How to Decide for the Right Social Media Channel for your Coffee Business

Ask yourself the following three questions:

1.   What does my audience online look like? Who do I want to reach?
2.   What is my goal for social media? What do I want to achieve?
3.   How much time can I spend on taking care of my social media accounts?

1. Your audience

First things first: Your ‘audience’ is not the same as the people heading to your cafe, coffee shop or roastery. They might be similar to the ones buying in your online shop, though.

Before even starting out with social media, before setting up any page or account, get to know your customers! What is their lifestyle? What are their habits? Are they even using one (or more) of the social networks you are thinking about setting up an account on?

If you’re already having social media accounts, ask yourself one more question: are the people coming to my cafe or coffee shop the same as the people liking my fan page or following my account? Do they match? Are they totally different?

Take some time here! You’d want the right fans that you can turn into customers eventually, not just some hundreds or thousand random fans to have your numbers look great.

2. Your goal

The next crucial thing to consider is your goal(s) for social media. Social media is a great tool to get in touch with your fans and potential customers. It’s THE tool to build a connection and a trusted relationship with them. The closer this relationship is, the more your customers trust you and your brand, the easier it is for you to sell your products!

So, think about, what you want to achieve with being present in either one of those social networks. Remember, you’re not setting up an account, because you think you have to…! Sit down and brainstorm some ideas what platform would work for your business!

Here are some suggestions, what questions to raise:

• If you want to make your customers aware of your product, a new coffee or your whole lineup.
• If you want to send your fans to your website or online shop, then in both cases Facebook might be a good choice.
• If you want to raise awareness for your brand or a new shop you’re about to open, then the photo and video driven platform Instagram might be an option for you.
• If you’re just starting out with social media, go for only one goal at a time.

3. Your time

Speaking of time, I don’t want to discourage you, but doing social media, takes time! Not just for posting content, but also for brainstorming content, posting on a frequent basis, talking to your customers, especially talking to your customers! Remember, social media is a tool to build a relationship with your fans and followers!

Now, think about your daily routine, what is your schedule like?

Taking care of supplies, ordering new coffee, hiring staff, standing behind the brew bar, roasting coffee…? The list is endless, if you’re an owner or manager of a coffee business, I’m not telling you any news here…

Before deciding for one or more social media channel, though, sit down and really evaluate how much time you actually are able to invest! For Facebook I’d suggest about 10-15 minutes daily by the way! This applies only for the engagement with your fans, though, not planning, posting content.

You’re lucky enough to have someone in your team taking care? Perfect! But, I’d like to stretch that again, if you’re just starting out with social media, start small! Decide for only one social media channel that fits your audience and your goal! Especially, if you’re not having the budget, yet, to hire someone to take care of your social media accounts.

So, before setting up an account on Instagram or Twitter or creating a Facebook fan page, sit down with your staff or your business partners and think about,

• why you actually want to be on one of these platforms,
• what you’re trying to achieve with being present,
• what kind of people you want to reach with your content as well as
• how much time you’re willing and able to invest.