Running a café is never an easy task. The competition is stiff and winning new customers is tricky. I have worked with a few café owners in the past; one common situation I have noticed is that many owners get busy running the day to day operations at the café and hardly spend time on strategic marketing.
If you are a café owner looking for a way to increase traffic to your café, the following cafe marketing strategies may come in handy.
1. Understand your market – Think Local!
You have to identify the challenges that face coffee shops in order to find a practical marketing strategy. The main challenges include high competition, low level of product differentiation, difficulty boosting the brand online and challenges getting customer information.
You need to place your café such that it resonates with your local audience. Work on your flaws.
2. Wi-Fi is a must today!
Almost everyone today connects to the Internet using a smartphone. Considering data charges are high, making it easy for your customers to connect to the Internet in an affordable way could help drive customers to your shop. Announce the availability of free Wi-Fi at your shop and if possible in your area. Make sure there is a sign at the door as well. However, to keep the free-loaders out, only give access after a customer buys something.
3. Online listing and more..
You want your shop to be traceable through GPS and other Internet based apps. For this to happen, you have to get your shop listed online and offer adequate information to educate and engage your audience. This is important in café marketing. Ensure your café can be found on Google maps. Also submit your address and other contact details on various directory listings. If your café is in Singapore or Malaysia, see below the list of some free & paid directories:
Singapore List by : seogoodguys
Malaysia List by: web-directories & dreamsubmit.net
4. Social Media Solutions
Creating various social media pages on such sites as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn will boost your shop’sonline visibility. Keep your audience engaged by asking questions about your products and involve them in your content marketing strategy. Allow your customers and employees to post their content. This makes them feel valued and also increases your validity. The use of Facebook Ads with a specified demographic target will also help. One key thing while planning your social media strategy is to tailor your posts based on the platform you are posting to. By no means soes this mean that you need to send two different messages on different platforms, messages should be consistent throughout, but you may need to tweak it suit the audience on that platform. Here’s a great article that shows you how to do that.
Blogging is also essential. Start a blog related to what you do. It could be a blog on recipes or how to find the best dining places in the region.Don’t forget to link your blog with your social media pages and other related blogs. This will increase visibility and make it easy for your shop to be found via search engines.
5. Print Media
Never ignore the print media. Create attractive flyers and brochures then give them away for free at your shop. Use bags and to-go cups that are printed with your details on. You should also have your own business cards. Give them away as often as you can. This will significantly promote your café marketing endeavors.
6. Customer engagement
Last but not least, you have to keep your customers engaged. If they are bored, they will walk away. An easy way of keeping them engaged is coming up with a rewards system. For example, you could give discounts to customers who dine at your café for more than three times in a week. Ask them to prove this by showing their receipts or create a loyalty program. Customers can further be engaged by sending them news releases on products. Pay attention to their responses.
If your establishment is not visually appealing, all your café marketing strategies will be for naught. People want to dine in an establishment that is hygienic, attractive and one offering the best customer support services. With that being said, you have to focus on improving the visual appeal of your shop before anything else.
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