Aucoin Bakery has been part of Chéticamp for over 65 years. Long before social media was a thing, the only way you would find out about this gem was by passing by on your way around the Cabot Trail or by hearing about it from a local.

And locals were the main support for this local business for a long time. Cape Bretoners would come from all over for bread, cookies and meat pies.

The Challenge

For many years, Aucoin Bakery relied on that local support. The people who knew them would come.

But if people didn’t know about them, they might not know what they were missing out on. They’d head to the center of Chéticamp and find somewhere within walking distance instead.

And for decades, that was okay. Their business was small, but steady. And they built a life and a family around it.

When the internet generation took over, they decided it was time to bring the bakery into the modern era.

Getting Started On Social

In 2017, Aucoin Bakery decided to hire me on as a Social Media Manager and consultant. You’d think it was because we’re related, but they’re a different Aucoin family!

To get started, we created their accounts and began posting consistently on both Facebook and Instagram, while reducing reliance on print promotion, which has been dying down for years as social media became more and more popular.

Nothing about the products, recipes, or friendly customer service changed. But while the family traditions are the same, the visibility and the way we need to market a business have definitely changed.

So we worked together to create a strategy around sharing what makes Aucoin Bakery really special.

We shared:

Information about the bakery
Contests and Giveaways
Information about the location and surrounding attractions
Photos of all the incredible goodies at the shop
Specials and promotions and holiday products
Photos and videos of products being made
Seasonal content about the area
And soo much more

Instead of hearing about Aucoin Bakery only through word of mouth, people started seeing the bread come out of the oven, trays of cookies cooling, and shelves filling up daily.

Tourists planning their Cabot Trail trip now had a visual reminder to stop. And locals started sharing posts that people planning trips commented on and saved for later.

The bakery went from a place people discovered accidentally to a place people planned their trip around.

Since 2017:

While I’ve mainly been working with them around their social media, I’ve been able to watch as their business went viral (or as viral as a small community in Cape Breton can get!)

Since becoming a go-to destination:

They have won awards
Summer lineups often stretch out the door as people who planned to visit as a central part of their Chéticamp stop filled the store
They often sell out of many of their favourite products through the summer
A second parking lot had to be added to give people enough room to park. And it’s also often full all summer long.

They also remained deeply connected to their community. The bakery regularly donates to schools and events, and is a highlight of Festival de l’Escaouette, where they hand out their famous molasses cookies.

*If you want to know why Aucoin Bakery is a favourite, look no further than their tagged section on Instagram*

Expanding Beyond the Village

At one point, the bakery planned to bring a delivery truck to Dartmouth. The vehicle needed decals anyway, so they asked a simple question.

If the truck is already on its way, can we sell products while we’re there?

The Aucoin Bakery Pop Up was born from that question and has remained a highly attended event ever since.

The first year was manual and complicated. Orders came through phone calls, emails, and Facebook messages. Payment was cash only.

But the response on social media was surprising to all of us. People who had heard of them before but hadn’t made it out, people who’d been there a couple times and remembered their favourite treats, and many people who grew up in Chéticamp and now lived in HRM flooded them with orders.

Then COVID hit, and customers asked if the delivery would continue.

The Social Media Moment That Changed Everything

When the posts we created about the delivery events exploded online, we knew that this was going to be much bigger than we thought it would be.

And as a team, we moved quickly.

I assisted the team in building an online ordering system. Customers prepaid by credit card, and orders were organized automatically. The process became easier for staff and smoother for customers.

Today, the bakery travels to Dartmouth twice per year (even though customers wish it came weekly!), before Christmas and around Easter.

Each visit generates roughly 100 to 150 orders from former locals, Cape Bretoners living in the city, and tourists who fell in love with the bakery during their travels. Facebook ads now help reach new audiences and remind past visitors.

Social media did not replace the community connection. It extended it beyond Cheticamp.

*They didn’t change recipes, traditions or customer service. They just changed how people found out about them.*

You get what you put into it

The thing about working with social media marketing, especially if you’re in the tourism industry, is that you get out of it what you put in.

Aucoin Bakery did not need social media to survive locally. They were a popular destination for decades with locals.

But to grow exponentially, they were willing to put in the time and hire an expert to work with them as a part of their team. And it’s been a privilege to be along for so many milestones.

Social media allowed them to:

Stay top of mind for tourists
Reconnect with people who moved away
Create anticipation before visits
Simplify ordering through online systems
Turn memories into repeat customers

The goal was never to chase followers or views or clicks. It was always to stay visible to the right people. And that visibility turned a local institution into a destination.

Aucoin Bakery did not grow because they suddenly changed who they were. They grew because more people were able to find them and know who they were and what they offered.

When people know you and like you, they buy from you.

Social media did not create the quality, the reputation, or the loyalty. That had been built over decades. What social media did was remove the distance between the bakery and the people who would love it but had never experienced it yet.

For many small businesses, growth does not come from reinventing the business. It comes from consistently showing up and letting more people discover what has always been there.

If you have a business you want to grow, like Aucoin Bakery, I’d love to set up a time to chat about your social media goals.

From Local Attraction to Must-Visit Destination on the Cabot Trail