When it comes to finding the best place to enjoy a nice cup of coffee, customers have plenty of options to choose from. Of course, some people would settle for the most well-known brands out there like Starbucks and Coffeebean, others want to give newcomers a chance to win their patronage.
For a new up-and-coming coffee shop business, it is definitely not easy to compete with the brands that people already know and love, however. There is one solution to all of that. New coffee shops can win customers with the right sense of identity and a very thorough branding strategy.
It cannot be overstated, the right branding is key when it comes to winning your customers. As a matter of fact, a lot of people are actually swayed more by the branding of the coffee shop than the actual coffee that is being sold in the coffee shop.
There are plenty of ways coffee shops are able to do this. Sometimes they give themselves a theme, a coffee shop for pet lovers to enjoy a nice cup of coffee in the presence of their furry little friends. Other times, coffee shops rely on sending the right message, coffee that is ethically sourced and local. And of course, for some of the bigger brands like Starbucks, they turn their brand into a social currency – people drinking their coffee is a sign of social stature and affluence.
So how are you able to use these techniques when you are just starting out? Here are some of the best ways that you can help your new coffee shop business stand out from the rest!
Mission and Vision Statements at the Core of Your Coffee Shop’s Brand
One thing that should always be included with the branding of a new coffee shop are mission, vision, and value statements. This is who you are letting your potential customers know that you are a coffee shop that is worth doing business with. After all, plenty of your potential customers are idealists and they want to know that they can trust the coffee shop that they are spending money on, or go somewhere else otherwise.
Mission
The branding of a coffee shop cannot be separated from its core mission statement. As a matter of fact, some veterans in the industry would argue that you should not start a coffee shop without first coming up with your core mission statement, to begin with.
For new coffee shop owners, coming up with a good mission statement can be a rather daunting task because they try to be too trendy and gimmicky with it. For your new coffee shop, you should not try to make a mission statement that only sounds good for the sake of being trendy, it needs to be a clear reflection of what your business actually does.
It is easy to say, for example, that your coffee shop was built to be a hub for people to foster their social relationships with a comfortable ambiance and great coffee. But do you actually care about this? That is the key to any good mission statement, think about what you are actually trying to accomplish and put it into words. In other words, do not lie for the sake of being appealing.
Vision
Another thing that you need to clearly define when you are starting out your coffee shop is your vision. Just like your core mission statement, your vision statement should be completely factual and not written just for the sake of it.
Whereas your mission statement is what you aim to accomplish, your vision statement is an embodiment of what that accomplishment will actually do. Where do you see your coffee shop 10 years down the line? What is the endgame? This is very important for your branding because when you get customers will associate themselves with this vision and if they condone it, they would want to be part of the journey into turning this vision into a reality.
For example, the vision statement of Starbucks is “to establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.” When their customers read this, they associate themselves as patrons of the provider of the finest coffee in the world, this is part of what makes Starbucks so prestigious. They are able to imbue their vision statement into the very identity of their coffee shop chain.
Create a Strong Coffee Business Brand by Thinking Local
Since your coffee shop is a new operation, it would only work to your advantage if you sent her your branding around your local vicinity. Before you could ever hope to go global, you have to think about your roots first.
There are many things that you can do in order for you to play to your local customer base. One of these ways, of course, is to use your local ingredients when making your coffee and your food. Another way is to figure out what people in your are like. What are the drinks that they enjoy and what are the foods that they like to eat? Then, you can center your flavors around those. And of course, you can play your local customer base catering to their beliefs, their values, and the things that your community stands for.
Use Local Ingredients
One way that you can influence the people in your local vicinity to become loyal customers is by simply using the ingredients that are directly available in the area. Of course, a lot of coffee shops would claim to have the best Columbian coffee beans available, but what about making your coffee with locally roasted beans? If your coffee shop sells food along with coffee, are you exporting the raw materials ingredients needed for this food or are you buying fresh from your local farmer’s markets?
There are a lot of advantages when using your local ingredients. Not only can you ensure the flavors, quality, and consistency of the products of your coffee shop up to par, but you can also reduce the costs in terms of your supply chain. Why would you ship ingredients over when it is possible to buy them locally and cut out the middleman?
Play To Local Tastes
This one is fairly simple and yet very profound. You cannot have a successful coffee shop business if you do not play to local tastes. This is very important because you have to remember that even though it is your coffee shop, the people in the area are the ones who are going to grow the business by giving you their patronage. In order for that to happen, you need to give them what they like.
If you are from the state of Washington, for example, it would be best to have stronger coffee that is less sweetened and not as gimmicky. If you’re from California, playing around with your flavors by using unique ingredients like pumpkin spice will always be appreciated by the people in that state. Figure out what the people in your area crave, and center your coffee shops products around that.
Cater to Local Values
Of course, you can also win the patronage of the people in your local area by ensuring your coffee shop is committed to the values that are very popular in your neighborhood. Using the state of Washington once again as an example, people believe in being friendly to pets and it is very popular in the state to allow pets to be able to come inside cafés and restaurants. For your coffee shop to be successful in the state, you have to allow pets to be brought in to please this desire of the locals.
Other areas would be very much into inclusivity and diversity, you have to show your commitment by hiring a diverse staff and making sure that your menu offers more international flavor pallets.
Putting up a rainbow flag during pride month it’s a simple yet very impactful way that you can show your support for the LGBTQ+ community, and it is something that members of the community from a little cool area would really appreciate. It is important, however, that you do not use these things simply as a marketing tool but you really have to be committed to the causes that your business appears to support.
Once your coffee shop knows how to cater to the desires of the locals, you will be able to recreate the success with your future branches. Some of the bigger coffee shop brands tweak their menu a little bit depending on which country they are, keeping most of the favorites that one would come to expect from them, but featuring new items that cater to local tastes. You should think along those same lines if you want your coffee shop to grow.
A Dynamic Social Media Branding Strategy for Your Coffee Shop
This is something that you absolutely cannot skip. Having the right social media strategy is incredibly important for modern coffee shops. As a matter of fact, if you do not have one, your brand will simply fade into irrelevance no matter what else you try.
It is no secret, the eyes of the world are currently on social media. Particularly, the main social media platforms that you need a clear strategy for are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more recently, Tiktok. Here are some of the ways you focus on your branding for each platform.
Facebook is still the biggest social media platform in the world. If you are starting out, this will probably be where most of your digital advertising campaigns for your coffee shop are going to be carried out. The great thing about Facebook is that, compared to the other social media platforms, it can really represent 100% of the identity of your coffee shop.
For example, you can post basically all of your menu items on your Facebook page. You can create events whenever there is a special occasion at your coffee shop. You can create a real community of patrons on your Facebook page where they all get to share their experiences.
Next to Facebook, Instagram is the second most important social media platform that you need to master for your coffee shop’s branding. When you think about Instagram, you think about one thing – visuals. There is no place on the internet that is better than Instagram for creating those “we need to check this place out” moments for people that are enthralled by the beautiful images and videos that you share on your feed.
When creating an Instagram account for your company, you need to prioritize having a very consistent branding kit. You need to use colors that are consistent with the design of your coffee shop, the fonts that you use need to be uniform, and you need to use the same lighting and aesthetics for each and every one of your images, especially when it comes to pictures of your drinks.
If you want to master Twitter, you just need to keep two things in mind — humor and wit. Whether your Tweets are serious or are meant to be taken as jokes, you need to be very clever with your copy. As a matter of fact, you might want to hire an actual copywriter for all of your Tweets so that you can maintain the same tone and sense of humor.
- Tiktok
We already mentioned that Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world. In a few years, it is not an overstatement to say that that title will probably belong to Tiktok. As early as now, you need to be an early Tiktok adapter for your coffee shop.
Getting TikTok right requires a lot of creativity on your part. Not only do you have to be very updated on the latest trends, but you also have to get the type of humor that TikTokers appreciate and implement it into your marketing.
For more traditional business people, this would all sound like nonsense. After all, it is hard to comprehend how doing funny dances and doing silly skits can possibly help your coffee shop, but some of the biggest brands in the world do it so that they can play to a younger audience. If you really want to have as effective of a social media strategy as possible, giving Tiktok a chance would be worth the effort.
Key To Every Successful Enterprise: The Name
There is no branding that could ever be complete without a great name. Beyond just the gimmicks, the mission and vision, the logos, and the color schemes of your company, the name is what sticks to your potential customers first.
When coming up with a name, you need to think of something that is not too generic, but something that is not too abstract. Calling your coffee shop “Bobby’s Coffee Place” makes the name all too forgettable, but coming up with something like “Bobby’s Brew” sounds catchier and has a better ring to it.
Play With The Senses
No coffee shop branding would be complete if you do not play with the eyes. Even without seeing the writing on the facade of the shop, a person could spot a Starbucks from a mile away just because of the trademark logo and color scheme. If you want your coffee shop business to be noticed, you have to focus on these things.
Logo
There may be a lot of free tools available to you for creating a nice-looking logo, but if you have the funds, it would not hurt to hire a professional instead. This is something that you should consider doing because there are people out there who actually understand how logos can be more recognizable and impactful to the viewer. Hiring a professional designer may cost you money for something that you can probably do for free, but having your logo become more recognizable will be well worth the cost.
Create an Awesome Brand for Your Coffee Business
Those are the steps that you can take to create a great brand for your coffee shop. It is all about identity and manifesting it. Before you even start your coffee shop business, think about what the ultimate version of it is and center the identity of your coffee shop around that. Creating a dynamic brand for your coffee shop simply takes one key ingredient — heart.