bake - March 2012 - 28

Rito’s hit every bridal show in Cleveland’s metro area, pulling in a large number of visitors. The event became so big that they had to move it out of the bakery and into an event

You can take a more calculated approach to attending expos — and use it as a way to invite potential customers into your shop for a more uncluttered affair.

space across the street. But the size was becoming counterproductive to what Rito had planned. “We scaled down how many bridal fairs we were doing,” Rito says. “We kept it manageable and took it back to our store. We shrunk our delivery area and made the event more intimate. And it’s been even better for us.” By changing the strategy for attending expos, Rito is making better use of his time and marketing. Anyone who has sampled cakes at a bridal show has no doubt experienced the chaos. Brides come to the shows hungry…and so do their friends, mothers and whomever else they bring. You end up feeding a large number of people who FACE TIME You can get exposure in your community by making a presence at trade expos and fairs. Here are a few examples. » » » » » Bridal expos Home and garden expos Auto shows Cultural events Food and wine events Rather than passing out samples, put more emphasis on an impressive, memorable booth. Rito’s booth comes complete with plenty of beautifully decorated dummy cakes and information on the cake tasting event. By seeing real-life examples of work (as
SEE P.35 FOR CAKE COMPETITION TIPS. Instead of offering cake samples at bridal shows, Rito’s Bakery lures customers back to its shop for an in-house tasting event.

attendance. They have the names and email addresses for future e-blast announcements, as well. And returns aren’t just for wedding cake business. Hosting an event like this is bringing added exposure to your bakery — your whole bakery. Much of today’s bakery business revolves around the impulse buy. One speciﬁc in-house event can help other categories in your bakery. “When you hold an event in your own store, people are buying bread; they’re buying pastries,” Rito says. “They’re buying.” Face time in the community While bridal shows are great avenues for luring in speciﬁc clientele, there are a host of other events in your community that create opportunities for your bakery. For example, Rito’s Bakery also has a strong presence at Cleveland’s annual home and garden show. After making a consistent presence at the expo center, the facility invited Rito’s to set up a remote event and sell product at the show. “It turned out to be a great event for us,” Rito says. “If your product is good, and you’re in front of people, it will sell.” Rito’s also makes a statement at area festivals and fairs. The bakery is equipped with box trucks and portable dry and refrigerated cases. “It takes some doing,” Rito says. “But the payoff is there.”

aren’t potential customers. venue is a And when the ve public place, your audience becomes even less qualiﬁed.

opposed to a photo album), brides have an incentive to sign up for the event. Added returns By collecting registration information for an

in-house event, you can build a marketing database and showcase the quality of your bakery’s customer service, in addition to the quality of products. Rito’s has begun a push for online registration, which captures all the pertinent information into a usable format. Prior to its cake tasting event, Rito’s will make a phone call reminder for the event and conﬁrm

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bake - March 2012

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