Like all companies, part of what makes them successful is their branding and how they adapt the style of their branding to go on the company’s website the company must research what appeals to people looking to buy your coffee and what they want to be offered when they walk into your business.
Free Wi-Fi
A good marketing strategy is to get people into your business if you run a coffee company where people can come in and enjoy your products in a comfortable café it would be a good idea to offer your customers free Wi-Fi. This is because the amount of people that work in a business and get a Costa or a Starbucks on the way to work is huge, if you offer free Wi-fi to your customers this means that they are more likely to get the computer out or the phone and start working while In your café, therefore, are more likely to buy more than one cup of your coffee. Also, if you have a warm comfortable environment to work in, they are more inclined to say this will increase customer retention which is more cost-effective for your business.Stand out treats
As well as serving the classics that everyone loves such as latte and espresso it would also be a good idea to advertise some more unique drinks that some of your customers may not have tried before. This makes your coffee company stand out from your competitors who just sell your bog standard types of coffee. If your customers like these unique types of coffee, they will remember the experience they had and want to keep coming back.
Curated ranges
To understand which coffee, you should be selling to your local community in your area you can research what type of coffee people like to drink and then you can sell them in your shop. There are two types of market research, primary research, and secondary research. Primary research is when you go and find the information yourself, you can do this with a variety of methods such as posting questionnaires through people’s letterboxes, asking people in the street, focus groups. Primary research is more accurate as it is more up to date however it is more expensive. Secondary research is research that is research that has been carried out by another company. Secondary research is less time consuming and not as expensive as primary research but can be inaccurate depending on when the research was carried out, it would not be a good idea for a company to base their business on research that was carried out from old research as times change and so do people’s preferences, likes and dislikes. It's all about knowing your audience.
Have a website
When designing the website for your company you should suit what you are selling. This is very subtle as your customers do not know you are doing it you should think about what your colour scheme is going to be, what font are you going to use for the text on your website if you are more on the roasting side of the coffee industry think about how the layout of the website fits the theme of machinery e.g., edges and corners, font with an industrial look. If your company is more about growing or sourcing coffee your website might be a little bit more nature-themed and have pictures of the coffee farms.
The power of story
Something that would be beneficial to your company is to tell your customers why there is a company in the first place, tell them a little bit about yourself and why you decided to set up your business. This is so that your customers can connect with you on a personal level and may draw them away from the big coffee chains such as Costa and Starbucks as we all know many British people like locally sourced British produce and like to support local businesses.Giveaways
On social media, you can advertise competitions to win a £50 Voucher to use at your coffee shop for example. This will make customers interact with your business a lot more because they are given the chance to win something amazing and they will have a positive representation of you as a company because you are giving back to your customers. You could design the competition to be something fun and interactive with you as a company. You can also ask for the contestant to enter in a few details like their email address so that you can let them know if they have won or not and also to update them with any new developments within the business or any new product that may take their fancy. This way you are always in contact with them, and they do not forget them.
The good thing about marketing on social media is that it is completely free, but you will need to establish a following to make a big impact and you will need to connect with customers on a personal level.
Imagery
Your Coffee is the reason that people come to your shop, so you need to make them stand out and look inviting. This would involve taking pictures of all your different products but not just in a blank background. You should choose somewhere the people that like that product and the environment we think of when we see that product, for example, espresso – in a nice café somewhere, plain black coffee – sat in the garden, people will connect with the image. You should try and get the picture in the best lighting to make it stand out and make it eye-catching. You should always have your brand/logo in the pictures because your brand is what makes your company yours. A good example of this is Starbucks as they have the Starbucks logo in every picture that they post so you know that this is a Starbucks coffee.
Live streams and using video
An idea that some coffee companies do is create videos or live streams on social media this gives your customers a “behind the scenes” look at how you operate as a company and then they will know how you make their favourite from the tiny little bean and into your cup. If you do this via live stream the viewers can write questions as you talk, and you can give them an instant answer. This will be connecting with the viewers in a positive and improve their relationship with them.
Pre-recorded videos will look more professional as they can be rehearsed and edited and will be more informative as you can put in more information to answer any questions the customers may have and respond to them in the comment section.
We hope these tips are helpful and good luck.