Marketing Tips for Q1

Authors: Hannah Lain, Director of Sales and Marketing | Alayna Alberts, Marketing Manager - Lotus Energy Drinks Lotus Plant Energy is based upon the sacred lotus flower, the interconnection of mind, body and spirit. We embrace the power of vibrant color, taste and energy to evoke the senses to a feeling of happiness, harmony and balance. Our journey led us around the world to discover 7 of Earth's most powerful plants we used to create our proprietary formula we call PE7™ (Plant Energy 7). Learn more from Lotus Energy Drinks during their Coffee Fest New York education sessions: Digital Marketing Success for Your Coffee Shop/Cafe Energy Drink Workshop: Power Up Your Profits

 

In a world where we are constantly being advertised to, it can be difficult to stand out amongst the noise as a business owner. Studies show that the average American is exposed to up to 10,000 ads daily. With the rise of digital marketing over the last decade, it can be incredibly challenging to determine what tactics your customers will respond to. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer: you must continuously listen to your audience, test new strategies, and continue evolving your strategy accordingly. So, where do you even start? 

There are standard best practices that you can follow that will help guide you through the planning process of creating your marketing strategy. It’s important to follow specific guidelines before executing direct plans of action. We’ll cover those here:

Best Practices:

• Personalization
  Personalizing your marketing campaigns (i.e. social media content, store ads and promotions, etc) will ensure that you communicate what matters most to your customers.
  Tip: Ask your customers for feedback! Gauging their interest in certain menu items/flavors, or getting them involved in upcoming creations can be a great way to engage.

 

• Don’t try to be everywhere at once
  With so many different social media and marketing platforms, it can be challenging to know which ones are most effective. While this could vary by region, choose 1-2 social platforms and do them well - quality over quantity is key here, but consistency plays a factor as well. In other words, don’t post just for the sake of having something to post - make it meaningful to your audience, but make sure that you are posting consistently. 5-7 posts/week (or once per day) is typically a great goal for most coffee shops.
  Tip: Content batching can be useful when creating content to ensure you stay consistent. Plan a photoshoot for upcoming specials and menu items each month so you can batch your content for the following month. 

   

• Optimize for local search
  Digital marketing isn’t just all about social media. Coffee shops must make sure their local footprint is present and updated on local search engines like Google Business. If you do not have a Google Business page, visit the website here.
  Tip: Fill out as much information on Google Business as possible - this includes filling out your profile information to the max, updating ‘special hours’ which include holiday hours,  listing your menu items, and uploading photos of your shop and offerings. Don’t forget to ask customers for reviews and respond to them (even the negative ones)!
  Bonus tip: Offer 10% off the next visit when customers leave a positive review.

   

• Multi-touch points
  While you don’t need to show up on every social media platform, it is important to diversify your marketing strategy and show up in different types of places both online and offline.

  • Ideas: Online avenues - social media, digital ads, SEO, website, email newsletter, SMS marketing (text)

  • Offline: loyalty programs/punch cards, local collaborations with relevant businesses, postcard mailers, local magazine/newspaper ads, local sports sponsorships/events, and pop-up events. 

     

• Convenience
  We don’t often think of convenience as a marketing tactic, but trust me, convenience goes a long way with customers. While factors like location might be out of your control, you can implement processes and procedures to ensure a seamless experience: implement mobile ordering and loyalty programs, simplify your menu, showcase images of menu items, and have proper signage - all of these things can help improve customer satisfaction by ensuring they have a more positive experience. 

Tips for Q1 2025:

• Promote the healthy/wellness aspects of your products - people are all about New Year’s resolutions and fresh starts, so focusing on key health benefits and features of certain offerings, especially at the beginning of the year, can help push sales.
  Tip: Offer promotions on ‘healthier’ menu item options to help promote them

   

• Clean out your followers/following to get a clean slate of your engaged followers - this gives you a more accurate view of what content those high-value customers actually care about. To do this, remove any ‘ghost’ follower accounts (i.e. fake profile accounts, disengaged users, etc.). While this may make your follower count go down, this will increase your engagement rate, which is more beneficial to social media algorithms.

   

• Challenge yourself to try ONE new thing - digital marketing is ever-evolving. It’s important to not get overwhelmed by thinking you have to implement every strategy at once. One new thing could be trying TikTok videos, paid ads on Facebook, boosting posts on Instagram, etc. Seeing success on one avenue can boost your confidence to learn a new skill, and throughout the year you can work on implementing more things off that list.

   

• Tips for content: The most popular coffee shop content last year was high-quality photos and videos, coffee tips/tricks/secrets, behind-the-scenes, interviews with baristas/customers/experts, and giveaways
  Tip: Use AI to help develop captions for your content. Provide a short prompt of what you want it to include, let AI do its work, and then edit the final copy.

   

• Algorithm Update - As of December 31st, 2024, you can no longer follow hashtags because they are becoming increasingly obsolete as a way to find things. Focus more on the SEO in your videos/captions because that is what Meta (Facebook & Instagram) will be solely relying on for deciding how and where to distribute your content.
  Tip: Don’t forget to engage with your audience - engaging in content will boost your algorithm score.
  Bonus tip: Get User Generated Content (UGC) by encouraging customers to use a branded store hashtag (example: #javajoes) with social media posts when visiting your shop. You can then search your hashtag to see how people are engaging with your business on social media, and engage with, and share their content.

   

Resources:

You don’t need to be a certified marketing professional to become a better marketer for your business. Make it your goal this year to dedicate a few hours a month to learning new skills that will equip you with better knowledge for more growth this year. Check out these free online resources to start you off on the right path to better marketing in 2025: 

• Google Skillshop (includes class on Google Business)

• Meta Business Suite (free courses and paid certifications)

• Coffee Business Owners groups on Facebook are a great way to connect with and learn from other business owners who have likely encountered the same challenges as you. Reach out, network, and give back to the coffee community - this is how we grow as an industry and become stronger together. 

   

Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry. You’re not alone. It’s important to keep in mind the reason you started your business and let that drive your passion for growth. Remember that everyone is on their own journey, and you should not get discouraged by comparing yourself to the competition. Celebrate your small wins! Join a local business network in your community! Find ways to give back! The best marketing starts with authentically connecting with your customers and staying true to your purpose.

This blog post was written by Hannah Lain, Director of Sales & Marketing and Alayna Alberts, Marketing Manager - Lotus Energy Drinks.