Why does nobody talk about how much better a simple email list is than social media for real growth?
I mean, I ran both for my small bakery for a year. We posted every day on Instagram and built a list of 500 people who signed up for our newsletter. The social stuff got likes, but when we sent a Friday email about our new sourdough, we sold out in 3 hours. The email list just brings people back who actually want to buy. Has anyone else found social media doesn't really drive sales like they say?
Have you considered that maybe your bakery is just a bad fit for social media? A visual platform like Instagram is perfect for a lot of businesses. A local coffee shop I know runs a weekly trivia contest on their stories and it brings in a huge crowd every single time. Their sales from those posts are way bigger than any email blast. Your sourdough sold out because it was a one-time thing, but social media builds a community that keeps people coming back for the vibe, not just the bread. You might just be using it wrong.
What kind of content did that coffee shop post to build that crowd, @wright.dakota? When I helped my friend's bookshop, we stopped just posting covers and started sharing short, funny quotes from different books each day. It took a few weeks, but people started coming in to find the "quote of the day" book, and that steady habit worked better than any single sale post.
Isn't it funny how we all chase the big viral post when the real trick is just being a steady, friendly presence? That coffee shop's trivia and the bookshop's quotes work because they give people a small, regular reason to check in and feel part of something. It's less about a single sale and more about becoming a reliable little highlight in someone's feed.