I have a cake business

[Atpeaceallthetime]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to Mumsnet, so bare with me :)
I've got my own cake making business and I was just wondering if someone would give me an opinion on how it looks on Insta (mysweetpandemonium_cakes) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/Sweet-Pandemonium-107508398588065)
Be brutally honest!!

Thanks

Have a look for a few social media course. I'm pretty good on social media but learnt a lot about using it from a business perspective. If you're in Wales have a look at Business Wales, but I'm not sure what the England equivalent is.
Also totally agree with a PP about adding your location. It annoys the hec out of me when a business type such as yours doesn't say where they're based. They could be anywhere in the world so the page is pretty useless for potential clients! A friend shared a new hairdressers the other day but there was absolutely no mention on their page of where they are!

@LF2239 - Thanks for that. Added :)

And if you're going to use hashtags in your posts then use something people will search for because they're a way for people to find you (and use a few different variations to increase chances of being found). E.g. #birthdaycakesbristol #bristolcakemaker #bristol

I would get yourself a separate business email and not use your name one listed on your Facebook. You can just open a hotmail one for free. And i also wouldn't list your phone number on Instagram. Direct message only would be safer.

I agree you need much better product photographs. Stop adding in fake backgrounds. There's some of inconsistency between your cakes. Maybe you need to refine your style.

Utilise hashtags more. Have a look at some other cake makers you like and see what hashtags they're using.

I think Sweet Pandemonium sounds really cool. Love the giant strawb!

And you really should put your home address on a Facebook business page.

*Shouldn't

@Atpeaceallthetime

Thanks so much for your feedback everyone. I know the Lion King cake wasn't my best but I've improved since then :D Ill be honest, I'm pretty new to social media and I agree that some of the photos aren't brilliant and should have a better background but I've heard people say that most customers want to see homemade settings, rather than a staged one (shrug)

Homemade setting mean 'lifestyle' they don't actually mean in a kitchen with your hob in full focus in the background!

@Alightjacket - Thanks for the great tips, it's so hard to know what to put there and what not to put there. I don't know what other people can see when viewing my pages. Is there a way to see it in non edit mode?

Looks OK. A little amateur on Insta tbh because of the editing. The ultra backgrounds etc are very old fashioned. Sorry.

You don’t have to do blank background at all, but like others say, ‘home style’ doesn’t mean you hob and tap in the background. It’s still staged to look homestyle.

Maybe look up the book ‘ how to photograph food’, it might help you with composition and lighting and well as prop ideas.

When looking for your profile I first got sent to Sweet Pandamonium Bakery page. I searched by sweet pandemonium cakes. Not sure if the comment as helpful but letting you know in case there is a way to make sure your comes on top in searches

As a personal feedback, I would not order from you, I am sorry. Your cakes made with the fondant icing are absolutely great. But Christmas cupcakes, carrot cake pieces, cookies look amateur. I would not risk ordering a cake in case it came out not very neat.
There is a lot of competition and whatever you put on your profile must be flawless, so you need to be ruthless in getting rid of anything not 100% perfect.

@Atpeaceallthetime

Thanks so much for your feedback everyone. I know the Lion King cake wasn't my best but I've improved since then :D Ill be honest, I'm pretty new to social media and I agree that some of the photos aren't brilliant and should have a better background but I've heard people say that most customers want to see homemade settings, rather than a staged one (shrug)

Yes I can see you've got a lot better since then thats why I suggested removing it. You want people to see the quality they are likely to get now.

And there's homemade settings and there's homemade settings. Putting it on your dining table or clear counter top is fine. But looking like you have very little space so have managed to squeeze it in by your hob and any other clutter doesn't look good even if it is the truth and people don't all have massive kitchens.

There is a lot of competition and whatever you put on your profile must be flawless, so you need to be ruthless in getting rid of anything not 100% perfect. I agree with this. Even if it means culling some of the older pictures.

I'd seriously consider either buying or borrowing a book like "styling for Instagram" to show you how to compose your photos and get backgrounds that work (you're likely to want them blurry but possibly still identifiable).

The elephant cake looks a bit wonky to me.

Love the strawberry! You are very talented.

I love the strawberry too 💙 You've had some great tips on here, my advice would depend on your market? Round here, we have lots of bakers that do lovely, but amateur, cakes for kids birthdays for £30-£40. We then have much more professional looking ones starting at £70-£100. If you were aiming at the first market - then your page is fine, if you want to aim for the second one you need to polish the page and the finish of your cakes.

I don’t have instagram so I’ve looked at your Facebook page. Feedback:

Cakes look nice, particularly the strawberry and the Friends cake.

You seem to have two Facebook pages - see screenshots - with different email addresses and slightly different locations in Bedford. I could only find the page which has the email address starting “Karen” when I searched the name of your business on Facebook; the other page I copied and pasted from your OP. You need one page that is easily searchable.

“Welcome to the madness that is Sweet pandemonium” sounds like you might be disorganised and forget my order /get something wrong. It doesn’t sound cutesy and fun.

The baby shower cake looks good, but agree with others that saying you can’t remember what’s in it doesn’t sound very professional. Can you either ask the recipient what was in it, or change the comment to say about how thrilled the recipient was etc?

Agree with others you need to sort out your photography - it doesn’t look homely, it just looks amateur.

The cover photo on your page with the outlook email address seems to have sized wrong, so most of the photo looks like it’s the two bunches of flowers, and I can only see the top of the cake itself. See screenshot. Can you fiddle around so the photo shows on mobile devices as being mostly the cake?

I agree that you need to make the photos more professional, the backgrounds look very old school and amateur. Like others have said, see if your local business centre have any training on social media, check out photography for cakes on YouTube/Tiktok.
The local cake business in my town shows a photo and a video for her cakes.

@Hawaymanyoushite

I agree that you need to make the photos more professional, the backgrounds look very old school and amateur. Like others have said, see if your local business centre have any training on social media, check out photography for cakes on YouTube/Tiktok. The local cake business in my town shows a photo and a video for her cakes.

This is an excellent suggestion! My local chamber of commerce offered business support for new small businesses and there were online workshops that covered Facebook, Instagram and all sorts of marketing. I learned so much. Definitely recommend having a look to see if there's anything similar where you are.

Use your comments to actually tell us about the cakes. What are they for, did you enjoy making them, did you get to try out any favourite/new/interesting skills, how do you hope they will be received? Be positive and genuine.

Also, take a look at Reels/Shorts/TikTok. Just follow other similar businesses at first to build up your ideas and understanding.

Love the strawberry one but its next to a radiator. Yes you need to rephotograph them to show them off to their best

Search #cakesofinstagram on IG for some photo ideas. You can shoot on a decent phone until you have enough for some professional shots or a camera.

Investing in a backboard you can use for all shots for consistency is an easy solution as is creating one really lovely corner of a room (with no clutter on show - see one attached that does this well) in which you take all your cake pictures.

I've attached some recent examples I found doing a super quick search on Instagram.

Hello, I work in social media!
Keep posting regularly, maybe make your images more stylised- see other businesses who are doing well for inspiration. I would suggest using a few hashtags on your posts to get your images seen by a wider audience. As well, videos are paramount for social media. Maybe make videos whilst you bake to show the process? Mini-lessons on how to decorate them etc?

All in all- see what other businesses are doing well and copy them! Thats all anyone else is doing really.