Hookle - social media marketing tool for coffee shop owners

If you’re a coffee shop owner, you know how crazy the competition can be. With more and more people working partially or fully online, it’s no surprise that coffee shops are becoming the new offices.

However, with more cafes opening come more options. This means you cannot neglect your coffee shop marketing and particularly you need to be using social media to highlight your business, draw people in and keep them coming back. Whether you’re new to cafe ownership or looking to boost your visibility, these 11 tips are for you!

Shortcuts

1. Hone Your Target Audience

2. Find Your Niche and Leverage It

3. Vary Your Content From Platform to Platform

4. Show Your Audience They Matter

5. Be Authentic & Transparent

6. Feature Your Staff

7. Reveal Your Secrets (But Not Too Many!)

8. Engage, engage, engage!

9. Set Up Online Ordering

10. Set Up Online Presence on Google

11. Save Time By Using a Scheduling App

Why is Social Media Important for Coffee Shops?

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, communities have been relying on the internet to keep them updated on what’s going on in the world. Many local coffee shops have been struggling to stay afloat through the pandemic, and social media is a powerful tool that can help your coffee shop gain traction among the growing competition.

How Coffee Shop Owners Use Social Media

It might seem counterintuitive to post about coffee when it seems that’s all people do, but if a coffee shop is not online, the competitors will be – and soon you’ll be out of business.

So what is a good marketing strategy for coffee shop? At least social media is one of the first places that you should be on.

Each cafe owner is going to have a different approach to their coffee shop social media marketing. Some may post photos of their staff’s best latte art, while others might let customers in on their specialties and secrets to great espresso. Once you know who you’re targeting, create content for them. This isn’t to say ‘don’t post what you want,’ but keep in mind your strategy and use it.

How Do I Promote My Coffee Shop Using Social Media?

Instagram posting example of Sejiwa Coffee Shop

Treat it like any other business with a customer-facing focus! Advertise new menu items, show off your best latte art, capture the vibe and make people want to hang out in your shop. Check out the photo above for coffee social media post ideas on how to promote your coffee shop on social media. Next let's dive into the 11 powerful coffee shop social media marketing tips, and to generate you some new coffee social media post ideas too.

1. Hone Your Target Audience

Say your coffee shop has a home-away-from-home vibe, aimed at families and elderly folks looking for a quiet place to read the weekly paper.

Don’t go too broad, because nobody’s target audience is the whole world, but consider the connected groups that you could target to attract more customers.

Your audience isn’t limited to those groups, but people like care workers, babysitters, parents, older children and locals in search of a quaint coffee spot. Don’t go too broad, because nobody’s target audience is the whole world, but consider the connected groups that you could target to attract more customers.

2. Find Your Niche and Leverage It

What does your shop offer that you can’t find anywhere else? Maybe you have balcony seating. Maybe you share space with a bookstore. Maybe you have a kids’ section to keep the little ones entertained. Define your niche, apply it to your target audience and leverage your niche on socials. Worry not – new customers will find you!

3. Vary Your Content From Platform to Platform

Coffee pictures by Freepik

Platforms like Instagram tend to highlight images and videos, while writing tends to get more hits on Facebook or Twitter. If you’re on Snapchat or TikTok, make sure you’re staying up to date on things like stories, new features and how to expand your reach. In short, vary your content from platform to platform, so your audience gets what they want out of your account!

4. Show Your Audience They Matter

When you remember that your followers are actual people on the other side of the screen, it becomes easier to tailor your content to their needs. Consider their interests and goals, and how these might affect how you present your cafe online. Ask yourself: what are we offering that might serve them? Show your followers they matter, and that you care about them as people.

5. Be Authentic & Transparent

Showing off your coffee is good, but talking only about the newest menu item gets boring quickly. Keep your followers engaged by sharing personal anecdotes, updates on your work, tagging collaborators and showing your clientele that you’re more than just a cafe!

6. Feature Your Staff

This is a easy-to-make coffee shop social media promotion idea. Featuring staff in an ‘Employee of the Week/Month’ post can be a great way to build community in your cafe’s neighborhood. When customers get to know their local baristas, they’ll be more likely to come back, catch up and spend more time and money at your shop. Build community and customers will come!

7. Reveal Your Secrets (But Not Too Many!)

Revealing low-level secrets about how you make your specialty coffee drinks gives your customers the sense that they’re part of the ‘in-group.’ Let them in on a few special things your cafe does differently, and watch your customers become regulars!

8. Engage, engage, engage!

Respond to all comments, direct messages, questions, reviews and other inquiries – every single one. This shows that you care about your customer base and are willing to put your time and energy into hearing their feedback!

You can even go so far as to setting up polls or asking questions to see what your customers want to see next from your business pages.

One super-easy way to increase engagement is to set up a recurring posts system, which is a massive time saver. You can set certain static posts, such as events or happy hours, to be automatically repeated so that you don't need to think about scheduling or posting them separately for months or even the rest of the year.

9. Set Up Online Ordering

We live in a fast-paced society, and we mean crazy fast. To cater to customers rushing to work, set up an online ordering portal to save them time. This also gives your staff more time to prepare large or complex orders, and makes it easier on everyone involved.

10. Set Up Online Presence on Google

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

There is another aspects of online presence coffee shop owners should be focusing on, and that's Google. Many entrepreneurs and small coffee shop owners continue to underestimate the power of optimizing their online presence on Google Search and Maps. This is one of the best articles how small businesses can manage their Google Services and social media presence efficiently.

11. Save Time By Using a Scheduling App

See how Mudsharks Coffee Bar master their social media using Hookle scheduling app

Try using a cross-platform scheduling app like Hookle. These apps can remind you when to post, automatically publish posts and help you manage content across multiple platforms. Whether these scheduling applications help you manage what content goes where mock up what it might look like when it goes live, and on which account(s), they’re extremely helpful. Trust us on this one.

And that's not all what Hookle can do for you.

Create content in seconds with Hookle AI

Hookle is also absolutely incredible how it can create relevant social media posts for your coffee shop with just the click of a button, powered by ChatGPT, a cutting-edge AI technology that ensures your posts are always on point and tailored to your audience's preferences. With Hookle, you'll never have to worry about coming up with fresh content ideas again - it does all the heavy lifting for you!

With Hookle, you'll never have to worry about coming up with fresh content ideas again - it does all the heavy lifting for you!

Whether you’re a new coffee shop owner or a seasoned cafe nerd, these tips can help you boost visibility online among the rapidly growing competition.

Download Hookle App - social media planner for coffee shops in your pocket

Social media is crucial to attracting new customers and staying connected with regulars, and it can serve as a highly useful tool to remind them your cafe exists, tell them about menu updates and share stories and secrets that will make them feel at home. Try some of these tips, and let us know what works for you. Don’t forget to tag us! #postedwithhookle