Imagining My Own Business | Part 6: Marketing Plan

I have up to 500 words to give you my marketing plan. (Um, less now. Yikes.) Let’s do this.

Sugar & Nice is a home-based, custom order bakery that specializes in putting a unique spin on classic desserts and intriguing your tastebuds with fun flavors. Our mission is to replace the spice with the everything nice and make every customer feel valued with each love-filled bite.

She’s a non-native, tech savvy, trend setting, ambitious young professional whose love language is gift giving (even if it’s to herself), however she doesn’t have the time to tackle an oven. She values inclusivity, sustainability, quality, uniqueness, and convenience.

Staples include salted chocolate chip cookies, boozy truffles, raspberry bars, top secret pink cookies, and the infamous Shitton (the cookie that has a whole lot of everything). Customer service is the kicker.

Our biggest strengths are quality ingredients, mindfulness, attention to detail, and knowing the value of customer service. Our weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are interlaced – sourcing ingredients locally and introducing/sustaining something unique. The biggest opportunity is taking advantage of our already-growing reputation and melting away any tastebud insecurities through educational engagements and tasting events.

Our plan is to impress the locals with unique desserts they can’t live without, resulting in a virtual line out the door with salivating customers who appreciate our product, our smiling faces, and inclusive mentality.

For dessert and dessert-giving lovers who value convenience and unique products made with quality ingredients, Sugar & Nice is on an inclusive and sustainable mission to deliver superior sugary goodness through a seamless online experience and personalized customer service throughout.

PRODUCT | Our product is two-fold – high quality, unique, uh-may-zing baked yumminess and stellar customer service. Our packaging will convey simplistic elegance with a nod to environmental love.

PRICE | Our pricing would be cost-based with the goal of moving to value-based once our reputation merits it. We’d use penetration pricing initially. All products would have a simple categorized pricing structure with volume discounts.

PLACE | Our products will be ordered through a dedicated website and personally delivered via direct-to-consumer distribution.

PEOPLE | Me! (And my beloved husband for deliveries as needed.)

PROCESS | I love me some process, but I’m short on words. The big picture is getting from this dream of mine to customer retention and growth. There are a million steps in between, but I can do this part in my sleep.

PROMOTION | Word of mouth, social media, handouts, sampling opportunities, samples included with initial orders (whet their appetite for the next box of goodies they didn’t realize they needed).

Meaningful engagement and growth opportunities wherever consumers post is key. Our first customers are the unknowing taste testers that have made my husband very popular at work, so we’ll humbly ask for their Yelp reviews, referrals, and social media love. All products will have a review opportunity on the website. Upon delivery, we’ll also include a handwritten thank you with pre-printed Yelp and social details.