If you want to grow your coffee shop, you’ll need the help of marketing and promotions. From social media to SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and advertising, there are plenty of ways your business can reach your customers.
But while marketing can skyrocket your business growth, it also has the potential to drive people away if misused, which means you risk throwing money and effort down the drain if you’re not doing it properly. It’s vital that you’re getting the best return on your investment that you can from your marketing, which is why it’s important for you to avoid these top 10 mistakes.
1. Not defining your audience
Before you create a single piece of marketing material, you need to establish your audience first. This means creating detailed brand personas that focus on your customer's likes, wants, and needs. Dig deep into why they would come to your shop and what exactly they are looking for. Then, you can cater your marketing content directly to them, ensuring you’re not wasting it on those who aren’t likely to be your people.
2. Showing up everywhere
Trying to master every aspect of marketing and showing up on every platform available may seem like a smart goal, but the reality is you’ll be wasting time, effort, and money. That’s because your target audience isn’t everywhere. For example, once you’ve conducted audience research, you might find your ideal customers love spending time on TikTok, but few spend time on Twitter or vice versa.
As a result, if you spend hours creating content for Twitter when it doesn’t generate new business, that’s hours wasted that could have been better spent elsewhere. Instead, only focus on the marketing strategies that resonate with your audience. There’s no need to be everywhere.
3. Ignoring the data
Your marketing will only be successful if you pay attention to your data. It’s essential to dive into what’s working and what’s not – and that’s where data analytics comes in. Checking your website analytics is a good place to start (Google Analytics is a great free tool for this), but with more people likely to be checking out your social media feeds while on the go, as opposed to your website, it’s perhaps more important to have a grip on your social insights instead.
By delving into your social media insights you can start to understand things like your reach (how many people are exposed, at least once, to your content during a given period), impressions (how many times your content is displayed to people whether they click on it or not), and engagement to figure out what content your customers are loving and what content isn’t performing so well. This way you’ll know what to continue creating and what needs adjusting so you don’t waste time, effort, and money on things that aren’t serving your coffee shop.
4. Not adjusting over time
Businesses that thrive at marketing continually make adjustments. Once you look at your analytics, do something with them - use them to shift your content creation process. For example, if a video did well on Facebook, consider creating more. And if you see an email you sent out was barely opened, take a look at the subject line and try something different. Marketing can take some trial and error before you get it spot on.
5. Failing to invest in marketing
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to marketing is not investing in it at all. Marketing can significantly impact how much business you bring in and how your brand is recognised. Start by learning more about marketing before handing things over to a trusted professional. This way, you know what you might be able to manage in house to save on costs, and what you need someone with more expertise to help with. For instance, you might feel comfortable managing your social media channels but have very little clue how to do SEO well so you can choose which areas you need additional support with to maximise your marketing potential.
6. Only focusing on new customers
Yes, marketing is excellent at bringing in new business, but don’t forget about your old customers. After all, increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits anywhere from 25% to 95%. So don’t forget to recognise your loyal patrons throughout your marketing efforts. E.g. creating special promotions for those who are loyal to you with discounts and free items.
7. Not asking for feedback
Doing the same old same old will only ensure your marketing efforts quickly become irrelevant. Instead, keep up with what your customers are looking for by remembering to ask them! Send a quick survey or use polls on social media to check in on what they want to see from you. You can always offer a discount on their favourite drink should they be willing to participate.
8. Focusing on quantity over quality
Many businesses believe sharing as much content as possible is what’s going to help their business explode. And though it’s good to show up online, it’s better to focus on the quality of your content versus the quantity. Think consistency here – you might only post on social media 4 times a week or send an email once a week rather than every day – but if you’ve chosen to focus on adding value to your customers with those 4 posts and 1 email that’s far better than spamming them with more regular content they couldn’t care less about.
Make sure there’s a purpose behind each of your marketing efforts. Remind yourself that you want to engage your audience – not overwhelm them!
9. Hiding your story
Every coffee shop aims to sell great coffee. But if you truly want to grow, you need to share your story and connect with your customers on a more personal level. Part of your story may even be your unique selling point (USP) – something all businesses need to stand out. Maybe you donate a small portion of your profit to a new charity each month or find creative ways to have your customers help create your menu. Whatever it is, be sure to embrace who you are and why you love what you do so much.
10. Lacking a plan
The biggest marketing mistake you can make is not having any sort of plan or strategy regarding your efforts. All the time and money you spend on marketing should come from a strategic place. So whether you take the time to create this with your team or hire a professional, make sure there’s a reason behind each piece of content you share – otherwise you might as well be throwing money into the wind and seeing where it lands.
Marketing can feel overwhelming – especially when you just want to focus on creating great coffee. But if you avoid making these mistakes, you’re already half way there.
And if you’re looking for other ways to ensure your coffee shop’s success, why not open a trade account with Coffee Hit? Not only will you get the high-quality equipment you need to stand out from the competition and keep customers coming back for more, but you’ll get it at a fraction of the price with up to 50% off RRP. What’s not to love?
