Starting your own dessert franchise could see you joining a lucrative industry and building a profitable business, but it won’t all be competition-free plain sailing. To stand out from the crowd in this growing niche of the food service sector, keep reading to discover Point Franchise’s five top tips for marketing your dessert franchise effectively and efficiently.
COVID-19 caused a downward trajectory in many different industries, but over in the sweets sector, this wasn’t really the case. If anything, the pandemic saw demand for desserts begin to rise, and this demand shows no sign of dying down now that lockdowns are a thing of the past. This is particularly true for companies that are able to jump on the latest dessert industry trends - things like healthier options and vegan dessert alternatives - and market themselves effectively as something new, distinct and exciting.
How to market a dessert franchise: 5 marketing tips
Marketing is a crucial part of building a strong business, even in franchising. Yes, when you start your own dessert franchise your franchisor will provide you with guidelines, an operational model, training and support. Yes, you’ll also benefit from an existing brand name and, in many cases, an existing customer base. But it won’t stop there! You’ll still need to make a direct mark on your local area via your specific franchise location, and via marketing this effectively. Here are 5 dessert-focused ways of doing exactly that...
1. Promote your baked goods on social media
Social media is a must in 2021, and though it might feel like a time-suck, it’s actually an extremely valuable way of increasing brand awareness and loyalty, creating more inbound traffic to your franchise’s website and driving higher conversion rates. When consumers (and potential consumers) see you on their socials, they’re more likely to engage, and you’re more likely to remain in their mind the next time they’re looking for a sugar high.
Plus, social media is a great option if your marketing budget is limited, since it can cost you little to nothing but still have a huge positive impact on your brand’s visibility and credibility. In fact, around 90% of surveyed marketers claimed that social media generated “immense exposure” for their company [Blue Fountain Media]. It’s time to get networking on sites like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. If you don’t, you’ll be a step behind your competitors, rather than a step ahead - which should always be the goal!
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2. Look to emerging industry trends for an advertising leg-up
From drinkable desserts and pinata cakes to dessert charcuterie boards and gourmet brownies, there are plenty of popular trends to contend with in the dessert space right now. It might seem challenging to keep up, but it’s more than worth the time it takes to track wider consumer trends and notice a pattern before it hits your customer base. If you can do this, your marketing campaigns can reflect your knowledge and help you stay ahead of the game, anticipating needs before demand even begins to rise at your specific franchise location.
3. Ensure every staff member can sell the dessert franchise’s tasty menu of treats
As you look into choosing a dessert franchise that’s right for you and making an ideal investment, you’ll see that most franchise opportunities in this area come with a set menu from the franchisor that you’ll be expected to follow in your own store. Knowing your menu is a big marketing advantage, because it will allow you to train up your staff on every item and ensure they’re as informed as they can be. They’ll then be able to pass this knowledge along to customers.
An appealing menu of offerings is the crux of any good sweets franchise, whether it be a retail store, a restaurant-style dessert bar or a bakery cafe. But even beyond the menu itself, there’s nothing more appealing than a server that knows their stuff and backs their products 100%, right down to the ingredients included in each. Essentially, you should embrace the customer-facing advantages of running a dessert franchise and take every chat between servers and customers as a mini marketing opportunity.
4. Offer irresistible free samples of your product to get people in the door
Everyone loves a free sample, but no sample is more tantalising than a food sample, and this is something you should definitely be using to your advantage when you’re running a dessert franchise! Tempt people into your space (knowing your high-quality products will keep them coming back once they’re on that hook) with a little slice of something free, and show them how worth it it really is to pay for the rest. This is a really great marketing practice to implement, because it puts you and your team’s hard work front and centre and is again fairly low-cost to try out.
>> Read more:
- What is the Marketing Fee and Why is it Necessary?
- Developing an effective franchise marketing plan
- Try Out These 8 Outside-the-Box Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Business and Engage Your Customers
- 10 Tips for Building Truly Effective Social Media Marketing Campaigns
- Franchising 101: 8 Essential Marketing Strategies for Promoting Your Business
- Franchising 101: 6 Tips for Building Customer Loyalty Through Marketing
5. Nail your website (and consider offering online ordering options)
It pretty much goes without saying that, like starting and maintaining social media accounts, a website is a marketing must. This website should be well-designed and mobile friendly, particularly given the fact that 57% of surveyed adults wouldn’t recommend a business with a website that wasn’t well-designed for mobile [SWEOR]. But - and this is something you should definitely discuss with your franchisor if it’s not a preexisting option for your franchise - there’s still more your website can do for you. It can allow customers to order online!
Online ordering is the most convenient option for your customers, and it’s an easy win to highlight a service like this in your marketing campaigns, because you’re essentially writing this on a billboard: “Hey, we’ve made it easier for you to access our products. Order them from _____.” Who within your target demographic wouldn’t be interested by that type of helpful proposition?
Start a franchise in the sweets sector and enjoy running your own business today
If you’re now more ready than ever to launch that dessert franchise and make all your sweetest dreams come true, check out some of the best dessert franchise investment opportunities out there right now via Point Franchise. You could invest with Chock Shop, an on-the-move Belgian chocolate brownie producer. Or Crepe Delicious, a quick service crepe chain. Or The Urban Chocolatier, a sleek coffee and dessert franchise. Whatever your area of interest, you won’t be short of choice in the dessert sector.
Elliott Fudge, Point Franchise ©
>> Read more articles on the Dessert sector
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