Dozens Of best Tips On Making a Coffee Shop Busy
So, How Do I Get My Coffee Shop Packed
Here’s one thing I know about coffee shops - they are local by their definition.
This means every and every aspect of local marketing should be used.
Yet here’s the strange thing.
Most coffee shops I visit are rarely very busy and rarely busy enough.
I ask why but do the owners ask why when the No.1 drink in the country is now coffee?
As someone who has been marketing businesses since 1985 here’s one of the big problems I see.
It’s called visibility.
Let’s face it the shop can only be one of two things.
Visible.
Or
Invisible.
The Instagram Myth
The majority of coffee shops (not all) think Instagram is marketing.
It isn’t and here is why.
Most coffee is bought on impulse - not preplanned.
This means it is usually bought by people passing by or people who know you - the coffee shop already.
Not everyone is on Instagram.
Not everyone goes to Instagram when they want a coffee.
Not everyone follows local coffee shops.
The visibility Instagram gives - unless you pay for it - is actually very low (as is Facebook.)
In one test we carried out for some Instagram posts here’s what happened.
A post was made to over 5,000 followers.
That post was liked by just 17 followers.
What does that tell you?
It tells you that this shop that posted on Instagram is INVISIBLE.
Visibility Marketing Is a MUST For Coffee Shops
Is Instagram working for you? How do you measure that? Simple - Are we busy enough?
The real question when it comes to coffee shop marketing is what do we need to do to become visible?
Let’s take one step back here.
Coffee is the No.1 drink.
Most people buy a coffee daily.
People want good coffee.
So how do you get them into your coffee shop and buy your coffee?
Let’s go back to the visibility question.
What are you doing to make sure you are SEEN?
This is where coffee shops have to honestly look at themselves.
Find out what you are doing right now and ask yourself if it is working.
Let’s assume it isn’t or you wouldn’t be reading this article.
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Local Marketing Is Visible Marketing For Coffee Shops
The Google trend is ‘local’.
In other words, no one types in ‘coffee shop’ they type in this…
Coffee shop near me
Best coffee shops near me
Café near me
Coffee places near me
Coffee house near me
Best coffee shops in [your town/city]
Coffee places in [your town/city]
Coffee houses in [your town/city]
To get a priority online for local you must have a Google Business Profile
This MUST take priority over anything like Instagram. Why? Everyone Googles everything it is that simple.
That is a first step your coffee shop being more visible in your town but it is nowhere near enough.
Mass Marketing Your Coffee Shop In Your Local Town
When I work with businesses to give visibility they always ask me the same thing.
“Alan, what do we do to get seen?”
My answer is very simple - “Everything, anything and be relentless in doing it.”
This means what it says.
If there are hundreds - thousands - of people walking past your coffee shop every day all of these people are buyers. But if you hassle them on the street they will NOT buy.
So you have to be smart when it comes to marketing a coffee shop.
But smart also has to have a list of daily to-do marketing things that will get you seen and cash in the drawer.
This is where a daily action list should be created as a foundation for all your visibility marketing.
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The Coffee Shop Daily Marketing List
Hand out time-limited vouchers
Give away 2-1 vouchers
Give away a gift (free croissant) with every coffee
Create local alliances
Create partnerships
Fill your town with posters or banners
Offer tasters coffee in busy places
Create a loyalty scheme
Create an off-peak pricing program
Have a refill service
Bulk package offer
Bring a new friend
Create a tag offer for online
Create an exclusive coffee club
create a conversation
Focus more on PR than social media
Hire 20 kids to walk around town wearing a t-shirt with your name on there
And so on.
Your coffee shop will be very different to this or that coffee shop. This means what you do should be all about YOUR shop, not theirs.
At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself a very honest question…” What do I do daily to market my coffee shop” Exclude Instagram and I am sure it won’t be much.
The above isn’t meant to be a complete list or even a taking you down. It is meant to feed your brain to take fast, appropriate and proven actions.
Who Are You As a Coffee Shop?
Let’s also not forget this. Coffee buyers do not buy coffee. They buy everything surrounding the coffee.
Brand
Image
Furniture
Atmosphere
Staff training
Music
Customer types
For example, where I live there are coffee shops that;
Students study all day in
Grannies go and hang out
They are cheap and cheerful
Where business people like to hang out
That shoppers grab on the way out
That is hidden away and quiet
Where dog lovers like to congregate
Gym goers hang out
In other words who are your coffee buyers?
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Coffee Isn’t Just Coffee.
And let’s be honest - does your coffee taste any different to anyone else’s coffee?
Starbucks coffee has a woody taste
Nero coffee has a bitter but strong taste
What would your customers think about the taste of your coffee?
As a huge coffee drinker myself with huge experience of drinking coffee in coffee shops.The probability is it tastes like everyone else’s coffee.
Yet …
These things are ALL coffee shop marketing so it needs to be done right.
How To Get a Coffee Shop Packed
This is the story of coffee shop marketing (or not)
Coffee is a very big deal in my household.
Until I met my wife coffee was a drink that hadn’t really passed my lips. When my wife entered my life all of that changed. On our first date, she took me to a coffee shop and asked me what coffee I drank. I simply replied, “Same as you” I had no idea coffee could be so complicated. And then and now at home, coffee is more like a religious act of devotion than a simple drink.
First, the handmade, hand-crafted copper coffee pot comes out. It’s intricate, careful, and masterful. The external design looks are designed to enhance the now all-so-familiar ritual.
Then the coffee comes out of the cupboard. The smell is a smell that’s not like any other smell because like any other daily smell. It is the smell of life itself. One heaped spoon per tiny Turkish coffee cup followed by that same cup of water go into the pot.
Once in the pot, the heat begins to rise in the boiling water. Sugar is finally added until the bubbling, frothy black coffee eventually races to the top of the pot like a mini volcanic eruption about to explode and spill over the edge. At that point and only at that point only - never before and never after - is the heat switched off.
Then coffee at the moment is quickly transferred from the copper coffee pot to the small Turkish coffee cups. Once drank the final ritual only appears on request. That is the ritual of reading the coffee. This is where the coffee reveals its truth in its futuristic voice. The cup is turned upside down. The remaining crushed coffee beans in the form of dusty brown sludge falls onto the saucer. The cup is lifted and the future of the drinker of the cup of coffee is read.
Like I said at the start, in my house coffee is a big deal. Not all coffee is the same.
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When A New Coffee Shop Opens
So when a new coffee shop opens in our town we like to head over and try the coffee. It’s religious.
This weekend a new coffee shop opened. This was a place opening with quite a bit of fanfare so my expectations were high. We arrived around 9 am. Surprisingly we had to stand in a long queue in the early English cold wind outside. Once we were inside the lines outside just got longer and longer. Apparently, the shop ended up closing early because they underestimated everything and sold out of everything. Good for them, that’s impressive.
But …
The coffee was cool and weak. Our croissants were burnt, hard, and flat. The service was chaotic. No one seemed to know what they were doing or what anyone was doing. I can forgive the service on day one because I’ve been there, but selling poor products at high prices is a tough ask for me.
I might try it again once the dust settles.
Artisan Coffee Shops Vs. Corporate Brands Coffee Shops
In the past, if I wanted a coffee that I knew what it would taste like in advance I always went to a big brand coffee shop. It was always the same and always tasted the same. Brands have systems.
Their systems are always brilliant. I had a Starbucks coffee in Manhattan, New York. It was exactly the same as the Starbucks I had in Israel, Australia and here in Cheshire. Not anymore. Things have definitely changed.
Coffee Shop Brands Have Something Artisans Do Not Have
As good as perfect customer service
They understand how to look after a customer
They know what a customer wants
They don’t spend hours on social media
They use EVERY type of advertising media
They have mastered the skill of the APP
Relatively stable-tasting coffee
Mostly very average croissants but edible
Decent prices
The Artisan’s Coffee Houses Can
Deliver some very clever drinks and pastries
The drinks are mostly very good and usually stronger (when owner-made)
Pastries if made in-house or provided by an artisan bakery are almost always another level
Sadly they rarely understand customer service
The prices are always much higher than the brands
Now like I have already said twice, in my house, we take our coffee seriously, so if the package isn't right we just don’t go back unless we are tempted to go back.
I bumped into the owner of a local coffee shop that used to be my personal favourite coffee shop. I no longer go. It was something really simple, but the simple thing happened twice.
First, for some reason, they began to overcharge me for my coffee. The second reason was their service went downhill. Actually, the 3rd reason was their coffee started getting weak and I like mine strong.
He asked me directly, “Alan I haven't seen you for a long time how are you?” I replied, “Very good thanks.” He then said, ” You are probably very busy with the new baby right?” I replied, “Not really I get my coffee at this place now.” I could see how disappointed he was. Frankly, I felt a little bad for him. But I was spending £9 a day in his shop.
That is around £3,000 a year on coffee.
It was never the money, it was the religious act - the coffee, the whole vibe.
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I’ve Never Had A Single Marketing Message From Any Coffee Shop
As a marketing man, I always have a simple question. That question is this. Why have I never had a single marketing message from ANY coffee shop apart from Nero and Costa?
As a customer, I respond well to marketing from places I love. That is because I am loyal by nature but only loyal when I am happy. And this is a double-edged sword period for coffee shops. The reason is as many will close whilst as many will open.
It’s crazy.
If I Had A Coffee Shop This Is What I Would Do And It’s Not Social Media.
Research the market - Question the public on the street about what they dislike about coffee shops.
Ask the public what they really want from a coffee shop.
Train staff to deliver service that is recognisable and consistent.
Create a system for coffee that just cannot go wrong ever.
Create a coffee shop accordingly.
Take contact data from every single coffee buyer that comes into the shop.
Ask them if it is ok if you contact them with a daily offer.
Find out their preferred method for getting the offer.
Contact my coffee buyers list every single morning at around 6-7 am.
Give them a breakfast offer they cannot refuse.
Don’t try and sell to the list just keep it simple.
“FREE ALMOND CROISSANT with any coffee between 7-10 am. It’s the perfect start to your day and you know it. We love you. We have yours in a bag waiting. See you soon. COFFEE SHOP X”
It’s not rocket science. But the problem is it is so simple I am yet to meet a coffee shop owner who does it. That means the £3,000 a year I personally spend on my own coffee is always up for grabs. That also means I am no longer loyal to coffee yet I love to be loyal to my coffee.
I love to support the artisan. They are delivering some really cool stuff these days. Yet they don’t have the service or consistency. But if they get that right I am a fan for life. I am sure I am not the only person that feels that way. That is a lot of £3000 up for grabs.
And the brand coffee shops. Well, they are what they are and I will always take or leave them. But if they could harness consistency and marketing they could grab the daily coffee buyer also. That is a ton of cash over a year.
If you own a coffee shop and are an artisan consider this a gift from me. What I am sharing with you is over three decades of experience with database marketing and marketing shops. Customers love to be contacted.
Build your database of the contact list.
Contact your customers daily.
Perfect your coffee.
Watch your sales grow.
GET AN APP as a priority. (I don’t know how to truly emphasis this - just get one and use it)
I would make sure the APP collects reward points. Customers love them.
I would hand out vouchers to every single person in the street every day without fail.
I would make sure the shop brand is loud and seen.
I would set up daily deals with local shops like - we will give you a free morning coffee as long as you run our posters/ads vouchers from your shop.
I would ask myself this one question - Is my coffee the best? If it is I would adopt the tag … ‘town name No.1 For Coffee’
Easy!
And if you’ve lost customers don’t assume they are just busy with new babies. It is better to assume you did something wrong but more important be scared of asking customers what the problem was and how can you fix it.
If I Had a Coffee Shop I Would Do This Right Now
Let’s assume my coffee shop made the best coffee this is what I would do as a daily marketing staple.
Get every single customer to download my App. The APP is the most critical component in local coffee shop marketing in my opinion.
I would send out a push notification early every morning and around lunchtime (or at peak buying times)
I would send an irresistible offer to make sure they had their coffee from me.
I would sell a pastry at cost - or giveaway at my cost - and sell my coffee at full price. In other words, if the pastry cost me 45pence yet I retailed that same pastry for £1.65 I would run my offer like this.
FREE pastry with ALL coffee between the hours of 11:30-1:30 or peak buying times.
I would mix the offers every single day but create a series of core offers.
The critical thing is to push notifications twice a day. Is this too much? No, not if they are going for a coffee because they will make sure they come to you because;
You remind them you are there (don’t kid yourself thinking they will just come to you).
Come to you because the pastry is free.
And the big bonus is of course the APP carries data. This data is what will transform your marketing.
GET good advice. It might feel expensive but its cheaper than having to close your coffee shop.
Coffee Shop Marketing Your Own Coffee Shop
Finally, remember this.
Marketing isn’t something you do in your coffee shop when you’re slow. It has to be a daily task as critical as breathing. If you aren’t marketing your coffee shop daily you will lose sales, miss sales and most probably eventually experience a slow death of your shop. The reason is competition has never been so fierce and someone else will come along at some point and knock you off the top spot.
I hope this helps.
Leave a comment below.
Alan Forrest Smith
More advice on packing out your coffee shop can be found here
Extra Reading Here
YOYO App - second to none for coffee shop marketing