Had to choose between a fancy website or a local ad campaign for my bakery

I run a small bakery in Austin and I had $2,000 to spend on growing the business. I could either get a slick website built or run targeted Facebook ads for 8 weeks. I went with the ad campaign because my Instagram was already decent. The first week brought in 12 new customers who all mentioned the ad. But by week 4, the response dropped off hard and I barely broke even. Has anyone else tried cheap local flyers instead of digital ads and seen better results?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_miller8418d ago

Saw a local coffee shop owner mention something similar on a subreddit about small biz marketing. They tried flyers at farmers markets and community boards and said the return was way more steady than ads online. Might be worth a try for your bakery since people love finding stuff that way (especially in Austin, there's such a strong local vibe).

dianaanderson18d agoMost Upvoted

We actually did this exact thing for a friend's taco stand in Austin last year... hit up the Mueller farmers market and a few local community boards. Took about 200 flyers total and we got maybe 30 new customers in the first two weeks just from that. @ray_miller84 is right that the return feels more solid than online ads, because people are already out looking for something local when they spot your flyer. Plus you can target neighborhoods that are walking distance from your bakery, which is huge for repeat visits. Flyers just have that personal touch too, like someone took the time to hand you something real.

nancy81718d ago

Nah, online ads actually reach way more people for less work.