How To Create A Coffee Shop Marketing Plan: Step by Step

Here is our step by step guide to creating a coffee shop marketing plan. Make sure you give yourself and your business the best start you can.

Note paper sheets with business strategy, calculator and laptop - Coffee shop marketing plan
A marketing plan will help you find the right customers and sell more coffee and other products

So, you have opened a coffee shop. Congratulations but did you write a coffee shop marketing plan?

If you want to run a profitable coffee shop, a marketing plan will help you find the right customers and sell more coffee and other products (more on that in a moment).

The first step is to come up with the materials you need for writing a coffee shop marketing plan.

Materials Needed for a Marketing Business Plan for Coffee Shop

You need a few materials to build a successful marketing plan for your coffee shop, including:

  • A computer
  • An internet connection
  • Information on your menu items
  • Your marketing budget
  • Any information on your current marketing plan
  • The blueprint of your cafe
  • A local map with your coffee shop’s location
  • Your current coffee shop’s website

After you have the necessary materials, you can follow these steps to develop your coffee shop marketing plan.

The Steps to Create a Strong Coffee Shop Marketing Plan

Step 1: Articulate Your Goals and Mission Statement

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Define your goals and mission statement

To begin with it is important to define your goals and mission statement. For example, you might say something along the lines of,

“Our goal is to provide a coffee shop where people come together to spend time with family and friends.”

This mission statement will guide your employees, business partners and investors. This is the first step in forming your brand identity.

Then, you need to establish your marketing objectives. Make sure you clearly define your objectives using specific, measurable language. This might include:

  • Improve brand awareness by creating a steady increase in our number of new customers
  • Increase revenue by increasing the size of the average order at our coffee shop
  • Boost the profit margin by increasing sales while also reducing marketing expenses

Clearly defining your marketing objectives is the first step in establishing a strong marketing plan. This is where your metrics, or key performance indicators, will be important. Some of the most common KPIs for coffee shops include:

  • The average cost of goods sold
  • Spending amount per customer
  • Revenue per available seat per hour

Think about which of these relate to your coffee shop.

Step 2: Define Your Target Sociographic

After you have established your marketing goals and objectives, you must figure out who your customers are going to be. While it would be nice to cater to everyone, this is not realistic. If you try to target everyone, you will target nobody. Instead, identify your ideal customer. Some of the questions you need to answer include:

  • How old are they? Are they young professionals? Are they over 65 years of age?
  • Is the target market consistent in its socioeconomic status? What is their average annual income?
  • Are they male or female?
  • Are they single or married?

You should be able to segment your target market into two or three parts, then, you can design ads (and drinks) that target your ideal customer.

Step 3: Define Your Desired Position in the Market

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Be aware of your desired position in the market

For your coffee shop to be successful, you must be aware of your desired position in the market. Develop a slogan such as, “Get Up, Get Coffee, and Be Happy!” A slogan is different from a mission statement because a slogan is something that is written for your target market; whereas, a mission statement is tailored toward your employees, business partners, and investors.

After developing a slogan, you should brainstorm a few ways that your coffee shop will clearly define its position in the market. A few potential options include:

  • Our furniture arrangement will clearly define our relaxed setting, encouraging customers to sit down and stay awhile.
  • Our music selection will display our identity and cater to our target audience.
  • Our bar will offer unique drink toppings to let our customers try something new.

These are a few of the ways that your coffee shop can define its positioning in the market.

Step 4: Define Your Marketing Strategy

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Develop your company’s marketing strategy

Once you know the goals of your coffee shop, its target customers, and its position in the market, you are ready to develop your company’s marketing strategy. A few key points you should remember as you plan your strategy include:

  • Competitive Analysis: Know what your competitors are doing. This will help you position your drink selection and prices to be successful.
  • Brick and Mortar Advertising: Think about how you are going to use brick and mortar advertising to be successful. For example, direct mail marketing is a cost-effective way to place physical ads in the hands of your target audiences. Using durable postcards is a reliable way to target audiences over the age of 65. Taking out ads in local school and university papers might be a good way to target younger individuals.
  • Link Social Media Profiles to the Company Website: Find ways to drive traffic online as well. Leverage your social media profiles by linking them together. Ensure your company website and social media platforms drive traffic to each other using “share” buttons and backlinks.
  • Encourage Online Reviews: Ask customers to leave positive reviews online. This will help you with general SEO and local SEO, and it can help your Google My Business page. Consider offering first-time customers a discount on their next drink if they leave a review online.

Finally, make sure you revisit your marketing strategy on a regular basis. Remember that a strong marketing plan should make your coffee shop stand out. Many local coffee shops are in your area. What makes your coffee shop different? The unique elements should be an important part of your coffee shop marketing plan.

The Final Word On A Coffee Shop Marketing Plan

As you track the success of your coffee shop’s marketing plan, you will also want to spend time focusing on the quality of your customer service. Consider the adage that high-quality products and services market themselves. Find ways to make purchasing easier for your customers. This might include:

  • Providing them with the ability to order online
  • Offering user profiles that store each customer’s preferred drink, allowing your staff to expedite your customer’s orders ahead of time
  • Establishing a reward program that provides them with periodic discounts, encouraging them to visit the store more often

Your coffee shop will compete with several others in the local area, so you must convince customers that your coffee shop is the right one for them. When you follow these steps, you will develop a strong, cost-effective coffee shop marketing plan that targets your customers in a personalized manner. This will drive the success of your coffee shop by increasing sales and keeping your customers happy.

Author

  • David R

    Job experience includes extensive work as a teaching assistant, tutor, and guest lecturer and extensive employment in the healthcare field. Have published multiple research papers and numerous poster presentations on various healthcare research topics. Find David on WriterAccess.