Social Media in the Coffee Industry

[eugenepenna]

Hi, I am opening up a coffee shop in Australia. I would like to find out how much social media is used in the coffee industry. Particularly in the coffee shop situation. Are clients open to the idea of using social media? How are they using it or likely to use it? What aspects of social media is working or not working ie. twitter, facebook, linkdln etc.

 

[empeg9000]

Hi I don't own a shop, just a roastery but i do a ton of social media. On Instagram especially I see tons of Aussies on there. Most of my online customer I got through social media.

 

[Ekburns]

Might be a little bias but GazellaWifi.com is perfect for coffee shop social media. If you offer free wifi and have social media it is perfect for your coffee shop. When a customer logs onto your free wifi they are prompted to "Like" your Facebook page prior to accessing free wifi. (they can also log on by entering an email). So lets just say you have 10 people a day that log onto your free wifi. Roughly 300 people a month would have to "like" your Facebook page. Best part is they are your loyal customers and we can even send them coupons, track whether they are new or existing customers, and a whole lot more interesting analytics.

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

Might be a little bias but GazellaWifi.com is perfect for coffee shop social media. If you offer free wifi and have social media it is perfect for your coffee shop. When a customer logs onto your free wifi they are prompted to "Like" your Facebook page prior to accessing free wifi. (they can also log on by entering an email). So lets just say you have 10 people a day that log onto your free wifi. Roughly 300 people a month would have to "like" your Facebook page. Best part is they are your loyal customers and we can even send them coupons, track whether they are new or existing customers, and a whole lot more interesting analytics.

Might be a "little" biased? You joined to promote Gazellawifi.com, no?

 

[TheGreenJoe]

Hey Eugene,
I have a mobile coffee apparatus and I use social media extensively. I have FB, IG, Twitter and Foursquare. I'm on Yelp and I also post on my local craigslist. At the coffee shop I offer a discount for posting to social media. Here's how I do it:

We have a "Promise to Post" protocol. If you promise to post, I'll give you a discount at the register. Don't need to see your post. Just work on the honor code.

If you want to check out my social media postings, my company is Green Joe Coffee Truck (www.greenjoecoffeetruck.com) Let me know if I can help in anyway.

Also, there is a book called Virality that talks about how post go viral. Highly recommend it.

 

[Ekburns]

Might be a "little" biased? You joined to promote Gazellawifi.com, no?

Yes, I did, our primary clients are coffee shops. If this is against forum rules, I will be happy to take down. I attempted to let coffee shop owners know of Gazellawifi.com on this social media post as it is relevant, and am not trying to spam the forum users.

 

[ensoluna]

Yes, I did, our primary clients are coffee shops. If this is against forum rules, I will be happy to take down. I attempted to let coffee shop owners know of Gazellawifi.com on this social media post as it is relevant, and am not trying to spam the forum users.

I am not so certain about the rules, but if you are only here to advertise your business continuously, probably one of the moderators will kick you out permanently.
but if you can actively participate in our forum discussions in positive way, probably it might be okay. Anyway, the moderators will decide when she checks in the morning time.

 

[PinkRose]

Yes, I did, our primary clients are coffee shops. If this is against forum rules, I will be happy to take down. I attempted to let coffee shop owners know of Gazellawifi.com on this social media post as it is relevant, and am not trying to spam the forum users.

It would have been more professional if you had written an introduction in the Introduction Thread and told us a little about yourself first, before diving into a sales pitch for your business.

We hope you will actively participate in the Forum discussions. It builds trust, creates good will, and it will help you not look like you're Spamming the Coffee Forum.

Rose

 

[TheGreenJoe]

It would have been more professional if you had written an introduction in the Introduction Thread and told us a little about yourself first, before diving into a sales pitch for your business.

We hope you will actively participate in the Forum discussions. It builds trust, creates good will, and it will help you not look like you're Spamming the Coffee Forum.

Rose

I'll make sure to do this as well! Thank you!

 

[AdventureCopan]

I think social media has become almost a mandatory staple of any company I think. Obviously within that you can try various avenues and techniques in each one, then work harder on the one working. We are on several ones, but Facebook is currently where we focus most of our effort as we develop and continue to grow our business. -Daniel Kent

 

[ensoluna]

I think social media has become almost a mandatory staple of any company I think. Obviously within that you can try various avenues and techniques in each one, then work harder on the one working. We are on several ones, but Facebook is currently where we focus most of our effort as we develop and continue to grow our business. -Daniel Kent

Yes, I also agree that FB is very important for our business (coffee exporters), However, if you can, please try to make your own website.
From my experience, I have realized that as coffee farm/exporter, our own website is more important and beneficial than facebook.
facebook is great for daily updates and chats with people, but can not really explain what & how we do things.
Serious buyers always ask for our website info, not just facebook.
good luck to you, Daniel.

 

[AdventureCopan]

Thanks! You are right, a website is very important. We are building ours now. It will have a blog, store, basic stuff and more. Then we can start pointing all our fb followers to there and do quick updates on fb. Quick screen shot while its under construction.

 

[empeg9000]

I think social media has become almost a mandatory staple of any company I think. Obviously within that you can try various avenues and techniques in each one, then work harder on the one working. We are on several ones, but Facebook is currently where we focus most of our effort as we develop and continue to grow our business. -Daniel Kent

I personally have found FB practically worthless. The organic reach is throttled right down to almost nothing because they want you to pay to promote the sight to your fans. I find Instagram and even Google+ quite a bit better. Of course having your own sight is a must. Pinterest is okay. Twitter is also good for quick things that you have going on.

 

[AdventureCopan]

I personally have found FB practically worthless. The organic reach is throttled right down to almost nothing because they want you to pay to promote the sight to your fans. I find Instagram and even Google+ quite a bit better. Of course having your own sight is a must. Pinterest is okay. Twitter is also good for quick things that you have going on.

I agree the organic reach has plummeted. I kinda forgot that I've had people say you haven't posted anything in awhile and I say I have been. Apparently fb changes rules and settings and then I'm not showing up. It's all a game to a good degree and pretty annoying imo.

 

[TheGreenJoe]

I personally have found FB practically worthless. The organic reach is throttled right down to almost nothing because they want you to pay to promote the sight to your fans. I find Instagram and even Google+ quite a bit better. Of course having your own sight is a must. Pinterest is okay. Twitter is also good for quick things that you have going on.

I've been using the "Promise to Post" to get around that and it works great. I tell my customers if they promise to post about us, they get 20% off the cup right now. Just tag us.
Because they are posting, it immediately goes out to their friends and family and side steps the whole sponsored vs organic. Yesterday I had 5 extra sales from it. Doesn't seem like a lot, but 5 sales a day can add up.

Also, Instagram has an amazing algorithm right now and the fact that you can hashtag to get spot specific advertising is great. I spend 10 minutes a day generating post and hashtag them. It keeps me active in my communities mind.

Also, keep in mind that these social websites are powerful SEO tools. Use the right keywords and you can gain some serious ranking with their pages. Youtube, Yelp and Facebook. In fact, my Yelp page still out ranks my website.