Coffee shops are extremely popular. Many people visit them on their way to work to grab a quick cup of coffee while others hang out in coffee shops to work, read or simply enjoy the atmosphere.
Chain coffee shops tend to use their brand recognition to drive revenue, but smaller coffee shops may need to use some other marketing tactics to compete with the larger chains and help drive in business.
Social media is a great marketing tactic that coffee shops can use to help their business, and the following are five ways that these coffee shops can utilize social media.
1. Promote specials.
If your coffee shop is running certain promotions, whether on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, make sure to spread the word to your social followers. It’s likely that someone may not know about the great coffee deal you’re currently offering, and by promoting it through social media, you’re able to send this promotion to a large group of people.
2. Give fun facts.
Social media is a great way to teach your audience a little about your business or your industry. Use social media as a way to share facts. For example, you can let your audience know a small little tidbit about your specific company, such as how it started or what your first flavored coffee was. You could also use social media to share fun facts about your industry, such as the history of coffee or baked goods.
3. Hold contests.
You can easily reach a larger audience and increase engagement by holding small (or even large) contests through social media. For example, you can do a small trivia contest on a weekly basis to increase the conversation between you and your audience, or you can hold a larger contest, such as a “show us how much you love our coffee photo contest” and give a prize to the winner.
4. Gain reviews.
Your customers are more willing to share their thoughts about your coffee shop on social media than they are in person, so use social media to gain insight as to how they feel about you or your products. Social media provides you with a great way to provide customer service. You can thank those that recommend your brand, and you can use it to alleviate issues with those people who may have a complaint.
Always make sure that you are constantly monitoring your social media accounts so that you can respond to any customer service inquiries right away. The longer you allow a comment to go unanswered, the more frustrated a customer will become, and this can hurt your sales.
5. Encourage them to visit.
Social media sites like Foursquare can be a great asset to your company. Foursquare uses geo-tracking technology to allow your customers to “check in” to your establishment. Once they’ve checked in, you can send them special perks or promotions to encourage them to buy certain items, or you can set up a promotion that gives them some sort of incentive for a certain number of check ins. Plus, those who use Foursquare are able to see where their friends also are, which can encourage more customers to frequent your establishment.
Leave a Comment