6 Best Marketing Ideas to Promote Your Café
Are you ready to step up your marketing game?
As a café owner, you’re probably running around most of the time trying to juggle a million things at once, from accounting, planning, and sourcing to management and customer service, trying to ensure your customers get the best experience possible. As a result, marketing might not be high on the priority list.
While offering great coffee and a clean space for your customers to relax and enjoy their cuppa is paramount to your venue’s success, it’s unfortunately no longer enough. Indeed, a competitive market combined with higher customer expectations make standing out an absolute must in order to survive. The good news is, implementing targeted marketing strategies can be a powerful way to stand apart, increase your customer base, create customer loyalty, and improve your sales. Wondering where to start?
You’re in luck! To help your café flourish, we’ve highlighted below six easy to implement marketing tips.
Harness the Power of Social Media
With
79% of the Australian population active on social media in 2020, developing a clear social media marketing strategy is more critical than ever to ensure your cafe’s success. What’s more,
39% of consumers say they’ll follow a brand’s Facebook page in order to access special offers. As a result, make sure your social media pages stay updated and provide value to your customers. A few things you can do to leverage your social media accounts include:
- Communicating about the special of the day and changes in the menu. You should also focus on taking high-quality pictures and videos and crafting well-thought captions highlighting ingredient sourcing, great recipes, or fun events happening at your venue.
- Share behind-the-scenes shots and videos to humanise your brand and make it more approachable to your customers. Indeed, inviting your customers into your universe will make them feel closer to you and your café and therefore help turn your venue into their favourite coffee destination.
- Organise giveaways and contests to expand your reach, increase your following, and ultimately boost your bottom line.
Develop a Loyalty Program
According to a study published by
Kounta, 64% of Australians would return to a café that offers a loyalty program or rewards. What’s more, the ‘’buy X coffees, get one free’’ option was the most popular, with 41% of Australians stating they would prefer to be rewarded this way! Besides, research from
Mastercard has shown that almost 90% of Australians have a loyalty card, making the country one of the world’s leaders when it comes to loyalty programs. As a result, offering a loyalty program is a no-brainer if you want to create customer loyalty and increase your customer base.
Brand your Cups
Branding your cup is a very efficient way to promote your café and convey your brand’s personality. Whether your café is a casual spot for coffee lovers to have fun and catch up with their friends or a more upmarket venue with a sophisticated atmosphere, adding a personal touch to your cups can help you engage with your customers by showing your personality and ultimately stand apart from the competition. Some great ideas include adding a trivia question, customising the cups based on special events such as Australia Day or Christmas, or displaying inspirational messages based on the day of the week using stickers.
Use Posters
While online advertising is important, harnessing your cafe’s space to promote your events can be an easy and affordable way to engage with your customers. As an example, you can advertise your upcoming events behind the restroom doors, and promote your takeaway menu or specials close to the counter. You should also make sure your posters are engaging and feature high-quality pictures and striking colours while delivering a clear message. Another great idea is to use your branding on the posters as it’ll help make your brand more memorable.
Organise regular events
Organising events regularly is a fantastic way to place your café at the heart of your community and draw new customers in! And the great thing is, the events don’t have to be massive and costly. You could just organise a small and casual coffee masterclass, implement regular mums lunches, invite local bands to play in your coffee shop, showcase local artists’ work once a month, or facilitate language exchange afternoons at your café. Regardless of the theme, make sure you organise events that fill a need for the community, can benefit your customers, and make your café stand out. Another good way to market your venue is to offer your space for hire for holiday parties, including Christmas parties and book or product launches. Not only will this be a great source of revenue, but it’ll also help you increase your visibility and attract new customers.
Add a Discount to your Customer Receipts
Occasionally adding discounts to your customer receipts can be a great way to increase your traffic, ensure customer loyalty, and improve your sales. By offering discounts, once in a while and for a very limited period, to customers who have just purchased a coffee or a meal, you’ll create a sense of urgency, incentivising them to come back soon and share the great deal with their friends and family while it stands. This will, in turn, allow you to significantly increase your reach.
Your loyal customers will thank you, and your new customers will be impressed by your offer ;)
Some other important things you can explore in order to promote your venue and improve your bottom line include having a blog with valuable information such as how-to’s and great recipes and weekly newsletters to keep your loyal customers informed about your events, specials and share your amazing blog posts ;)
No time to implement these tips? Get in touch
here as we’d love to discuss your specific marketing needs and help your venue thrive for years to come!
Business Tips
