Owner of Businessman to the Rescue: Brand management agency. Owner of Nettl, Cork: App & Web Design Agency. Owner of Bodhi: A Creative, Co-working Space.

Aug 25, 2016

Cafes are now 50% connection, 50% coffee

5 Marketing Strategies Every Cafe Should Utilise

For a cafe to succeed it must be more than the products and services it sells.

If Cafe a) has great coffee and sandwiches,
But Cafe b) has a marketing department — cafe b) will win every time.

The connection a cafe has with its customer is now paramount to its success. Creating this connection can be difficult but that is what marketing is:
– Marketing is an attempt of creating a connection with a customer.
– Marketing is the working towards a perfect brand image.
– Marketing is the creation of a connection that not only creates the customer, but cements customer loyalty.

So, how do we do this? Well, where most cafes, bars and restaurants falter is NOT in the implementing of a marketing strategy, but in failing to realise that one marketing strategy or even several working to build a business — that are themselves NOT connected to one another, will always fail.

(ie)

Most cafes (bars & restaurants) have their staff or themselves posting things on social media.
Most cafes (b&r) have a website.
Some cafes (b&r) have a blog that they utilise.
Some cafes (b&r) utilise facebook advertising and boost posts.

However, very few have these marketing strategies for cafes linked together and it is in this linking — this connection between Facebook and your website, your traffic and your blog, your ads and your email marketing where real success lies.

If you boost a post IN Facebook that doesn’t send traffic or customers to your website, you are simply “boosting” a post. It gets boosted, more people see it and that’s it. Once the money is spent and post is boosted you have to boost another post again, and again and again and again.

This is not a strategy to grow a business.

Below are the 5 main elements that a cafe, bar or restaurant should utilise AND link together to build the foundation of a successful business. This system, when built, will take on a life of its own and continue to grow your business for years to come, continuously, forever, for free.

So, where do we start?

We start with getting “cold customer” to your business.

A cold customer is someone who has had no prior interaction with your business

Step 1: SEO Blogging

Increasing the organic traffic of your website to increase the ranking of your website in Google search results

We begin by trying to increase your customer base. We do this by increasing the ranking of your cafe (b&r) website. The number one way to do this is with ‘Blogging’. The blog is still where Google will check first to see what is happening with your business. If no recent activity has happened on your website than the ranking of your website will slip further down the rankings of Google.

To get your Cafe to the first page of Google we must add relevant, long tailed, keyword rich articles to your blog informing the world of what is happening in your cafe.

Yes, it does take time, but usually after 9 to 12 articles, a cafe website will arrive on the first page of Google.

Step 2: Your Website

Your website must be fast loading and mobile friendly

Your website should be the foundation of your cafe, bar or restaurant. Your website should be a 24/7, 365 receptionist and sales person rolled into one constantly generating leads for your business.

All other forms of marketing rest upon the foundation of a well designed, well maintained, regularly updated, fast loading, mobile responsive website.

Over 80% of all search queries with regards cafes, bars and restaurants happen on smartphones. This is why it is imperative your website be designed for this screen and be designed in such a way to load quickly and display information quickly and in an easy to navigate way

Step 3: Your Brand

The connection between your business image and customer

After months of work, we are now seeing more and more “cold customers” arriving on your website. However, all of this work will fall short if your website (Your Cafe) does not have a brand which connects with these new customers. Your website must pull the customer into the world of your cafe, your ethos, your style and showcase what YOU are trying to do. Why your cafe is special, why your cafe is unique and worth a visit.

If the website is a boring and simply lists menu items and opening times, all of our effort to get to the number one page on Google will have been in vain.

Step 4: Email Marketing

Still the number 1 cafe marketing tactic for increasing sales

Traffic has increased, the website is mobile responsive, a strong brand to help form connections has been built — Now what? If we don’t capture the interest of your online customer, the whole closed-loop marketing system is again falling short.

This is where the number 1 online sales tactic comes into play — email marketing. Email marketing is still by far the best-selling tool for any business. Social media is great for what it does, but the conversion rates on Social Media from followers to customers is still extremely low.

Whereas the conversion rates in email marketing from subscribers to customers is incredibly high.

Your website must have an inbuilt email capture system to funnel visitors to specific landing pages where we encourage sign-ups and more. Once this system is added to your website it can convert visitors to potential customers forever.

Step 5: Social Media Management

Social Media Management is a great way to converse and engage with a growing customer base, but most importantly it is a great platform to direct customers to where we want them to be.

Social Media Marketing, especially within Facebook is very powerful. However, Facebook have managed to trick many a business owner by keeping them blinded by the fast paced engagement which can occur.

An owner posts a picture and people see it or like it. The owner sees this and believes that THIS is growing their business. Post something funny on Facebook and you receive immediate gratification. Perhaps you even boost your post for €5. However, if all of this boosting, sharing and engagement remains within the walls of Facebook — you are missing the whole point.

You cannot grow a business on the foundation of Facebook (or any Social Media platform) alone. You can grow a business on the foundation of a website

If your Cafe website is number 1 on Google you WILL see an increase in revenue (Always!)
If your Cafe’s email subscriber lists are in the hundreds and growing you WILL see an increase in revenue (Always!)

However, if your Cafe’s has 10,000 followers on Facebook or Twitter — will this guarantee sales and a steady increase in revenue? No, it does not.

Most business owners know this deep down, but don’t want to admit it — Why?

Because increasing a sites ranking in Google is hard
Growing an email marketing list is hard
Creating a brand is hard

A business owner can feel in control of their business on Facebook. They see the likes and shares and feel like they are doing something. But folks, this is not marketing — this is just social media.

Marketing IS difficult. It takes strategy, design, analytics and more. But it is in this difficulty where opportunity lies. While every cafe, bar and restaurant in this country is focusing on Facebook, you can focus on what really works — Closed loop marketing.

You can start implementing each of the above strategies. In time, when someone in your area searches for
‘best cafe in so and so’ — Your cafe will pop up. Your website will look great on their phone and the brand looks well — Sold! — a customer from nothing. They arrive at your cafe, you encourage them to check in, sign up or offer a review on yelp using inhouse sales tactics. This encourages more and more people online to find and come to your cafe. This upwards spiralling marketing system will transform your business into a brand.

And when that happens your competitor with 20,000 facebook fans won’t stand a chance. Hell, Facebook could be gone, we don’t know, but the internet isn’t going anywhere.

A business, business owner and business staff can only work so hard. There is a ceiling to the potential growth of a business. A BRAND does not have a ceiling. A brand can go global, a brand can spread further than a business. A brand has the potential for unlimited growth.

If you are a serious cafe, bar or restaurant owner then you will want to establish 2 or 3 more cafes bars or restaurants under the same brand. However, before you expand to the second business you must cement the BRAND of the first. Not perfect the business — develop and establish the brand. Because a brand is where customer loyalty lies and customer loyalty is where true business growth lies.

Good luck in the growth of your cafe, bar or restaurant.