Top 10 Marketing Tips for Your Online Coffee Business
Jump to:
- Connect with Customers Through Content Marketing
- Express Your Coffee Brand Personality
- Build Your Brand’s Social Media Presence
- Partner with Other Brands
- Equip Your Website with Popular Payment Resources
- Mobile Access and Mobile Marketing
- Run an Email Campaign
- Take Advantage of User-Generated Content
- Offer Incentives and Rewards to Keep Them Coming Back
- Feature Engaging Images and Infographics
Coffee is a different outlet to many — to some, it is a morning pick-me-up, while to others, it is a chance to socialize, and to others still, it is a source of business. The coffee industry continues to grow as the demand increases. According to the National Coffee Association, 41% of American adults drink specialty coffee daily, and the average amount of coffee for American coffee drinkers is nearly three cups per person. Coffee businesses are also changing to meet the new needs of customers who are on the go. Online coffee businesses are a source for online shoppers, mobile users, and other buyers to conveniently purchase their favorite caffeine source.
Online coffee businesses allow many to work from home selling coffee. However, growing your business requires advertising strategies and website optimization. If you are looking for the best practices to sell coffee from home, you need to alter your business to fit emerging trends and the habits of your potential customers. These coffee marketing ideas and tips will give your business direction and practical steps for successful progress.
1. Connect With Customers Through Content Marketing
Putting out helpful and informative content that relates to coffee brewing methods, drink recipes, and new roasting trends attracts website visitors. Content marketing traditionally includes blogging, but videos and podcasts also count as useful material that leads customers to your website. Generate interesting blog posts and videos that feature your products in fresh ways.
Along with truly useful content, make sure it is shareable. Before producing a new post or video, ask yourself, is this something my potential customers would want to pass on to their friends and acquaintances? Many content marketing management tools exist to help you come up with topics and make connections in the coffee world.
Be consistent in releasing content, so your visitors have a reason to come back to your website and become a return customer. You create trust when you establish your brand as an authority on coffee trends, the best appliances to enhance taste and texture, or guides on grinding consistency. Create a schedule for your content and the measures you will take to market your website.
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2. Express Your Coffee Brand Personality
Your brand communicates the values and character of your company, but it also leaves a distinct impact with viewers who will associate images and product with your business. Choose how you want your online business to be remembered. Separate yourself from the competition by selecting a strong and memorable brand personality.
Do you want people to think of your coffee as their lifeline for every busy morning and an on-the-go necessity? Or do you want people to associate your brand with a cozy cup of joe shared with their family? After you establish your voice, style, and tone, don’t divert from them. Each time your website visitors read a new blog post or see a new social media photo, you want them to feel like they are talking to an old friend or rooting for a favorite representative.
Make your online coffee business a quirky, energetic voice in this caffeinated industry or make it an elegant, high-end perspective. Organic or indulgent, youthful or timeless, ensure your brand is identifiable — then express that personality in your website, social media, powerful packaging, and captivating advertisements.
3. Build Your Brand’s Social Media Presence
Your e-commerce business will engage a small pool of people until you create social media profiles for your business. When you enter the realm of social media, your engagement will boom. Customers will share your products and content, and you’ll be noticed more and more. But before you enter the social media sphere, establish your ideal brand that will enthrall your target audience.
You’ll want to create profiles on the most popular social media platforms first, but new platforms emerge all the time. You can try out new ones and read up on projected social media trends to stay ahead of the fads. Your analytics will reflect the success of each platform, and as you go, you can discard any modes that don’t contribute to sales.
Social media keeps consumers in the loop. Customers are interested in the behind-the-scenes action and the real people who service them. If you are worried about juggling many social media profiles, management resources take the pressure off. Use a social media marketing management tool to organize your next posts.
4. Partner With Other Brands
Other online brands that pair well with coffee, like breakfast food companies or ceramic mug businesses, will promote your business in lucrative ways. This business relationship is mutually beneficial because you can also feature their products on your blog or social media. If your online coffee business is still getting its bearings, you can receive the help of an established company if they see your e-commerce entity’s potential.
Adding brand ambassadors or influencers will make your online coffee business personal. Many different services identify the influencers in your industry for you so that you can choose the right people to promote your coffee. Add a special place for your partnerships on your website so consumers see your supporters and the trajectory of your online business.
Choose influencers who represent your target audience and can build your reputation. For those who follow and listen to your partners, you can offer discounts and coupon codes. Increase coffee sales with this incentive strategy.
5. Equip Your Website With Popular Payment Resources
Your online business is all about exchanging goods for payment — and you want to make the process of receiving your high-quality roasted beans a no-nonsense one. Place clear instructions and payment tools on your website, and your customers will be on their way to enjoying their fresh grounds. PayPal and Dwolla are among the top payment solutions for online businesses.
Offer payment methods on your e-commerce website that are most convenient for your customers and that are the most popular in online purchasing. Invoice payment methods like PayPal are effortless and extremely common for online shoppers. According to Search Engine Journal, the most recent data shows that PayPal has 137 million active accounts in 193 markets. PayPal can handle many currencies, so this is a beneficial option for online coffee businesses with global aspirations.
Dwolla services ACH Payments, which is a versatile payment method. Dwolla has a monthly fee but no further transaction charges, and it fits the needs of the business and customer if they want to proceed with the transaction over basic communication services, like email. ACH is a way for global customers to receive your coffee if you are willing to ship your products to countries besides your own. They function as a credit card processor and mobile payment processor, which simplifies the consumer experience.
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6. Mobile Access and Mobile Marketing
Cell phones aren’t just for calling, texting and taking pictures — they are also many people’s method for purchasing their favorite dark roast pick-me-up. Mobile shopping is a new trend that is consistently growing in popularity. Many online coffee companies are also offering subscription deals where coffee is delivered every few weeks. Consumers love this convenient grocery option that they can use from the comfort of their own home.
Optimize your website so it is mobile-friendly and all your e-commerce tools still function smoothly. You can even create a mobile app for better and easier purchasing. According to the Pew Research Center, 83% of regular Internet users in the U.S. use a smartphone, tablet, or similar mobile device. What is most important with mobile access is that your customers experience a responsive interface when they use your website on a mobile option.
Mobile advertising and marketing solutions can pinpoint customers by demographic and potential interest level to send them to your online coffee business. The National Coffee Association trend report of 2018 showed that the 18-24 crowd has a significant preference for gourmet coffee over non-gourmet. Depending on your online company’s products and branding, this demographic may push you to feature mobile ads or marketing messages that present your coffee as a substantial factor in their gourmet drinks. Become their go-to caffeine fix by catering to the right mobile demographic.
7. Run an Email Campaign
Email marketing is an essential component to e-commerce businesses, and online coffee companies employ this tactic to encourage continued purchases and loyalty. Use analytic tools to observe how many times your emails incited responses, opened links and caused canceled subscriptions. Automate your email system so that your customers regularly receive messages about new products, reminders about specials and company news.
Secure email addresses through checkout or with pop-up offers. Clearly display the option to receive or opt out of marketing emails so that you are not releasing a barrage of information on unsuspecting people. Also, provide a way for customers to alter the frequency of email updates and offers. Allowing them to personalize the email relationship increases the likelihood of a positive response.
In 2015, Forrester Research reported that 24% of revenue for company marketing campaigns results from email marketing. However, email marketing may now be at its peak performance, because the current practices in marketing produce large returns with email marketing without spending too much of their digital advertising budget. Email marketing is a step that will enhance your online coffee business and make promotions and customer relations effortless and beneficial, especially when automated.
Contact the private label coffee experts today
8. Take Advantage of User-Generated Content
People love posting about their favorite brands and the companies they support. Foresight Factory has found that Instagram posts featuring coffee have increased 4,500% since 2015 — and these coffee posts are a trend that is common around the world. Fortunately, that means your online coffee store can benefit from your customers’ coffee posts. Website visitors trust the opinions of real people and view these recommendations as reliable.
Designate a place on your website for customer images on various social media sites. Promote a hashtag that organizes all the posts in one area so you can easily highlight them on your website. Customers will be thrilled to find their picture contributes to your company. You can prompt your customers through email to keep adding the hashtag or tagging your online business account in their pictures.
Give them even more incentives to add photos of your brand of coffee by running contests for the best pictures or captions and by reposting their pictures on your business social media profile. Reviews and testimonials from customers also bolster your company’s reputation with new customers. User-generated content builds confidence in your brand by simply sharing existing customer reviews and posts.
9. Offer Incentives and Rewards to Keep Them Coming Back
Generate loyalty by treating your returning customers differently. When customers stick with your brand, they are more likely to recommend it to friends, rave about it on social media, and be a faithful source of revenue. To get them to purchase more coffee, extend special discounts on products or rewards once they buy a certain amount.
Free shipping is a powerful incentive. Whether you choose to give free shipping to returning customers or to those purchasing $50 worth of coffee, the offer is a compelling way to boost sales. Add-on gifts are also a customer favorite, so consider offering a sample of a holiday blend to loyal customers. Coupon codes that only certain customers have access to make them feel like they have to take advantage of the opportunity.
Loyal customers spend a little extra the first time you offer them an incentive for a larger purchase, but they continue to spend more, which keeps your online coffee business booming. Loyalty programs begin a cycle that serves your business and your customers.
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10. Feature Engaging Images and Infographics
High-quality pictures are the visual key to improve your coffee marketing campaigns. It’s no secret that humans are visual creatures, but extend this fact to your website, social media, and other online platforms. A post with a featured image is more likely to arrest a visitor’s attention than one without, and according to Hubspot, 32% of marketers claim that images are the most vital content form for their business.
If you are wondering how to sell coffee online, you need captivating pictures of coffee in many forms on your platforms. High-resolution pictures of coffee beans or coffee art will connect your visitors to your product and company. Pictures of the process of making lattes or unique brewing methods will interest potential partners. Hire a photographer to snap some of these shots, so your potential customers know what they can turn your product into at their home or shop.
Infographics help your customers retain the information you want to communicate. People retain 55% more information when an image presents information rather than if they listen to it. Infographics are also shared across the Internet often, so if you produce a chart of multiple kinds of coffees and details about them, this could be a way to attract more customers.
Get Your Coffee From Joe’s Garage Coffee
To further your online coffee business, make sure you have a high-quality and consistent coffee supplier. For a quick response and short lead times, partner with Joe’s Garage Coffee. We perform many services to offer your e-commerce company exceptional customer service and flexibility — from packaging coffee to creating unique flavors and roasting our beans or yours.
Contact us today to tell us about your online coffee business and learn more about our services.
