Coffee brings impulse buying because customers see your packaging and sign first. Aside from your regulars, most folks do not set out to ‘go to the coffee shop’ as they would to a restaurant (unless you ask them to so more on this later). The steady stream of customers is you need besides your typical morning commute business.
Target Daily Commuters
The morning commuters are your bread and butter; the rest helps fill in the revenue holes. These are your impulse buyers. They are going to come to you mainly via your sign outside. So, instead of sending out 10,000 postcards to your neighborhood residents, spend that money on a premium location, visible sign, and branding your image. You’ll be glad to do it.
Make Your Logo Visible
As far as your signage, get one that is AS BIG AS POSSIBLE. That is, as allowable by your city ordinance and landlord, without being tacky! Visibility increases with your sign. By branding your image, you are identifying your existence within your community. Be sure you have a unique logo. Hire any skilled professional, in case, and you cannot make a customized one on your own. You would have seen loads of cheap-looking logos that do not go with the image.
Make Your Coffee Shop Live on the Internet
Another step in branding your image is to secure your shop’s name on the World Wide Web by registering the domain name. Try to get all the domain tags: .com, .net, .org, etc. This is for email and your website. You will be glad you did because it gives you a more professional image. Remember, the more common your business name is, the more difficult getting it registered online is going to be because the name may be taken.
Make a Website from an Expert
As for your website, get one! If you can do this on your own, more power to you here too. Check around locally, and I bet there are a few web gurus in your area. Here is the chance to have every client take and share your name with them when they allow others to see it. Whether you pick sleeves for custom printing or you utilize stickers and put one on each protective sleeve or cup; they all are part of your branding. Make sure the design is sharp and clear that it describes your shop well.
Coffee Bag – A Crucial Factor for your Branding
The same goes for stamps. You can have a rubber stamp made to stamp your entire coffee bags like every coffee bag manufacturer does. Note that the brown Kraft paper bags are what you’d need for this. If you use the foil bags, your stickers will work well for this too.
Use Press Release as Advertising Tool
Press releases are an inexpensive way to tell the world what you are doing. A well-crafted press release delivered to the right person at the correct news outlet can become the best advertising form for you. Just be sure that whoever is on the press release as the contact person is actually available to be contacted.
Wearables as Advertisement
Another massive form of marketing is using caps, tee shirts, and other wearables. These are not less than a billboard for the folks that buy them. You can give them away if you want, it’s all good advertising. Yes, they are expensive, but I consider this great advertising and an expense under that category. Better, yes if you can make up the cost on them. But put this cost into your advertising budget.
Business Cards
Where would we be without business cards? Think about it: how many people have you run into that do not have a business card for whatever it is they do for a living? Not many that I can remember. This is your time to tell everyone you meet that you are in the coffee business. Everyone should be meeting you should get one of these from you. Please do not be shy about handing them out!
Menu Cards
Menus are a great example of simple marketing. These are the take out type so try to keep it simple. Under four pages, printed on an 8.5″x11″ sheet of BRIGHT colored paper and folded in half is best. You can place them on your counter near to the checkout or anywhere else customers can see and take them. You can have them copied at any copy place, or see if you can have a local copy shop do them. All you need is a place to make them on a copy machine. Menus printed on a printing press will be more expensive in most cases.
Last Word
Support materials advertise your products massively. You can usually get POS materials FREE from any supplier you are using. This suits for tent cards to keep on your counter to full-colored posters to hang on your windows.
Check out your distributor too. If they don’t keep these types of materials on hand, give a call to the manufacturer that can get them in your hands relatively fast.