How Small Coffee Shops Can Succeed Using Social Media Essay Example for Free

How Small Coffee Shops Can Succeed use Social Media EssayE realone has a topical anesthetic coffee shop that they consider to be their favourite. That one send off where they k instanter theyll be welcomed with open arms and the people behind the counter know their name (or at least their face). The place that in time if their coffee costs almost double as much as Tim Hortons (Starbucks) that this is the place theyll al behaviors recommend to their friends. A few geezerhood ago, it was nearly impossible for a local coffee shop to compete with the deep pocket coffee shops. Today, even the smallest cafe with the a very little marketing bud operate evict compete. All they need is a story worth intercourse and of course, a coffee worth brewing. If they beat those, the clients will keep coming back the main impact is usually getting them there in the first place. Here are some ways that neighborly media potty be used to help local coffee shops compete with the big player s.Two Tweets and angiotensin converting enzyme SugarAs I write this post, cheep has become one of the biggest buzzwords of the year. However, the buzz isnt unwarranted. chirp is one of the largest affectionate networking channels in North Ameri tramp consisting more than 15Million accounts. And while its still in its infancy it provides businesses an unparalleled opportunity to communicate with consumers and current customers in real-time. So what does this mean for coffee shops? It authority that they can communicate more effectively than ever with consumers. If that means setting up a search that tracks their injury and sending a simple thank you or going as far as taking a pre-order, so be it.Twitter gives these brands a chance to create a in-person connection with their consumers and touch on their brand worth talking or so. By being active in the twitter community an opportunity exists for coffee shops to offer their space for events such as tweet ups. Hosting these l ive events at your venue not only gaurantee that youll be selling your products, tho alike guarantees some buzz (tweets) about your brand. On top of that, some of these new customers were probably never in your shop in their life story however, because you got involved in twitter and hosted this event you were able to attract new customers to experience your shop. What more can you ask for? Im glad you asked.How about 1 Blog LatteWhile blogging can be an important part of a social media strategy, its not worth having if you dont have a strategy behind it. If your main goal is to develop an online community it might be in your best interest to blog about different beans or whitethornbe do a vino Library TV segment Coffee Style. However, if your strategy is focused around getting more butts in your cafes seats, it might be in your best interest to discuss offers on the blog. As great as a blog can be for an organization it can also be their downfall. A friendship that views th eir blog as being a great way to only talk about their brand and how great they are will never find readers. Well maybe theyll have their spouse and employees but customers wont be interested. If you can provide your readers with something of value they will return. I often divide people looking to start a blog to try and offer the three Es of Social Media.Entertainment, Education or EngagementAn Extra Large FacebookFacebook has become the grand-daddy of them all when it comes to social networks. It has latterly gone from being a questionable place to have your brand, to a necessity for many companies in the food industry. With its most recent changes to the facebook pages it has become obvious that brand experience on facebook is back. Brands are now able to create facebook pages with more customization than ever and truly deepen their relationship with their customers. The frazzle-dazzle applications arent the only way for a local coffee shop to set itself a part from other stor es. It can also use Facebook to promote other content that they have created.This means they can post links to their blog, videos, pictures and even coupons reaching an audience that may not be present on the other social networking channels. With that said, we cant forget the meat and potatoes that Facebook was built upon. The ability to get your message out to a arrive of people is one of the key reasons why businesses have found such success on facebook. Those tweetups we discussed rather can easily be cross-promoted using a Facebook event. The opportunities available on facebook are great its up to you, to turn them into something remarkable.Whose your Manager Mayor? second power is the new kid on the block in the social media world. It will be the most talked about social networking platform for the rest of this year and will unquestionably be playing a big part in several social media plans. James Hoffman explains on his blog why, You have people competitively visiting you , talking about you. More than that there is a pretty sensible business model in there too, meaning that squarely could well be around in a few years. Coffee shops seemed pretty quick to emb carry twitter, and it will be interesting to see if that experience has soured social media for them, or if theyll embrace foursquare too. Something tells me that theyll embrace foursquare like a seat-belt embraces impact.Mayorship TechCrunchOne of my favourite tactics that coffee shops can use in Foursquare is promoting the idea of becoming mayor. The basics behind this tactic is that you tell the consumers that if they become the mayor of your shop they get their beverages for free. Seeing that there is an incentive now for going to the shop more and more Youve ultimately created a competition that will keep the people swarming your shop. The whole idea of providing customers with rewards for loyalty has been going on for years. This race to be the mayor however, takes customer loyalty, fli ps it upside down and turns it into a competition.Lets not get our Mochas in a BunchWith all that said, you must always remember your companies core strategy and goals. These channels discussed above may take a similar route as hi5 or geocities in a few years time. For that reason, it is important to not put all your eggs into one basket. Facebook is already talking about their new function that will be the Foursquare Killer. (Keep your eyes open) Finally, remember that the value you provide your customer in the store will always out weight the value you can provide them with a social networking tool. While its important to do things to get your customers in the door its just as important to make sure theyll want to come back.