CASE STUDY:
36,000 to 318,000 followers: A local bakery turned national brand
Cake Days A Week is a Glasgow bakery producing hand-painted, bespoke cakes. The quality was exceptional. The audience was tiny. Over 24 months we grew the social audience by 783 percent and brought in celebrity clients.
The Challenge
Background
Christie produced hand-painted, bespoke cakes that competed with the best in the UK. The designs were made for Instagram. But geography held the business back.
The Starting Position
36,053 total followers across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Limited geographic reach. A single revenue stream from shop sales. No high-profile clients. A capacity ceiling of 12 to 15 cakes per week.
The Brief
Grow the following and attract high profile clients. Target 20 percent Instagram growth in six months. Secure three high profile clients by year end.
The Strategy
We deployed the SOSTAC framework with an organic content strategy.
Content approach
Two to three posts daily, five days a week. A mix of Reels showing time-lapse creation, carousels showing multiple angles, and interactive Stories.
Target audiences
Parents seeking birthday cakes, brides-to-be and celebrities wanting luxury wedding cakes, and corporate clients needing branded cakes.
Growth tactics
A user-generated content campaign. Instagram Live tutorials. Strategic use of platform trends.
Execution
Consistent posting for 24 months. Weekly performance reviews. Platform agility to capitalise on the TikTok opportunity when it appeared.
The Results
The collaboration between Cake Days A Week and Marketing Mavens yielded impressive results:
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Follower Growth
From 36,053 to 318,314 followers across all platforms. 282,261 new followers.
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TikTok views
TikTok grew 4,890 percent, from 4,091 to 204,056 followers, with 637,000 shares.
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Instagram Target Beaten
129 percent Instagram growth against a 20 percent target. Engagement up between 581 and 1,500 percent.
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Celebrity clients
Against a target of three. High-profile clients secured across sport, fitness and reality TV.
What made it work
Strategy provided the foundation. Execution delivered consistency. Platform agility captured the opportunity. The original plan targeted Instagram. TikTok delivered 64 percent of the followers. That is the value of a plan combined with tactical flexibility.
Posting two to three times daily for 24 months takes discipline. The first nine months built the foundation. October delivered the breakthrough. Most businesses quit after three months. This one held for ten before the curve broke upward.
637,000 TikTok shares means people trust the content. Celebrity clients came from visibility. Industry recognition came from presence. Commercial outcomes came from premium positioning.
Grow Together
Strategy matters. Execution matters. Platform agility matters. Engagement beats reach. Quality attracts premium clients. Measurement enables adjustment. Patience wins. The framework worked. The discipline held. The results beat every target by multiples.
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