radombrowskiblog.files.wordpress.com · web viewthis paper will outline the plan for the social...

Launching Lincoln Bakery into

The World of Social Media

Lincoln Bakery

Rachel Dombrowski

Table of Contents

Executive Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Background Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

SWOT Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Current Social Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Competitor Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Target Audience Profile and Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Communications Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Objective 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Objective 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Content Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Budget. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Monitoring and Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Works Cited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2

Executive Summary

This paper will outline the plan for the social media campaign for Lincoln Bakery. The

small, single location, family run bakery currently does not utilize social media but could

potentially greatly benefit from it. The campaign will take place over the course of 6 months

from September 1, 2016 to February 29, 2017. We have selected this 6 months period because it

includes the most holidays and “busy times” for the bakery. We will be creating an Instagram,

Twitter, and Pinterest as well as doing some major updating to their Facebook page. Our major

posts will include 30-second speed up cooking videos for Facebook and Instagram, staged parties

featuring their products on Pinterest, and a daily promotion each week on Facebook and Twitter,

as well as regular updating and responding to followers. Our specific goals are to gain 300

followers on all social media accounts, and also increase sales by 10% by February 29th. The

budget for this campaign will be $2,000.

3

Background Information

Opening their doors in 1945, Lincoln Bakery is the oldest surviving family run business

in my hometown of Bellevue. The one square mile town is located on the north side of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The original owner Andy Slezak worked until he was 78 years old

when he eventually sold the business to his son in law in 1990. Over they years Lincoln Bakery

has grown and changed, buying the store next to them and doubling in size. They specialize in

wedding cakes, and novelty cakes but also make many other baked goods. Their custom wedding

cakes have been the centerpiece at the weddings of former Pittsburgh Pirates players, Bob Friend

and Bill Mazeroski; as well former Miami Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino. The local schools

and businesses love their freshly made doughnuts, and other specialty seasonal treats. The bakery

industry is currently a 7.4 billion dollar a year industry, and expected to grow at a rate of 5.8% a

year. Major chains are rapidly expanding and pushing out small local bakeries, however small

businesses that have been able to find a high-end niche market have been able to be very

successful. Lincoln Bakery’s custom cakes could be the “niche” in this market that I think they

could really find success in. “Over the next five years to 2020, industry revenue is expected to

grow by 3.0% per year on average to 8.5 billon” (IBISWORLD-Industry at a Glance, 2016)

SWOT Analysis

Their strengths are that they are a small family business that the community really loves.

A lot of the people that live in Bellevue and Avalon have being going there for years. That

support and following could be very beneficial for a social media campaign’s success. They have

unique, quality, products that are delicious! They emphasize custom creations and give their

4

bakers full creative licensing to make whatever they want. They really are a cornerstone in the

community and a household name in the Pittsburgh area.

A weakness of Lincoln Bakery would be their size, they only have one location and have

trouble competing with large grocery stores that make it convenient to pick up baked goods

when you go to do the rest of your weekly shopping. Since they are a small family run business

they also do not have the resources of a large company for marketing/social media campaign.

An opportunity they have would be to really focus on their specialty wedding and

birthday cakes. Their creations tend to be very unique plus their homemade frosting is amazing, I

think they could really find success by capitalizing on this market and advertising that they

would make your special event perfect.

Threats are large chains like the ones I mentioned before for example Giant Eagle,

Kroger, and SAM’s Club, they sell baked goods and make cakes that are convenient for

customers who regularly shop there. They also have competition with other local bakeries in the

area that make specially cakes like wedding cakes.

Current Social Media

Lincoln bakery does currently have an updated website. It is easy to navigate, and has

pictures and descriptions of a lot of their products. They do have a Facebook page but it has been

severely neglected; their last post was December 3, 2013. The page does have a decent amount

of photos but they aren’t complete or organized in the most effective way. They do not have a

Twitter or Instagram, and do not post on Pinterest. I think that Lincoln Bakery could really

benefit from using social media because they have so many loyal customers that love them and

would love to interact with them on social media. Also being that they are a bakery a lot of their

5

products are very visual, by showcasing their creations on social media platforms they could

draw in customers. They are a small bakery but they have great quality products, I think social

media could help expand their reach and gain new loyal customers that would be willing to make

a little bit of a drive for their baked goods.

Competitor Analysis

I would say Lincoln Bakery has two types of main competitors; big chain grocery stores

that sell baked goods, and other small bakeries in the area. As for the chain grocery stores like

Giant Eagle, Kroger, and SAM’s Club they don’t do a lot on social media as far as marketing

their baked goods, they are successful because they are convenient. Sometimes it is easier to get

your cookies or cup cakes at the same place that you already do all your regular weekly grocery

shopping. The second type of main competitor, and the one I think Lincoln Bakery should focus

on would be other small bakeries in the area. Some of the bakeries would include Prantl’s

Bakery, and Mixed with Love Cake & Cookie Co. They both have very active Facebook pages.

Prantl’s Bakery page has had 4,808 likes and 1,415 people have checked in here. There last post

was 21 hours ago, and they regularly interact and respond to their customers. The Mixed with

Love Cake & Cookie Co. Facebook page has fewer likes at 1,240 but they do update more

frequently than Lincoln Bakery their last post was 10 days ago. They have a very good response

time never letting more than a few hours go by without responding to comments. Compared to

Lincoln Bakery’s page that has 1,641 likes it’s not unreasonable to think that they could easily

compete with these other businesses on social media if they updated regularly. Prantl’s Bakery

also has an Instagram with 481 followers but they have not posted to it since April 7, 2014.

Mixed with Love Cake & Cookie Co. also has an Instagram with fewer followers (131) but they

6

do actively use it, their last post was a week ago. I would say both of these small bakeries are

doing better than Lincoln Bakery on every type of social media, however I do think that with

some effort Lincoln Bakery could have an equally if not more successful social media presence.

Target Audience Profile and Analysis

Everyone enjoys baked goods but my target audience is young adults, especially young

moms. I want to target this group because they are heavy social media users that also have

reasons to buy baked goods. Young adults may need wedding cakes or have jobs in the area that

they can bring doughnuts or cookies to. Moms have kids who need birthday cakes, and cupcakes

for school. Moms also are very vocal on social media about things they buy, they can be very

loyal if they are satisfied and are likely to spread the word to other moms. They are especially

active on Facebook and Pinterest, two of the platforms I plan to focus on, and many do have

Instagram’s even if they don’t actively post on they like to scroll through the feed. I would say

my target audience is 20-45 year olds, mainly women, who live in the Bellevue, Avalon and

surrounding Pittsburgh areas. They are middle, working classes. They have the funds to spend on

baked goods but nothing too extravagant.

Communications Plan

The goal for my social media campaign is to expand Lincoln Bakery’s customer base by

increasing brad awareness through increased activity on social media. I think that the fact that

Lincoln Bakery is almost non-existent on social media right means that this campaign could

really be beneficial to them.

7

Objective

Gain 300 followers on all social media sites by February 29, 2017.

Strategies

I plan to do this by regularly posting interesting content and constantly interacting with

loyal customers on social media. I want to encourage customers to follow Lincoln bakeries

accounts by offering a free treat when the customer provides proof of follow.

Tactics

1. On Facebook we will post 30-second videos that are speed up and edited showing how

Lincoln bakery makes certain baked goods. These videos will not necessarily be recipes but

more of a showcase how they decorate the cakes, or show some of the cool behind the scenes

that the customers don’t get to see. I think these videos will increase following because videos in

this format are very popular right now.

2. On Pinterest we will post pictures of our wedding, holiday, and birthday cakes. We will stage

them with coordinating party ideas and try to provide some inspiration for how they can

incorporate our cakes into their parties, and events. When you click on the pin it will take you to

the company website, so you will be able to look through all the products and get in contact with

Lincoln bakery to place an order.

8

3. For Instagram we will use pictures of our different products. We will also post pictures of

specific cakes with the story of whom they are for; tagging them and making the customer feel

important and appreciated.

4. We will have signs in the store and also post on all our social media that if they give us a

follow and show it when the come into the store, they will be eligible for a free treat from a

selection of approved products.

9

Objective

Increase sales by 10% by February 29, 2017.

Strategies

In order to achieve this objective I want to use promotions on social media that will get

customers in the door. Increasing our social media presence alone will promote increased brand

awareness and probably gain us new customers but I don’t think that will be enough. I also want

to do weekly specials and promotions through our social media accounts that provided different

deals on certain days. For example “BOGO Doughnut Monday’s” every Monday we will post on

our accounts reminding our followers that if you come in today doughnuts will be buy one get

one free.

Tactics

1. Since an advantage of Facebook is that the posts can have more text compared to other forms

of social media we will use this platform for weekly features. Every Friday will be a “Feature

Friday” that will focus on 1 specific item in the bakery. This item may be a brand new creation, a

custom wedding cake with a story on the couple, or a fun seasonal item. We will also post

reminders on Facebook about our promotion of the day.

10

2. On Instagram we don’t want to overload our followers feeds with posts ever single day

featuring that day’s promotion especially since week to week they will be similar each day. So

for Instagram we will only post specials that are brand new, items that have just been created, or

special seasonal items.

3. Twitter will be a great platform for sending out reminders of our daily specials. Since posting

often is acceptable etiquette on twitter we will post everyday to remind our followers to come in

that day and check out the special. For these posts we will try to make them witty, funny, and

catchy to stand out from the boring tweets. One way to achieve this may be including GIF’s or

Memes in our tweets.

Happy Feature Friday everyone! Today’s treats of the week are special Halloween themed personal cakes. These unique and adorable cakes come in both vanilla and chocolate and are covered in fondant and buttercream icing. They are perfect individual treats for your child’s Halloween parties or to bring some spooky fun into the office. Don’t be tricked this year, hurry in today to try these limited time treats!

11

Lincoln Bakery@Lincoln_Bakery

coln Bakery@Lincoln_Bakery

Lincoln Bakery@Lincoln_Bakery Bellevue, PA

Bellevue, PA

Bellevue, PA

Doughnut forget its BOGO doughnut Monday!

Hey it’s Torte Tuesday … Come in and get 20% off one of our specialty torts!

We Love Cookies Wednesday, come onin & try the special Double Fudge Brownie!

12

Content Calendar

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday1Facebook:Cooking videoTwitter:Link to FB videoInstagram:Cooking video

2FB: BOGODoughnut MondayT: BOGO Doughnut Monday

3FB: Torte Tuesday – 20% off specialty torte T: Torte Tuesday

4FB: We Love Cookies WednesdayT: We Love Cookies WednesdayInsta: S/0 customer

5FB: Kids cupcake day – come in with a child under 12 and they get a free cupcakeT: Kids Cupcake day

6FB: Feature FridayT: link to FB feature Friday

7FB: Saturday Surprise- come in and get a surprise treat with any purchaseT: Saturday Surprise

8Pinterest:New post with party idea featuring our deserts with link to web page







15Facebook:Cooking videoTwitter:Link to FB videoInstagram:Cooking video







23Pinterest:New post with party idea featuring our deserts with link to web page







* Schedule for the campaign is based on what day of the week it is, not what day of the

month it is. Therefore the calendar represents a 4-week schedule not necessarily a 29/31-day

month. We will start the campaign September 1, 2016 and it will run until February 29, 2017

13

Budget

The overall budget for this campaign will be $2,000.

Labor

I have allocated the largest portion of the budget to paying someone to run the day-to-day

social media. Lincoln Bakery already hires young high school students to work the cash register.

I am confident that if they offered them an extra $5 a day to post the updates for that day and

respond to any comments they would do it. At $5 a day, 7 days a week, 24 weeks in our 6-month

campaign that brings the total cost of labor to $840. This doesn’t seem like a lot of money to pay

someone but as a young high school student who could use social media in their sleep an extra

$840 wouldn’t be a hard sell.

30 Second Videos for Facebook and Instagram

Hiring a freelance video editor will also take a large chuck of the budget. The videos we

need to make are not super high tech but we do need them to look professional therefore I think

hiring and editor $15 an hour to make 12 videos (one every 2 weeks for the duration of the

campaign = 6 months). Estimating that each video will take a maximum of 4 hours to complete.

The total cost of the video production comes to a total of $720.

Pinterest Party Ideas

For Pinterest we want to showcase our products in different party settings. I think it

would be in Lincoln Bakery’s best interest to hire a professional photographer to stage these

pictures. The plan for the campaign is to post 12 Pinterest posts (one every 2 weeks, in between

14

the weeks we post the videos, for 6 months). If we hire a photographer at $20 an hour and have

an hour shoot for each post the total for Pinterest will be $240.

Summary of Budget

Labor $840

Video Editing (for our main Instagram and Facebook posts) $720

Pinterest Photo Shoots $240

Total $1,800

The extra $200 will be a good buffer to help with unforeseen costs.

Monitoring and Evaluating

Like I previously stated in the Budget section I will be paying a young high school

student to post the daily content and respond to comments. Of course all responses will be first

run through management for approval. The large content like the Pinterest posts, and the videos

will be formatted prior to the date there are to be posted. Lincoln Bakery will also utilize

Hootsuite as an easy way to monitor most of their social media in one place. We will not be

paying for any premium subscription because the free version allows you to monitor 3 social

media accounts, and the platforms Hootsuite supports that Lincoln Bakery is also going to use

are Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, so the free version will be just fine for Lincoln Bakery for

now. The last platform that we are using; Pinterest will just have to be checked manually, as it is

not supported by Hootsuite yet. The criteria for deciding if this campaign was a success will be if

we reach our goals. For our first goal we want to gain 300 followers on all social media

platforms, Lincoln Bakery does not currently have an Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest so for

15

those platforms, a success would be if we have at least 300 followers by the end of the 6 months.

For Facebook we will just take the starting number and add 300. Our second goal was to increase

sales by 10% for that we will just need to compare the sales of each month that the campaign

runs to the corresponding months last year, see if they went up, and calculate by how much.

16

References

7 Last-Minute Thanksgiving Place Settings You Can Make in Minutes. (2014). Retrieved May

02, 2016, from http://www.babble.com/home/7-last-minute-thanksgiving-place-

settings/#gold-leaf

Lincoln Bakery. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/Lincoln-

Bakery-131508423566412/timeline

Mixed With Love Cake & Cookie (@mixedwithlovecc) • Instagram photos and videos. (n.d.).

Retrieved May 02, 2016, from https://www.instagram.com/mixedwithlovecc/?hl=en

Mixed With Love Cake & Cookie Co. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from

https://www.facebook.com/MixedwithLovecc/?fref=ts

Prantl's Bakery. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from

https://www.facebook.com/PrantlsBakery/?fref=ts

Prantl's Bakery (@prantls_bakery) • Instagram photos and videos. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02,

2016, from https://www.instagram.com/prantls_bakery/?hl=en

R. D. (2016, April 30). Rachel Dombrowski (rachdom10). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from

https://www.pinterest.com/rachdom10/lincoln-bakery/

17

https://www.facebook.com/Lincoln-

http://www.babble.com/home/7-last-minute-thanksgiving-place-

The Florister. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from http://theflorister.com/1628/christmas-

flower-arrangement/

WVU Libraries EZ-Proxy. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.www.libproxy.wvu.edu/reports/us/industry/ataglance.aspx?

entid=4319

Your Perfect Day's Wedding Chat. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from

https://yourperfectdayllc.wordpress.com/page/29/

Mylincolnbakery.com. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from http://mylincolnbakery.com/

18

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.www.libproxy.wvu.edu/reports/us/industry/ataglance.aspx

http://theflorister.com/1628/christmas-

radombrowskiblog.files.wordpress.com · web viewthis paper will outline the plan for the social...

Documents