A Delicious Facebook Brand Page Case Study: Smash Cakery

I love cake. Who doesn’t? And it’s the perfect business to grow organically via Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest – the three social media platforms best suited to drool-inspiring photography.

With almost 14,000 likes, this small business in Texas is clearly doing something right with their Facebook pa ge.

And the best part? It’s for a home-based business operating under the Texas Cottage Food Law. I love that!

Since the owner is completely booked out for almost two months in advance, according to a post early this summer, I think it’s safe to say that her Facebook strategy is working.

Don’t get caught up in the number of likes – since everyone likes cake and admiring the creative ones, there is a natural advantage built in to help boost page popularity. It also helps engagement, since women love to enjoy cake without calories and comment on the design.

It’s simply too fun NOT to leave a comment behind, right?

Let’s take a look.

Image used with permission. Credit: Smash Cakery

1. Great photography + personalization.

Great photography isn’t optional for a food-based business. It’s a necessity. But instead of simply posting a pretty photo of her mouth-watering cakes, owner Lindsey Coy Krist blends in a nice amount of chatter about her clients, their special occasion and recognition of any partners she uses for the project – the artist she uses for custom cake toppers, for example.

It adds interest to a post that might otherwise be boring and overly promotional. It also helps her build retention with her clients by celebrating with them and sharing their joy. Win-win.

I also like that the background is the same across all of her photos, allowing focus to be on the cake itself, instead of the entire image. Smart.

2. It’s not just about product, it’s about the person.

Sometimes, it’s easy to get carried away with the promotion side of things. One thing that I like about this page is the sense of humor the baker portrays, poking fun at herself and her passion for what she does. It makes her endearing, but it also helps her connect with her customers to build loyalty. We may buy a product once, but we keep coming back for the people – at least when it comes to small businesses.

It’s a cold-hearted person that can’t be completely won over by cupcake ballet flats! #iwantsome

3. Putting a store tab to great use by selling tutorials.

Priced at just three dollars each, selling video tutorials on how to do some of the cake design features is a stroke of brilliance. It’s a great way to showcase her skill and create a fresh revenue stream that requires minimal work once the video has been made. She only has two posted so far, so I’m hoping she bulks this up with many more tutorials.

I didn’t have time to look, but I hope she is using Pinterest and Instagram for this also. It could easily become a significant source of income, if priced right and used with frequency. Especially if she obtains sponsors from companies like Wilton and/or promotes the tutorials off the Facebook page.

Her storefront tab is powered by Selz – which looks like a very easy-to-use platform. I just might have to test it out!

4. Reviews. Lots of reviews.

Positive reviews give buyers confidence and this page has more than THREE HUNDRED reviews. Incredibly impressive for a small business! I don’t know if it happened with or without effort on the business owners part, but that kind of volume and overwhelmingly positive feedback is fantastic for building buyer confidence. I have no doubt it makes a huge impact on sales. It also overcomes the caution some people would feel over doing business with someone cooking out of their home.

What could be improved?

• More post variety – although the posts started improving substantially over the last year from simply posting a photo to adding commentary, there is starting to be some repetition and it could use more personalization in addition to the cake details. Getting more creative or adding a little more detail about the celebration involved would add fun, or perhaps photos of the buyer’s facial expression or reaction when they first see the cake. People also love ideas, so adding detail about anything interesting about the event might also be fun if it can help the page audience be more creative with their own cakes, design ideas or even party decorations. If the cake matches the invitation, perhaps including a photo of the invitation would be fun. One last thought – if women love the Facebook page for its design inspiration, give them a little bit more to work with! Sharing other relevant posts related to creativity would also be appropriate and looking at brand pages such as Wiltons, Fiskers and other craft or baking pages related to celebrating might provide some great posts to share with minimal effort.
• Commenting on other pages would help expose the page to a larger audience. If even one post per week were shared on a the page of other local businesses related to celebrations, it would help boost traffic to the page and make it more interesting.
• More video, especially ones that include more than just her hands. Allowing people to “meet” her via video and putting more of her own identity in them would help her audience enjoy getting to know the person behind the business. This would give people more confidence in paying for a cake online without having met her AND also boost her repeat business. People do business with people, so letting her individuality shine would be great.
• Charge more for the tutorials – if they are well done, she could charge double or triple the price with nary a quibble. They should cost more than a latte. It isn’t only about selling education to learn a skill, it’s selling the fun experience of actually doing it. Entertainment is valuable!
• Add more tutorials. By adding one new tutorial each month, her inventory (and revenue) would quickly grow. Having only two tutorials available means she is leaving a lot of potential revenue on the table. jGiven a little time, she could build quite a loyal following from those too far away to purchase a cake but who want to learn her techniques.
• Post more often. One post per week isn’t enough, now that only 2-7 percent of a page’s audience is exposed to each post. Increasing posts to once daily would make a huge improvement in her exposure and engagement.
• Think about conversion. If Facebook disappeared tomorrow, her audience would also disappear. Ideally, small business benefit the most when they are able to convert their social following over to email subscribers. This way, they are investing in building a resource they own – a database – instead of investing their entire marketing strategy into a social media asset they have no control over.

Do you have advice for Smash Cakery, kudos, or feedback on their page? Add your comment below!