How Bettersweet Vegan Bakery Uses Personalized Ads on Facebook and Instagram

Is it art or is it cake? At @bettersweetveganbakery, it’s both. Founded by Indira Cristin, the vegan cake studio whips up delicious cakes and specializes in one-of-a-kind artistic designs. Indira went to school for business in Venezuela, but as a self-taught baker, her real passion was cakes. When she moved to Miami in 2015 and started a new chapter of her life, she decided to take her love of sweets to the next level.

“My first recipes were just gluten-free, but after a while, I noticed a pattern,” says Indira. “At every single celebration, there was always someone who wasn't able to eat the cake for different reasons—allergies, religions, lifestyles, diets or a simple love for animals. This situation is not only disappointing and frustrating, but also creates an exclusionary vibe because the best part of a party is actually THE CAKE!”

To solve this problem, she created Bettersweet Vegan Bakery so that every partygoer can participate in the sweetest of celebrations. Personalized Facebook and Instagram ads helped her grow her customer base, she says, especially during holidays like Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day.

When she learned about custom audiences, she began strategizing how they could help her refine her advertising campaigns over time: “I can filter [out] people who are not interested in veganism, because they still click on the ad and increase the cost of the campaign without necessarily being a potential customer… I created my customized audience based on the insights from the first 3 campaigns I ran a few years ago.”

Now, she’s sharing her strategy to inspire fellow entrepreneurs. For her hyper-specific vegan bakery, she uses personalized ads catered towards the following: men and women, ages 22-55 years old, who are up to 15 miles away from her business’ location and who are interested in veganism, vegetarianism and pastries. She typically launches a campaign in the week leading up to whatever event she’s advertising for, plus uses a “shop now” call-to-action button and spends $10 daily.