, but you also specialize by giving your class a theme. Have some fun with a kids’ baking class or a class on how to make pet-friendly treats for their furry friends at home. Make sure to market your classes to attract people to your event.
5. Offer Limited Edition Products
To celebrate National Bakery Day, you could offer a limited-edition product to generate buzz around your bakery. Now would be a great time to experiment with flavors. If they don’t sell well, then you simply stop offering them after the celebration. But if you’ve found something that does exceptionally well, you can bring it back from time to time. The key to limited-edition offerings is to keep them limited. People jump at the chance to try something special before they miss out. Keep this in mind for the customers taking part in your loyalty program or subscribed to your emails, to create the feeling of exclusivity.
6. Decorate Your Storefront
Don’t be afraid to go big when it comes to decorating your store for National Bakery Day. It gives you a chance to interact with your customers and let them know about the holiday. If you are a member of the Retail Bakers of America, you can incorporate their free marketing kit.
7. Hold a Competition
Bring out your community’s competitive side by holding a contest. If your bakery is known for a particular dessert, have an eating contest, or let people try and match your skills with a baking competition. Give the winner of contest something they will remember, like a free doughnut a day for a year or a nice set of baking utensils.
8. Host a Taste Test Event
A great way to celebrate is with a tasting event. Offer tastings of your bestselling goods, but also provide some more exotic flavors or flavor combinations like pineapple and cheese, or coffee and lemon. By offering some offbeat flavors, you can draw in some curious people and maybe even find a future bestseller.
9. Post on Social Media
Whatever you are doing to celebrate National Bakery Day, make sure to post about it on social media. If you are hosting an event, create a Facebook event page. If you’re decorating with a giant inflatable cupcake outside your store, upload it to Instagram. Use the holiday’s official hashtag: #NationalBakeryDay, and their slogans, “Keep Your Dough Local” and “Feed Your Knead for Local.” Here are some best practices for using social media to keep in mind.
10. Support Your Community
National Bakery Day is all about backing local bakeries. As a local bakery, return the favor and share why you love serving your community. Make your support tangible by donating to a local food bank or using a portion of the proceeds for a particular item to support a local charity.
11. Write a Blog Post
What inspired your love of baking? Who has helped you get where you are? This holiday is a perfect time to share your bakery’s history and why you love doing what you do with a blog post. This will help you form a personal connection with your readers as well.
12. Run Specials
Pass savings onto your customers by using specials and discounts. You could run a different special every day or one discount throughout September. Read more about how specials can drive traffic to your bakery on every other day of the year.
13. Make it Official
Ask your local officials to recognize National Bakery Day. It’s an easy way to get positive publicity for everyone involved. You can use this site to find contact information about your local elected officials like your governor or mayor. They may also have social media pages that you can utilize.
14. Give Back
The RBA has teamed up with Icing Smiles, a nonprofit organization that provides custom celebration cakes and other treats to families impacted by the critical illness of a child. See how you can donate a custom cake that provides a temporary escape from worry and creates a positive memory during a difficult time.
15. Plan a Pop-up
Choose a location for a fun, temporary pop-up shop like a park or the parking lot of a willing shopping center. This will help attract new people to try your baked goods that otherwise might not have passed by your permanent location. Give out free samples, sell some of your staple items, and generally just have a good time chatting with current and potential customers.
16. Party!
September 27 is your day! Amongst all your specials, events, and promotions, don’t forget to have fun. Thank your staff, take a break. After it’s all said and done, have a party for just you and your team. You’ve worked hard to make your bakery exceptional.
With all your celebrating, you may attract more orders. Streamline your ordering process and schedule a demo of BakeSmart today to learn more.
