Coffee Shop Marketing Strategies In A Social World

3 Comments
May 25  |  Inbound Marketing  |   Ryan Clark

The one thing I know well besides marketing and branding online is coffee shops. I spend a great deal at Starbucks, other chains and the local independent stores and have seen it all. One of the smaller coffee shops here in Victoria asked me for some help after getting to know the owner over the course of the last six months. I decided to make a deal/bet with the owner that if I could increase sales a certain amount, I’d win free drip coffee for a year. That was a deal for drugs I was ready to commit to. There were a lot of obvious first steps to take, those I won’t go into here as it’s pointless, but rather share with you some of the more unique strategies I put in place with little effort. The results were rather fantastic!

While not many people use search engines to find a local coffee shop as they’re everywhere, so we didn’t worry about ranking for a specific term here. Instead, I took on some unique social media methods that would drive a lot of customers and hopefully turn them into returning ones. Tapping into the local community played a huge role here and it turned out to be a game changer for this local business. So let’s get into the inbound marketing strategies and even a couple link building ones. One last thing, I’m happily enjoying my free coffee as I write this post!

Attracting Links:

Like I stated, the link building aspect wasn’t really a focus here but we did nab some links that would come in handy down the road. The other part of the social media marketing also netted the company a few links, so all in all it worked out nicely nicely. In their case we just focused on links from;

– local business directories within the area only
– links from the local bakery website they got their goods from
– links from the company that supplies their beans
– links from a few coffee shop directories

So nothing hardcore, just general link building that should be applied in almost every scenario like this. This alone did manage to bump them to the first page for their local area. This was not unexpected but the links combined with a few on page SEO changes did the trick no problem. This should be noted by other coffee shop owners trying to achieve this…chances are good that there is no real competition.

Utilizing Their Local Sub Reddit:

I’m a 4 year long Reddit veteran and a huge fan of my local subreddits. We decided to just let everyone know there that they’d get free refills on their coffee and tea if they just mentioned Reddit. We also put out an open ended invitation to host any Reddit meet-up events they had as well provide discounts that night on everything in the shop. This strategy was received quite well and has been providing them with more and more return visits. We nerds love our coffee, and if you have a unique shop with quality product, then you’re going to be a hit for sure. Just make sure you don’t come off as spammy or pushy with this route, and don’t expect great results every time.

Marketing With Meetup.com:

Meetup.com provides tons of amazing networking and marketing methods, and restaurants are always benefiting huge from it. Some of the events I go to in Vancouver attract over 100 people, and the bar we go to makes some serious bank that night. Almost every event lists where the meeting will take place, and usually this leads to a link.

We got in touch with half a dozen groups and offered the place out to the group, even after hours for a few of the late night crowds. The coffee shop now hosts nearly 4 Meetup events a month and it has done wonderful things for their sales.

Daily & Group Deal Sites (Groupon Etc):

You all knew this was coming, and it’s a no-brainer. A lot of local businesses complain that the cost of running a daily/group deal is not worth it. I had to remind them here that it’s more about branding and buzz in hopes those customers will return. If you can provide them with an amazing experience, your chances are really good that you’ve nailed down a new customer. Another interesting feature of some of these deal sites is that they provide a vendor link, and those are natural quality links you’re going to want in your profile.

Foursquare Mayor Deals:

Foursquare is still blowing up all over the world and it’s a great way to attract new and old customers. Your vendor page can net a worthy link, and your customers can fight over the mayor deal you offer. This coffee shop owner had never heard of Foursquare and that’s no surprise as it’s targeted at a much younger generation.

We made sure to get the check-in sticker on the door, a mayor deal on the web and added a few tips to add more depth to his venue page. The more geo-located tips from other users the better. These will pop up on your screen if someone has checked in near your business, and this can be worth it…it’s bloody free folks!

The Result?

Obviously the coffee shop had seen an explosion in sales compared to the previous 3 months. Obviously doing something over nothing would have a positive impact, especially how easy it all was to do. I spent no more than 20 hours setting everything up and I’m now going to be enjoying a lot of free coffee.  Now I’d love to hear from other coffee shop owners who’ve either tried some of this out, or are going to now. Let us all know how it works out!

Tagged , , , ,

2011 Hyundai Equus iPad Owner’s Manual – Booyah!

Comments Off on 2011 Hyundai Equus iPad Owner’s Manual – Booyah!
May 24  |  Brand Building  |   Ryan Clark

I was really impressed with the work Hyundai did with their latest car when it came to branding, marketing and just the overall product in general. This definitely will be the year that more and more mobile app’s for your car will be driven out, so let’s take a look at the future that’s already here. Besides having your entire Hyundai car manual at your finger tips, this iPad app has a whole slough of features to assist you in your travels.

This app, as I mentioned, has the manual with every bit of help and information and then some. Perhaps the second most hand features is that it can locate the nearest Hyundai dealer and schedule a service session! The marketing team behind Hyundai also made sure you can browse other vehicles from their line up..very smart! Now enough of my blabbing and finally let’s look at the app.

Tagged , ,

Vibram FiveFingers Shoe: A Look At A Viral Product

Comments Off on Vibram FiveFingers Shoe: A Look At A Viral Product
May 22  |  Viral Marketing  |   Ryan Clark

I thought the Vibram FiveFinger shoe would be an interesting product to blog on mainly for its viral aspect. I know in our ecommerce marketing experience that we rarely see a product that does half the work. Vibrams has created a product that is naturally getting interest because it’s crazy unique, and that can lead to a lot of marketing opportunities with half the effort. So hopefully you don’t mind me blabbing about another product and show off just how social media, links and the web is treating Vibrams. I’ll also note, that when I write about a company, they’re in no way a client or even know I’m doing it…so just a little of a disclaimer in case you think I’m selling out!

Not only are those insanely unique looking shoes, they’re apparently also very useful when it come to certain sports like running. Whether or not that’s true, I feel the urge to open my wallet and order a pair just to try it out. As I’ve mentioned before on here, that is something I don’t do very often so all the more reason to look at the magic behind the product. So the effect on other people has apparently taken hold, and I even started to notice a lot more joggers here in Victoria BC taking the plunge. I run 3 days a week on Dallas Road and that’s where I first started to notice the trend. The last straw was when I heard from a friend on Facebook that their sport store was barely able to keep them on the shelf.

Since they’re so popular, and clearly still in the new product phase of glory that customers are able to tell their story, and it convinces me! This is a great feature they’ve showcased which should do a superb job in convincing their would-be customers as well. This also leads me into the next bit of what’s awesome, and that of course is the power of Youtube. They have thousands of videos, mostly of customers using their Fiverfingers for all sorts of activities, including product reviews. These are some of the best free marketing strategies a company can put forth out there, and they don’t even have to do much! For example;


Video Product Review via Wired.com

Like I said, there are thousands of videos already driving branding buzz Vibrams way, but that’s not just all they’re doing socially. A quick look at their Twitter profile also shows nearly 14,000 followers…not too shabby folks! The Vibrams company has also been rocking Facebook hard and their brand page has nearly 135,000 followers! The one common theme I see for both social accounts is that their customer engagement is very active. This is due to a good product and loyal fan base who loves them right back. This right here is not easy to do, and sadly a lot of businesses just don’t get it.

Their Link Profile:

 

It doesn’t get much better than theirs! I highly recommend checking it out because it’s actually rare to see one so clean these days(lolz). When you have something this interesting, the links will come pouring in from all different sources, and this is the key to survival in Google. I’m seeing magazine links, blog links, social media links, tons of forums where people are talking and linking and running resource pages. This has resulted in thousands of high quality links that is driving them a lot of traffic.

I know the Vibram Fivefingers have been around for a couple of years now, but I mentioned that I’ve noticed them a lot more lately. With social media exploding for them it seems the end result is a huge buzz around the product, so let’s back that up with some online metrics;

So that’s all I can really say about Vibram and their cool as a cucumber product. Just like the rest of these posts I do, I hope they inspire your company to do a better job. If you’re marketing a unique product online, take note of how things are done and put some of that work into your brand. If you need the help, then get in touch with us because this is what we do.

Tagged , , ,

Friskies iPad cat games: developed by cats, tested on humans?

1 Comments
May 20  |  Brand Building  |   Simon

There are a few iPad games for pets, but Friskies has taken the production up a notch with three free cat games released today on gamesforcats.com. The games were built with HTML5, enabling your cat to attack your iPad or any Android device. The Friskies scientists claim that their cats haven’t scratched the glass of an iPad, but could damage a plastic cover.  The boss’s cat here is a heavyweight in the ring (pictured here), so I’m still sceptical on letting him take a swing at it. So I figured I’d test it out first before I mention it to second in command. The three games are Cat Fishing, Tasty Treasures and Party Mix-Up. All are pretty addicting from my end, the cat equivalent of Nintendo’s classic Duck Hunt, letting the cat swipe the targets instead shooting with a light gun. Now that I think of it, they should remake Duck Hunt for cats, catching the nostalgia market for cats that grew up in the 80s on 8-bit NES. Check out the video below:

I did a little Googling on it and found the game developer, Mondo Studios, which has already released two games for Friskies called Wonderland Quest and Wonderland Quest II. Both designed for humans, the popularity of the first demanding a sequel. I gave the sequel a go, which followed the original by letting you uncover cat treats in a fantasy setting, which was oddly hypnotic. The weirdest part is the developer’s press release, which sites a research study, funded by Friskies, which discovered these key findings:

  • Wonderland Quest positively influenced the purchase intent of Friskies dry cat food among buyers and non‐buyers of Friskies
  • Among Friskies buyers, the game had a positive impact on brand loyalty and influenced the purchase intent of specific varieties of Friskies cat foods
  • Among most groups the game also enhanced the Friskies brand perceptions of taste, variety and mealtime experience

So what I gather is they reverse-engineered the new games for cats from their success with cat food-based games for humans. This leads me to the only conclusion that the Friskies scientists are, in fact, cats.

Follow Me:

[email protected]

Tagged , , , , , ,

Miramonte Resort Social Branding: Luxury Resorts Take Note

2 Comments
May 19  |  Brand Building  |   Ryan Clark

Luxury hotels and resorts seem to be a little slow and pokey to embrace social, and sometimes it’s hard to get them in a groove as a client. I wanted to showcase a luxury resort we are not affiliate with, and hopefully inspire your team to get caught up. What I liked about the Miramonte, besides its location and amenities, was it’s social media efforts on a plethora of social platforms. I also wanted to get across that not everything needs to be viral or link bait, but just solid content that gets your message across. Hopefully the folks who run the Miramonte don’t mind me using them as an example, but I couldn’t resist as they’re doing a damn fine job.

When you’re a luxury resort of sorts, you’re already a sought after experience that hopefully alone is enough to get a viral effect going. Strutting your stuff across a few of the top social media platforms should be a kick start to an easy social marketing campaign. Your pictures, HD video, deals and celebrity visits are all bases you should have covered. The Miramonte has a great thing going on with their social media efforts, and while it may not be of rock star status yet, they’re heading down the right path. Let’s take a look at just some of the efforts that are driving them businesses through social interaction.

The Blog:

Of course a good blog is in order and the Miramonte is doing an ok job on their blog. While I think a good dosing of images and video could be added to make it more vibrant, they’re getting in solid content for the search spiders. It seems their Facebook Page is getting all the pictures, videos and social interaction and that’s a trend we’ll see more of down the road. We all know more people spend their time on Facebook than any other site, so this may be a sign of the times for blogs (in certain industries).

What they do different than almost all other resorts we’ve seen or worked on is offer people to guest blog. This was a nifty feature to have found and I think it’s a brilliant step to better selling their service. Just imagine your blog getting free great content from the people who pay to stay…just awesome!

 

Youtube:

Just about any luxury resort is worthy of video marketing mainly because each place is usually stunning. The Miramonte has a crazy nice location just two hours outside of LA, and they took advantage of this with a great mini video. You’ll see below that it’s nothing crazy, just shows off what they’re all about and even some summer deals. This kind of video marketing should lead to a lot of sales if they keep it up! This one was done by Point 7 West.

 

Twitter:

A lot of people struggle with Twitter, especially if they don’t have a dedicated marketing team. I can see how people don’t get involved, but in the hotel world that can be a huge mistake. The more social you can be the better off your business will be as well. The folks at the Miramonte have definitely been active here and what I liked especially about their Twitter stream was the direct interaction. Most companies just stick to tweeting their latest blog post or a deal, both of which there is nothing wrong with, just don’t make this your bread and Twitter butter.

Twitter is a great way to bridge the gap with your customers, both potential and past. It’s also a great way to get people to return by constantly being in their brain. We’ve even had a lot of success by firing off special deals and coupons to individual Twitter users…and it bloody works!

Facebook:

I really really liked what they’re doing with their Facebook Page. It goes beyond the normal wall posts and they seem to be really embracing a lot of features. You’ll see from my amazing Photoshop skills on all the features they’re taking advantage of(such as Reviews, Book a room, Youtube, Photos, Blog, Active Wall). This is all really good stuff and this is an area I want our hotel clients to take note of, as well all you hoteliers reading this post.

Since I’ve never been in contact with them I have no idea how that Book A Room feature is working for them from the Facebook Page. I can safely say that not including this feature will leave you at a loss, even if you only make one sale a month. From what we’ve seen on our end with other clients, the direct social contact through Facebook leads to a way higher conversion rate.

Foursquare:

Last but not least on the list to mention is Foursquare, and I honestly didn’t expect to see the Miramonte so active on here. Bravo! Their hip clients are checking in at a very good rate here and that’s all you can really hope for. If I were to offer any advice here it would be to jump on the mayor deal marketing opportunity. Besides that you can get a link from your venue page so why not utilize that and add a little more diversity to that link profile?

Foursquare doesn’t take much effort and if your mayor deal is attractive enough, you can pretty much set it and forget it. Make sure you befriend people who check in as well which goes to show you’re a company with real people behind it, and that you actually care.

Well I hope this inspires, helps and encourages a lot of you folks out there. As always, I’d love to hear comments, suggestions and tips regarding anything talked about here. If anyone from Miramonte wants to pipe in then we’d be more than thrilled! For the rest of you folks who are near LA and need a pampering, then check out their spring specials and deals.

Tagged , , ,

Social Media Marketing For Affiliates

Comments Off on Social Media Marketing For Affiliates
May 18  |  Social Networks  |   Ryan Clark

Here’s a goody but oldie from an Affiliate Summit back in 2009 that I just had to put up regardless of how late I am. Affiliate marketing is moving at a rapid pace throughout the social mediasphere and sometimes can be difficult to do it without being a spammer. I really enjoyed watching this keynote and it has a few gems of wisdom for affiliate marketer’s out there in the wild. You can also find the slideshare of this presentation here, and of course check out the next Affiliate Summit to get in on the latest action.

Tagged , ,

Sofitel: Any Press Is Good Press?

1 Comments
May 18  |  Link Bait Tactics  |   Ryan Clark

With the recent shenanigans with IMF director at the New York Sofitel, you’d wonder how bad is all this for business. I know it’s a touchy subject, this is why I have zero opinion on what happened, but more so one about how badly this will effect business for them…or if it were any hotel for that matter. The NY Sofitel has a long struggle ahead of them, but the press might eventually work out in the long run. I know it may be a little early to touch on the subject, but I thought it might be interesting to see how it’s already impacted them in both direct traffic, social media and of course the links.

I do put out my warmest regards to the Sofitel PR team, they are most likely sweating it right now trying to do damage control. If you’ve turned on a TV, read a newspaper or checked out your favorite blog you’ve most likely heard the story over and over. This is quite the scandal so some of the biggest sites on the web are out writing, linking and tweeting!

This definitely has shown to be driving some seriously hefty traffic Sofitel’s way, and most likely not for bookings at the moment! While this also might not be true for return client’s to the hotel chain because having stayed at a few Sofitel’s myself, I can say that loyalty to this hotel is something they don’t lack in. While I cannot get accurate traffic statistics, we’ll have to rely on Alexa and Compete for this post;

So how is bad press sometimes good press? Well I imagine down the road once no one cares about this in a week or two, all those thousands of links, social media mentions and branding will have gone a long way. According to my current SERPs (and checked with Scroogle), I’m seeing Sofitel just on the verge of the top 10 for “Luxury Hotel New York”. I’ll make sure to check back in on how they’re doing this a couple months down the road.

I’d really be interested to hear from them a month from now as well on how bookings are doing, but I imagine that information will never see the light of day…good or bad.

Tagged , , ,

  • The New Paid Link?



    Find out the results of a year of high volume content marketing on guests blogs taught us money still talks. Read the results!

  • Join Us On Facebook

  • Negative SEO Attack?


    Check out the anatomy of a "negative SEO" attack on our own site in our latest post. There's too much worry about these attacks happening, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Come read what I think and just what to do if anything like this happens to your brand.

    Read It Now: View Article

  • Archives