Effectively marketing your coffee shop is essential for bringing in new customers and retaining loyal visitors. A successful marketing strategy ensures your brand is recognisable and stands out from the competition.
As a UK coffee shop franchise, here at Esquires, we know that running a business day-to-day doesn’t leave much room to develop an extensive marketing campaign. When you buy a franchise, you get all the perks of being your own boss with the additional benefits of expert marketing advice, tools and training.
Our guide to marketing your coffee shop gives you an idea of the kind of things that need to be considered.
Understand Your Audience
Before you start to implement your coffee shop marketing ideas, you will need to understand who you’re marketing to and what your goals are.
Establish who your main customer base are and the kinds of things that would appeal to them. This way, you will be able to create tailored campaigns that have messaging geared towards the people who will actually be visiting your shop, and any new demographics you want to target (i.e. those that work from home).
Solidify Your Brand Image and Personality
Creating a clear and memorable brand image and personality is a great place to start when looking to boost your business. This includes establishing a consistent design and company ethos that people will instantly connect with your brand.
Nowadays, people don’t just want a place to drink a cup of coffee; they want to engage with brands that are clear about their beliefs and values. As more of us become concerned with shopping sustainably and being ethical consumers, environmentally-conscious coffee shops that are loud and proud about their business practices are becoming more sought after.
Be genuine about your sustainable efforts to set yourself apart from the overly corporate-feeling brands that lack authentic personalities. Customers are interested in the story your coffee shop has to tell as well as your great products.
Make Your Coffee Shop Attractive and Comfortable
Going hand in hand with the idea of creating a strong brand image is making your coffee shop visually appealing. It may sound obvious, but paying attention to interior design and creating an attractive, comfortable space will draw people in and keep them coming back to a place that is familiar and has a great ambience.
Focus on cultivating a branded but stylish space where customers can relax, catch up with friends or work on laptops.
As working from home or becoming self-employed continues to increase in popularity, offering free wi-fi along with a comfy spot to sit is another brilliant way to ensure you’re catering to all your customers and providing for their needs beyond just a cup of coffee!
Embrace Social Media
The benefits of social media as a marketing tool cannot be overstated. Establishing a firm social media presence is an incredibly effective way of increasing engagement levels and brand recognition. Social media also gives customers a direct line of contact to you - when they feel like they’re in conversation with you, they are more likely to continue engaging with your brand.
Consistently posting on platforms like Facebook and Instagram means you can build a wider audience who you can then market to instantly. These platforms have in-built analytics tools, enabling you to easily measure your success and see which kinds of posts and adverts perform best.
Utilising social media also means you can showcase your products - by now, most of us know that an aesthetic cup of coffee or slice of cake and Instagram are a winning combination! Get creative with your social posts and show your customers the human side of the enterprise to highlight your status as a hub for the community.
Video Content
This rise of video content is becoming an increasingly important avenue to consider.
This doesn’t mean that you have to spend a fortune on producing videos - features like Facebook Live and Instagram Stories are brilliant for capturing an audience’s attention with authentic, visual content that they can engage with.
Offer Loyalty Cards and Rewards
Show how much you appreciate customer loyalty by offering some kind of points system, loyalty card or rewards for returning customers. This will help you retain repeat customers who are then more likely to recommend your shop to their friends and family.
Giving loyal customers access to special discounts or free products once they’ve collected enough points is a good incentive and starts a cycle of sustained business. Providing a card that can be stamped and giving free drinks when ten stamps have been collected is a simple and effective way to encourage this kind of cycle.
Become a Coffee Shop Franchisee
When you become part of the Esquires franchise, you get to retain that feeling of a local, independent coffee shop where people come not just to drink coffee but to invest in the community with the added support of a carefully honed brand.
Our franchisees are supported by a proven management structure and bespoke solutions for all our locations. This includes providing full training, store design and, of course, ongoing marketing support to ensure your business thrives.
Have you got what it takes to be an Esquires franchisee? Find out more about Esquires Coffee franchising opportunities today.
