Would you find this advert endearing and effective or a bit cringeworthy and too personal?

[bakingbaker]

What would you think if you saw a baker advertise his products on FB or Instagram by talking about their struggles, how they stay out in the cold until they've sold everything, dropped out their high paying career, how they pull constant all nighters or how they still managed to deliver your box out of A and E after a car crash.

Would you think it is a good strategy or would you think it's a bit too much?

More specifically what would you think of a post like this? Would you post it or leave it?

"I deliver my cakes by hand. 10 on my arms, 10 on my shoulders, 10 on my back. My philosophy is that if we avoid getting tired, we cannot appreciate a night's rest. If we keep taking it easy, we cannot truly appreciate a glass of water or a hot meal. These are the little joys which make life worth living for me. I do not want it easy!"

or, a bit more personal:

"This business was meant to be co-run by two people - my ex-partner and I. I spent 2 years building up our bakery to the point that I was ready to share the journey with someone. So I rebranded for a fresh start for us this year. But they and I had different visions. I wanted to continue improving my baking, keep prices the same and pay myself the minimum salary while reinvesting most of the revenue back into my business. My partner prioritised delegating the workload to staff, increasing profits and cashing out. This isn't wrong in and of itself but my heart disagreed. It didn't make sense to harvest the first fruits when I could wait and harvest the whole rainforest. There is so much growth still left.

I've faced some tough choices on my journey. With the time commitments, I had to choose between my friends or my small business. Next it was my job or my small business. After that my academics or my small business. But this one really stopped me in my tracks: my partner or my small business. Do I love my business enough that I'd give up a future with someone? The double workload combined with the breakup left me empty. I needed to channel the negative energy into something positive.

This journey has taught me that nothing will happen unless you make it happen."

Thank you for your opinion

Ah - I've just realised you're not talking a random crap Facebook Ad. You're actually thinking of bitching about your ex girlfriend to sell cakes. Because she wanted the business to pay rather than be a vanity project after you chucked your decent job in and left her paying the bills.

Even if you do gluten free, you are not coming anywhere near any female I know. I'd rather order the staff Thursday Treats without patented Nice Guy(TM) frosting.

I'd stay away because it wouldn't make me think 'mm yummy fancy cake, I'm hungry', it would make me depressed at the drama of it all

Tbh, I really hope this is a wind up thread, but if it's going o fb....

Food tastes better when you make it with love not suffering, bitterness and despair.

It's not every post, maybe 2 or 3 times max a month and there is a new post every 2/3 days.

If I was following someone who was posting stuff like that 2-3 times a month I would unfollow them

I assumed this was a once off

If this is regular you sound like a go fund me begging for custom not a proper professional business

You posts these things regularly?

Honestly, the whole bitterness about the ex isn’t a good look for anyone. It’s a red flag. Using it as a selling tool isn’t a good idea.

The sob story of how you picked your brownies over a partner who didn’t share your passion but just wanted to make money really has ‘I am such a nice guy vibe’ and will actively put a lot of women off buying.

Unless you are trying to sell heartbreak cakes then no.

Find a good positive PR person, draw a line and move on.

Who is your most positive friend? Ask them?

Do loads of photos of lovely cakes with lots of promotions and sharing of good reviews.

I'm sorry you are so sad, but try to separate that from your livelihood

In the nicest possible way:

If I wanted waffle, I would go to a waffle shop and have them dipped in chocolate and cream with strawberries on top. I don't want waffle, I want cake.

This sort of post would put me right off.

I don't want to be guilt tripped into buying cakes.

Also, the author clearly doesn't have any decent business sense. They seem to think excessive work for low pay is some sort of virtue, which it isn't.

Swap all those posts for a reel of a delicious looking cake with hashtags #fresh #delicious #cake and you can even throw in #smallbusiness #uptooearly #cakeislife if you want.

Jesus. I just want a cake or a nice loaf of bread, I don't want to hear about your traumatic journey to deliver me said cake or bread. Makes me totally lose my appetite. I wouldn't shop anywhere that advertised like this once, let alone a few times a month.

CAKES OF

BITTERNESS & SUFFERING

YUMMY!

They both gave me severe second hand embarrassment.
I hate feeling that sort of cringe and would avoid your business.

Customers don't care about you. Especially in a country wide fincail crisis

They want to know you're the most competitively priced for a decent quality.

I've no idea why someone would want to post these types of posts, When the objective is to sell yummy food and ultimately make money. What do you believe there is to gain from doing this?

You can't guilt people into spending money. Buying cake and related goods is associated with happiness, light heartedNess and joy. Not trauma and baggage. I have my own bountiful trauma, I don't need someone else's when all I wanted is a nice cake.

If you need a channel to air these thoughts and perspectives, then maybe start an anonymous blog or find a counsellor. But not on your business social media.

An advert is meant to make the public want your products, I don't understand why the Baker having no mates or slagging off their Ex would make me want to buy some bread from them.

Also the tone of those captions comes across very... holier than thou... "look at all I've sacrificed, look how hard I work, look how virtuous I am as I gave up a well paying job to be a lowly baker" it's very off putting I think.

I'd suggest going on some sort of "social media advertising" course. Or even just learning a bit about advertising. When I was in college I remember learning about advertising and different ways company's advertise things to the public, for example they might suggest an enviable lifestyle (if you get these brownies you can serve them at dinner parties with your many friends in a fancy house like the one in the photo), they might suggest they're superior to their competitors in some way (locally sourced, more eco friendly, better value for money) or they might try to humanise the company in some way (post photos from an event you attended or catered for with a caption about how privilegedyou feel to have been a part of the event, show yourself enaging with the local community). There were a lot of different types.maybe finding out which style you want to use and consciously making your social media posts portray that would help.

Absolutely no .. I run my businesses on social media - no one wants to hear my health problems or personal struggles .. try posting reels to get your reach up .. a day in the life .. behind the scenes .. cakes being made etc .. then chose good quality staged photos of your cakes with scroll stopping titles … no one wants to read your version of Great Expectations Miss Haversham.. sorry

^Really good advice here.

I'm also self-employed and quite frankly, my clients don't care about my woes - and nor should they.

People will buy your cakes for one of several reasons:

a) they're delicious
b) they're delicious but also cheap
c) they're delicious and they like supporting an independent small business
d) they're delicious but also unique

Notice how none of these reasons have anything to do with how long you stand out in the cold to sell your cakes? Or how many you can carry?

A little bit of personality will make your business distinctive and will create engagement with customers - but it needs to be positive, and along the lines that@Rockschooldropout suggests. Engaging, interesting, professional - maybe even a dab of gentle humour.

If you just post a pity party, your cakes would have to be utterly fucking AMAZING for me to buy from you. The chances are that I wouldn't know how they taste though, because seeing any posts like that would make me instantly unfollow and determined never to buy from you. I can't bear businesses who play the martyr and try to guilt their customers into buying.

Kind of mind boggling that you even thought these posts might be appropriate.

Exactly. Wtf does any of that have to do with your customers' needs.

Neither. I want a decent cake. Not your life story or an inflated story.

I would avoid that person and their business.

Absolutely agree with everyone else. It’s too much. You come across as resentful and I’d just think you should go back to your high-paying career.
Also, I have enough shit going on in my own life, and it’s all circumstances entirely outside my control. A lot of people are in the same boat. In the nicest possible way, I don’t think many people have the headspace for someone else’s troubles. Cakes should be fun and a treat, so your marketing should be 100% positive.

No way would I buy from someone if this was their ‘marketing’. I’d think you were too unhinged to produce a quality product as your mind is clearly not focused.

Apart from delicious looking cakes, I want to hear about the awesome ingredients, any tips/techniques you’ve got to make the brownies squishy, new creation of flavours coming etc.

You know, actually about cake.

I would just like to pause for a moment to appreciate how even though it's a bakery, we're all focussing on cake here, and not bread.

Solidarity to my fellow cake-lovers.

I would think with all your difficulties that you do not seriously know anything about running a business and rather than growing it with more staff etc that I ,as a shopper, will have to kiss your feet when you deliver cake as you are such a martyr.