Creative coffee shop marketing strategies that cost less than $50 a month.
The internet, especially Instagram, portrays a well-lit image of seamless construction plans, impeccably-dressed entrepreneurs, and smiling, happy faces, when it comes to coffee shops. Most advice columns surrounding the specialty-coffee industry primarily highlight the fun aspects of running a café, however, no one seems to talk about how to finance the whole thing while also managing to pay your staff.
In the era of multi-million dollar commercial advertisements, how does an independent coffee shop entice new customers? Using a combination of the following strategies, coffee shops have to spend less than $50 to stand out in the already-saturated market.
Ready to dive in? Let’s get started.
1. Invest in a welcoming and eye-catching storefront:
The easiest, most manageable way to attract new customers is by ensuring your coffee shop looks appealing to the people passing by.
Handground, a manufacturer of affordable coffee-brewing equipment asked regular coffee buyers about the most recent time they discovered a new coffee shop and how they found out about it. Surprisingly, the number one way in which a coffee shop caught their attention was when they came across the physical store location while passing by. As superficial, and rather trivial as it may sound, looks still matter when it comes to brick-and-mortar storefronts. Neglecting your appearance leads to missed opportunities for your coffee shop to draw-in a potential customer walking by.
Coming to the most important question, how can coffee shops work on their storefronts without burning a hole in their pocket? Here are a few simple, inexpensive tactics that you can employ:
Install signage:
Regardless of the developing trend of sign-free storefronts, they can serve as a critical instrument for coffee shops looking to widen their prospective customer pool. Signage goes way beyond just hanging letters above your front door. With appropriately-placed, low-cost signage, you can easily direct a substantial amount of traffic to your coffee shop, whether you’re located on the outskirts of the city or one of the main streets. The Free Bird Espresso in Okanogan WA installed signs at a handful of major intersections, to encourage customers to keep a look out for their drive-thru espresso stand.
Introduce free samples:
If you’re fortunate enough to have large foot traffic outside your shop, then slow potential customers down by giving out free samples to a chosen few, as a way to introduce them to both your store, the people behind it, and — of course, the coffee. Alyssa Steele from The Bean Pedaler, a craft coffee store strongly recommends offering free samples outside your shop. “Word of mouth [for free samples] really works. Talk about your place of business with local business owners. Encourage partnerships with businesses who could become a part of your business.”
Focus on the visual appeal:
Creativity and originality are especially important when you’re looking to stand out amidst other similar businesses in town. You don’t need to extensively renovate your storefront to make an impression or stand out. A layer of new paint or an A-frame sign installation on the sidewalk is enough to do the trick.
2. Digitize your loyalty program:
Most businesses have loyalty programs that either make use of plastic point-of-sale cards or paper cards, as they are easy and cost-effective to implement. The downside to this system is that as a business, you can’t keep track of who actually has them and for customers, they are easy to lose and forget about. While the plastic loyalty cards are a step-up from the paper alternatives, they can be reasonably expensive and can end up adding to the junk that customers already carry around in their wallet. You also need to take into account the most common barrier to customers signing up for a loyalty card, as they often tend to require extensive paperwork and lengthy form filling. On top of all this, customers are expected to bring their cards around every time they visit your shop.
Today, customers demand convenience, variety and personalization from the businesses they engage with on a daily basis. A digital loyalty stamp card powered by Loopy Loyalty offers a cheaper, more comfortable option for businesses to increase their traffic and revenue by converting visitors into loyal, happy customers. As you can see from these 10 cafe’s and coffee shops that went digital with their rewards program, digital loyalty cards can be implemented in a variety of ways:
- Customers can receive 1 stamp for every type of coffee, tea or hot chocolate drink at while making an in-store purchase and win a free drink of their choice after they’ve collected 10 stamps.
- Customers can earn 1 stamp for every $10 they spend in-store and are rewarded with a free smoothie, coffee or ice cream after they collect 10 stamps.
- Customers are given a stamp for every cup of coffee they place an order for in-store. Once they hit a milestone of say, 10 drinks, the next one is offered complimentary the house.
3. Encourage word-of-mouth marketing:
Every buyer that frequents your coffee shop comes with a marketing opportunity because people talk when they have a good experience, and potential customers are more likely to trust their friends and family, than the actual business. 34% of coffee shop professionals agree that word of mouth marketing was an essential element of earning new customers.
As a coffee shop, there are a number of ways you can exceed customer expectations and encourage them to spread the word to peers:
Offer a free/discounted referral drink:
Nothing gets the ball rolling like a small bribe, right? Tech companies like Uber and Dropbox offer free rides and cloud storage to new customers that sign up using a referral program, so why should you shy away from doing the same? When you’re serving a customer on their friend’s recommendation, throw in a little discount or offer them a free drink of your choice.
Reach out to local food bloggers:
Word of mouth does not end with just your customers. Get in touch with influential bloggers or brand advocates in your city/area offering them an exceptional experience and a modest incentive to create a buzz about you shop.
Pay attention to customer feedback:
Make your customers feel more connected with your brand, by following through on their feedback. Having necessary amenities and entertaining those initial suggestions is crucial. If you notice a lot of parents bringing their children along, add a high-chair/changing table to your store. You can also introduce a kid’s menu or a colouring book on the tables to keep the fuss at the down-low. Set up a suggestions box at your checkout counter, or ask customers to fill a short form outlining what you can do better.
4. Establish a strong social media presence:
What most businesses fail to recognize is that social media such as can open doors to a completely new way of marketing, as opposed to TV, newspapers, and radio. Having real conversations with your customers and genuinely attempting to help them ‘humanizes’ your brand and the people behind the counters.
You don’t have to wait until your ‘grand opening’ to have an active social media gives presence, either. As a new, up and coming coffee shop, you get an opportunity to interact with your future customers and generate a buzz before you even open the doors to the public. This also helps you create an audience for important announcements pertaining to your brand, for example, information regarding the day of opening.
Remember, just like customers expect an exceptional brew every time they visit you, they are also anticipating a consistent flow of content from their favourite coffee shop as well. Don’t forget to post often and keep your social media content diverse.
Every once in a while, you can invest some moolah in running social media advertisements to grab more eyeballs, for example, when you have an offer running on in-store purchases, or have something new on the menu. Facebook has an absolute minimum daily ad budget of $1, so assess your requirements and try your hand at reaching more people online. The advantage of Facebook advertisements is that they allow you to target the friends of people who already like your Facebook page and engage with your posts frequently. For almost $2–3 per day, an average coffee shop can reach potential new customers using the “digital friend recommendation” functionality.
5. Use community outreach to your advantage:
Coffee shops in the same area or city often work collectively to support a neighbourhood coffee culture. Encourage the concept of “coffee passport” — where different coffee shops encourage customers and tourists to drop by in coffee shops around the town. Build stable and respectful relationships with coffee shops in your community, so they can reciprocate your recommendations. You can also consider a soft opening of your coffee shop before the grand opening to get to know the people behind the coffee shops in your area and forge meaningful relationships with them. Call upon local groups to host events leading up to the opening to get people talking.
