7 TikTok video ideas for a bakery

A bakery has a head start on TikTok: everything it does looks good on camera. The fire, the dough, the crust, the pearl sugar. You don't have to invent anything, just put your phone in the right place at the right moment. None of the ideas below require you to talk to camera, except one, and all of them come round again through the year with different breads.

Before you film: the settings that matter

• Vertical, in 720p at least: that's what TikTok recommends to its advertisers, and any recent phone can do it.
• The big moment first. TikTok also advises showing the key moment in the first 3 seconds. The oven door before the mixer, the crumb before the knife.
• Text at the top or in the middle, six to eight words. At the bottom, the app's buttons cover it.
• The real sound when it's good (the crust crackling, the knife going through the loaf), otherwise a sound chosen from TikTok's library through your business account.
• A steady phone: a small tripod, or the phone propped against a flour bin. Wipe the lens before every take: in the bakehouse, it gets dusty fast.

In the bakehouse, before opening

1. The 5am bake

• What to film: the bakehouse still in darkness, the light coming on, the oven door opening on golden loaves, the steam rising. Four shots of two seconds.
• On-screen text: “5am. The neighbourhood is still asleep.” Use the real time.
• Why it works: it's what customers never see. The time alone does the hooking, and the oven door rewards those who kept watching.
• Length: 10 to 15 seconds.

2. Shaping by hand

• What to film: your hands shaping a baguette or rolling up pastries, in close-up, with the phone at worktop height. One shot, no cuts.
• On-screen text: “Shaped by hand, one at a time.”
• Why it works: the movement you repeat hundreds of times a week fascinates people who have never seen it. And it shows, without saying so, that the bread is made here.
• Length: 7 to 12 seconds. Cut when the last piece joins the others on the board: the video loops back to the start without anyone noticing the join.

3. Behind the scenes

• What to film: what keeps the place running. The sourdough starter being fed, the sacks of flour being delivered, the oven being cleaned, the person who gets in first. A face, a first name.
• On-screen text: “She's in before everyone else: meet [first name].” or “Our sourdough starter, fed every day.”
• Why it works: people would rather buy from someone they recognise. TikTok actually gives its advertisers the same advice: show people, your staff or your customers. Always ask the person you're filming for their consent.
• Length: 15 to 20 seconds.

At the counter, during the day

4. Today's bread

• What to film: the bread of the day on the board, the knife cutting into it, the crumb in close-up, the crust crackling right next to your phone's microphone.
• On-screen text: “Today's bread: rye and walnut.”
• Why it works: the sound of the crust stops the scrolling thumb. And the video gives useful information: what people can find at yours today.
• Length: 8 to 12 seconds. Post it in the morning, at the time people decide whether to pop in.

5. The emptying display

• What to film: the same display, from the same spot, three times: at opening, mid-morning and at noon. Stick a bit of tape on the floor so you find the same framing every time.
• On-screen text: “7am, 10am, noon. … cramiques left.” Always with the real number.
• Why it works: a small, honest sense of urgency. Customers understand that it goes fast, and that they'd better come early on Saturday.
• Length: 6 to 10 seconds.

6. The customer's question

• What to film: the question you get asked all the time, and your answer in one sentence, to camera or as a voiceover on the footage. “How do I keep bread fresh until tomorrow?” “Why is your baguette darker?” Or two products side by side, and a question for the people watching.
• On-screen text: “Cramique or craquelin? Tell us in the comments.”
• Why it works: everyone has an opinion, and comments keep the video alive. It's also the one where people hear your voice, your accent: the one that builds trust.
• Length: 15 to 30 seconds. Turn on auto captions, as lots of people watch with the sound off.

The Belgian seasonal speciality

7. What people can only find at yours, right now

Cramique and craquelin, Sunday pistolets, butter couques or couques suisses: these products speak to your customers in a way no video from elsewhere can imitate. And the calendar hands you a new excuse almost every month.

• What to film: the speciality of the moment, from the bakehouse to the counter. The pearl sugar folded into the craquelin dough, the tray of pistolets coming out at dawn on a Sunday, the St Nicholas speculoos coming out of their moulds, then the cougnous as Christmas approaches.
• On-screen text: “Sunday pistolets, out of the oven at 7am.” or “Craquelin: the sugar's inside.”
• Why it works: childhood memories and local pride. Anyone who sees “their” Sunday pistolets go by will think of you on Saturday evening.
• Length: 10 to 15 seconds. For a holiday, start posting two to three weeks ahead: in 2026, St Nicholas' Day falls on Sunday 6 December.

Shooting all seven in two mornings

Don't film one video a day, you won't keep it up. Batch them. The bakehouse ideas (1, 2 and 3) can all be shot during a single bake, before opening. The counter ones (4, 5 and 6) during a normal morning, between customers. The seasonal speciality gets filmed on the day it comes out of the oven. You then have enough to post two videos a week for nearly a month. After that, start again with other breads, other questions, other faces.

An idea that worked well can be done again: same format, another product, another day. The method is explained step by step in our article on remaking a video that worked. And if you've never posted before, start with the TikTok basics for a neighbourhood shop.