I’m willing to bet you dreamed of opening a bakery because you believed it would be a simple task. Sorry to bust your balloon, but establishing a bakery isn’t as simple as you think. Besides the extensive preparation and apparent infinite list of ingredients and equipment to purchase, you would also need to consider your bakery’s primary target market.
Since bread and other baked goods are considered staple products, a bakery will generally cater to all homes and individuals. Yet, depending on the aim and type of bakery business, there will be a certain key target market, and identifying them will make marketing efforts easier and more efficient.
The baking industry may provide a good and consistent income because of the reality that baked goods are constantly bought by consumers. That being said, you must still exert extra work, particularly in identifying your primary target market, which I will explain why in this post.
A Bakery’s Main Target Market
In essence, a bakery business could still thrive even if it lacks a specific target market. This is attributable to the fact that baked goods are products that may be enjoyed by people of all backgrounds, ages, and so on. It’s no wonder that baked goods will continue to be in demand since according to one market research, the bakery business will continue to rise and reach a market size of $590.54 billion by 2028.
However, having a defined target market is ideal, particularly for niche bakeries. This is simply because it will support the bakery to expand in its specialization. Take for example bakeries that specialize in pet-friendly delicacies, the primary market may consist of homeowners who have pets. Another example would be a vegan bakery, which would primarily cater to health-conscious customers.
Simply said, having a primary target market is determined by your preferences and specialization. In addition, knowing your primary target market will help you advertise and expand your business, whether or not it has a specialty.
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Steps to Identify Your Main Target Market
Determining a company’s primary target market is not difficult, especially if you already know your store’s specialization. But, if you are a rookie or regular with no specialty bakery owner, you might have difficulty pinpointing your main target market. The following are the steps to help you determine your bakery’s key target market:
1. Know Your Customers
First and foremost, you must understand your present clients. Are men the majority of your customers? Is there a more significant number of women and parents with kids? Answering these questions will give you a better understanding of your possible main customers. If you discover that you have more mature clients, you may want to attract younger people. You can also do it the other way, depending on your business goals and marketing strategy.
You may accomplish this by simply polling your clients. I strongly advise you to utilize Google Forms to simplify the process and everything for yourself. You may also use your email and social media profiles to learn about your regulars or other data to help you choose who to mainly bake for.
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2. Refer to Your Offerings
Aside from learning more about your current customers, you must also refer to your baked offerings. This is because it will benefit you in determining what your consumers desire, and in consequence, your target market. For instance, if your best-selling product is vegan then you may assume that your customers are mostly health-conscious people. You may then choose whether to target gym members, yoga enthusiasts, athletes, or other segments of the market.
3. Refer to Your Past Sales
Following a review of your offerings, examine your previous sales. In past years, were your holiday sales more constant or higher? Were the purchases all in the same price bracket? What was common in all transactions? You can answer all of these questions by reviewing your previous sales, which will help you better understand your sales history and establish what your primary target market should be like.
4. Picture the Ideal Customer
You may now begin to conceptualize your major target market by taking into account your present clients, previous sales, and baked product offers. By completing at least one of these stages, you might already have defined your primary target market. Nonetheless, I urge that you complete all of the prior phases to better picture your ideal customer.
Conclusion
On the whole, the main target market of a bakery business will be strongly influenced by the bakery’s purpose, type of business, or specialty. Furthermore, the processes in selecting a company’s main target market are knowing present consumers, referring to products, reviewing prior sales, and, envisioning the ideal target market. Once you have identified who you want to mainly serve, you can then tailor your marketing efforts in the hopes of increasing your brand awareness and profitability.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Essentially, the word target customer pertains to the demographic you intend to engage through marketing activities. These individuals are more likely to purchase your goods or services if they learn about them through one of your marketing initiatives.
A target market strategy is a business tactic intended to increase sales and brand exposure within a certain set of customers. For this reason, businesses develop their strategies depending on the demography of the market, which is the region or group targeted for the selling of products.
To learn more on how to start your own bakery business check out my startup documents here
This blog post is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained is not intended to constitute legal advice or to substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney.
About the author. Entrepreneur and Bakery Business Fan.
Hi! I am Shawn and I am a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online bakery business resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a bakery business owner, I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain customers, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Bakery Business Boss: I want to help bakery business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.