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Social media marketing for bakeries: film the bake, post what is on the shelf today, and open pre-orders early

What a bakery should post on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, how to sell custom cakes and holiday pre-orders through social media, and the label and review rules that touch a bakery's posts.

Published by AI Knows Us · Updated 21 October 2026

Social media marketing for bakeries works best when it follows the oven. Film the bake in the early morning, post what is on the shelf today so people know what they can still buy, show your custom cakes as a portfolio that brings in orders, and open holiday pre-orders on social media weeks before the date. A bakery has an advantage most businesses do not: the product looks and sounds good on camera without any styling. The job is to post often enough that people think of you before they decide what to buy for the weekend, the birthday or the office meeting.

The three jobs social media does for a bakery

  1. The daily shelf. Regulars want to know what is in today, what has sold out, and when the next batch comes out. A story at opening time answers that.
  2. The order book. Custom cakes, wedding cakes, cookies for events and office orders are where a bakery earns its margin. Your feed is the portfolio a customer scrolls before they send an enquiry.
  3. The calendar. Holidays, graduations, wedding season and back to school all drive orders. Social media is how you sell those dates early, while there is still capacity.

If you make packaged goods sold through shops and online, the job is closer to a food brand's, and our page on social media marketing for food brands covers retail availability and creator deals in depth. This page is for the bakery with a counter, a kitchen and an order book.

Which platforms a bakery should use

PlatformBest use for a bakery
InstagramThe portfolio and the daily shelf. Grid posts for cakes and seasonal bakes, stories for today's batch and sell outs, highlights for menus and ordering.
TikTok or ReelsProcess video: laminating dough, piping, decorating, cutting into a cake. The best reach for people who do not follow you yet.
FacebookLocal groups, events, and customers who order for families and offices.
Google Business ProfileHours, photos, products, reviews. Where "bakery near me" and "birthday cake near me" are answered.
PinterestUseful for wedding and celebration cakes, because people plan those by saving ideas.

Two platforms done well beat five done badly. For most bakeries that means Instagram plus short video, with the Google profile kept current.

What a bakery should post

The bake, start to finish

Dough being shaped, trays going into the oven, the first loaf being cut, a croissant pulled apart to show the layers. Process content proves skill and makes people hungry, and it costs you nothing but a phone propped on a shelf.

Today's shelf

A morning story with what is in today, a midday update with what has sold out, and a heads up when a batch comes out at a set time. Regulars start checking before they walk over.

Custom work as a portfolio

Every custom cake is a future enquiry. Photograph it in good light, write what it was for, the flavour, the size and how far ahead it was ordered. Save the posts into highlights by occasion: birthdays, weddings, baby showers, corporate. A customer who sees work like theirs is far more likely to message you.

The people and the hours

Bakers start early. Showing the 4am shift, the team by name with their permission, and the care in the work builds the loyalty that a supermarket bakery cannot match.

How to order

Pin a post or a highlight that answers every ordering question: lead times, minimum orders, sizes, flavours, delivery or pickup, deposit, and how to enquire. It saves you dozens of repeated messages a week.

Selling holidays and pre-orders

Pre-orders let you plan production and sell out on your terms. A simple rhythm works for most occasions:

  1. Announce the menu and the order deadline early, often three to four weeks out for a major holiday.
  2. Post each item with a clear photo, the price and the pickup dates.
  3. Share a countdown as the deadline approaches, and say when slots are filling.
  4. Post the pickup day itself: the boxes lined up, the queue, the thank you.

Link every post to one ordering page or form so customers do not have to message you to buy.

Claims and rules that touch a bakery's posts

"Gluten-free" is a defined claim. Under FDA's rule at 21 CFR 101.91, a food labelled "gluten-free" must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten, and the same applies to "no gluten", "free of gluten" and "without gluten". If your kitchen also bakes with wheat flour, that is hard to promise. Describing an item as "made without wheat flour" and noting that your kitchen handles wheat is clearer and safer for customers with celiac disease.

Reviews. Google's policy for Maps reviews does not allow offering incentives, such as discounts or free goods, in exchange for a review. The FTC's rule at 16 CFR 465.4 bars incentives tied to a positive or negative review. A free cookie for a five star review breaks both. Ask everyone, offer nothing, and reply to every review.

Creators. If you send a free cake box to a local food creator, the FTC's Endorsement Guides at 16 CFR 255.5 count free products as a material connection, even when you do not require a post. Ask them to disclose it in the post itself.

Followers. 16 CFR 465.8 bars buying fake followers or likes. A small local following that buys is worth more.

How to tell if it is working

  • Custom order enquiries, and how many mention seeing a post.
  • Pre-order totals compared with the same holiday last year.
  • Directions requests and calls on your Google profile.
  • Sell out times for items you posted that morning compared with items you did not.

Questions about social media for bakeries

How often should a bakery post?

A daily story about what is in, and three feed posts or short videos a week, is a realistic rhythm for a small bakery. Batch your filming during one quieter hour so it does not compete with production.

What content gets the most attention for a bakery?

Process video: shaping, laminating, decorating and cutting. It shows skill and appetite in a few seconds, and it works on both Reels and TikTok.

Should a bakery post prices?

For standard items and pre-order menus, yes, because it removes a question that stops people ordering. For custom cakes, post a starting price or a range only if you have set one, and invite an enquiry for the rest.

How do I get more custom cake orders from Instagram?

Treat the feed as a portfolio. Organise highlights by occasion, show the brief and the finished cake together, and pin a clear how to order post with lead times and the enquiry link.

Is paid social worth it for a bakery?

Small local ads can work for a holiday pre-order menu or a grand opening. Aim them close to the shop, send people to the ordering page, and count orders rather than likes.

The birthday cake question, asked out loud

A parent planning a party may now ask an assistant which bakery nearby does custom cakes with three days' notice, rather than scrolling a map. The answer comes from reviews, listings and websites that describe your lead times, your flavours and the occasions you serve, and an Instagram grid alone rarely carries those facts in a form an assistant reads. AI Knows Us is part of a new category that tests this directly, asking those questions about your area and showing whether your bakery is named in the reply.

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