How do you create really engaging advertising for your cakes?

By focusing on the benefits of the cake, instead of the cake itself.

So what is the benefit of a cake?

To answer that we need to think about what motivates your customers.

So let’s take a bride. What does she care about the most?

• That at least one tier is sponge?
• That there is enough slices left over so she can take some to work the following week?
• Or that all of her guests will comment on her cake and it will be a talking point whilst she delicately slices into it?

What about the mother arranging a cake for her 5 year old daughter’s birthday? Does she care most….

• That the cake includes her daughters favourite TV character / animal / colour?
• Or that her daughter will remember this incredible cake that was the highlight of a fantastic birthday.

If you make cakes for a living you need to realise that you are in the business of creating memories, and your advertising will become alot more effective if that is what you tell people.

So how do you advertise memories?

Cakes are inherently social products. Nobody buys a £100 cake and doesn’t want to show it off to other people. So if you advertise your products but don’t show people interacting with your cakes you are missing a trick.

It’s the same with all advertising. Just look at perfume adverts, or soft drink ads – it’s all about people interacting, having a good time and generally looking gorgeous. The product is vital to creating that reaction, but it’s no longer the focus.

When producing a flier for Laura’s recent wedding exhibition I knew I wanted to show a bride with her cake and I knew we had struck gold when she sent me the image below. Showing a bride’s huge smile whilst cutting into your cake is one of the best testimonials you can have.

Your cakes are memorable, and they make for fantastic images!

I really hope I’ve convinced you that featuring photos of your customers enjoying your creations makes for really compelling advertising (If you’re not convinced please tell me why in the comments box). So here are a few tips on getting these types of images:

• When you drop the cake off, mention that you’d love to have a photo of the cake being cut for your marketing. For every person that doesn’t want to, there will be 2 that would love the thought.
• If the photo is taken by a professional wedding photographer make sure you have permission from both the photographer and the couple. Most photographers would be happy to do this with an image credit.
• At the very least you should aim to get their permission on an email. Though if you are going to send the image to a journalist as part of your PR efforts the magazine may also request a model release form. This will complicate things a bit, but won’t cost you anything.

About the author: Rob Watson works for an Internet marketing agency in Northampton, UK. He’s been friends with Laura for about 10 years and loves her cakes – especially the one she made for his birthday.