Hi, we all know we have to stretch our money. Where are you getting the most bang for your advertising buck?? Do you advertise on internet sites like 'The Knot' or do you go for more local stuff? Do you do newspaper ads? Mailings?? You get the idea. Chime in with your results.

Tnx

I have an add in our local yellow pages and on their yellowpages website. I get calls everyday for cakes or inquiries.

So far it has paid for itself and the book was just delivered earlier this month.

I also had a booth at the Bridal Expo and I have another one in January. I booked 25 weddings for next year between my add and the show.

HTH
Katie

Any money I have spent advertising has not paid off. I haven't gotten a single customer from any paid advertising. Not a single one. All of my customers have come to me via internet searches. Make sure your word tags (can't remember what they are called) are good and you will come up at the top of most searches.

i'm word of mouth. 95% of business comes from referrals.

whenever i donate a cake for a charity event or an auction, i always get business from that! i leave my cards with the cake and the orders come in.

i'm word of mouth. 95% of business comes from referrals.

whenever i donate a cake for a charity event or an auction, i always get business from that! i leave my cards with the cake and the orders come in.

The only place my advertising $$$$$ paid off was for Bridal Shows.
And the same as MichelleM77 - from the internet (not paid advertising).

The only ads I pay for are The Knot and Respond.com.

Over time, I've (somehow) ended up on a number of free listings on various wedding sites. Lots of word of mouth, including wedding planners and venues/reception sites.

I have a Referral Credit system that also works very well for me ... it turns all of my clients into walking salemen for me.

All of my business comes from word of mouth.

jibbies

It started with word of mouth. Then donations. Now wedding shows. And I'm thinking of taking out a business card size ad in our iowabridalplanner. I did one ad in a small town paper and no calls. An article in the newspaper, Waterloo Courier, in August, and I'm still getting some calls. They also put the article in their quarterly weddings publication. (free) So check into having an article done. FREE FREE

Allot of mine has been word of mouth over the years.....but I do have a small ad in the YELLOW BOOK.....and it has paid big time for me. I have a deal where my main ad is under the WEDDING SECTION, since that pays the most money. Then for free....I have just a listing under the bakery listing. I'm in a medium sized town.....and I get tons of calls and orders from my ad. I have gotten to the point that I can't advertise much at all.....I am turning down the orders at times. Newspaper and or radio ads are a waste of time for my $$$. Doing a Bridal show now and then can be a good thing.....but once you have your reputation and customer base going.....it's mostly word of mouth.

Good Luck!

99% of mine is word of mouth also...Everytime I send a kids birthday cake out I always attach 3-4 business cards on the inside of the box.

100% of my business is by word of mouth. I have so much "word of mouth" business, I have to turn orders away. I have orders covering a 45+ mile radius. In case I'm sounding less than humble, I might add that it helps to be one of the few cake decorators in the area and that includes bakeries.

Years ago I advertised in a local paper offering a 10% discount. I recieved one order that referenced the ad. It was hardly cost effective.
I think my best advise besides a quality product, would be to be fair, accomodating when possible, and make sure your customers know they are valued. They will keep coming back. Each wedding cake can mean years of anniversary, birthday, graduation, and special event cakes. I've been doing cakes for some families for almost 4 generations. ( Wow! how old am I!! )

I have to agree, the ad in the phone book is the ONLY ad besides my website that has paid for itself. It just sucks to spend the money and not have a good ROI... OTOH, research shows that qualified customers need to see your name at least 7 times from different sources before they'll buy..

I've done a bridal show that yielded me one call from a bride that had already called me and I told her to come to the show... Otherwise, the only thing bridal shows do is get you known by other vendors who actually are more valuable referrals anyways.

Word of mouth is by far the best advertising anyone can do. Unfortunately, there's only one way to get it.