Marketing Ideas

coffeedrinker

Im just a coffee drinker but with a lot of businesses at different stages all over the country, many small places up against bigger corporations, I thought it would be great for people to share ideas on what things have worked well for them to bring in customers and general marketing.

Small local places seem to make great coffee yet at times dont seem to get the rewards they deserve.

nunu

You have to understand, the best marketing is free.  Word of mouth is the best marketing a small operation can have.  By naming the places you've had good experiences with, you're sure to attract the attention of people here or with people you've spoken to.  Put out some names, they'll surely get business from someone reading these posts.

mattyj

Yeah, I agree with nunu. When I find a new cafe that I really like, I tell all my friends/work colleagues etc etc. I have a bit of a reputation as a coffee connoiseur amongst my friends, so they'll tend to trust what I'm saying. To back it all up, I'll regularly take people to the newly discovered cafe for coffee, lunch, breakfast or whatever. We've started a bit of a trend, taking a group of friends to a particular cafe every sunday for lunch. It's not long beofre my mates are telling me that they've been stopping in for coffee there during the week. It's funny; A gloria jeans store just opened around the corner from my local cafe ... people have been mentioning it to me, which gives me the opportunity to screw up my nose and recommend better coffee around the corner. No offense to all the gj's fans/staff who visit here!

coffeedrinker

I agree word of mouth is best. I was thinking if anyone had come up with cool nifty ideas which worked really well. As a drinker of coffee (couldnt make a good coffee if I tried) I prefer small places rather than franchises.

One-a-day

That is more often than not true but while travelling to the deep south nearly into mexico (vic) the best latte I have had in a while was from none other than the evil golden arched empires Wagga Wagga Mc caffe, the tripple choc cookie on the side may have helped . But also I have been to small places in Newcastles food precincts and found great and bad coffee's.

mattyj

oh yeah, there's always exceptions to the rule ... macca's is normally rubbish, but then you go to Heathcote macca's, and they make every order on the spot, rather than mass producing cheeseburgers and letting them sit. The food there is actually pretty decent, for macca's. (Okay, so I had to send my double quarter pounder with bacon back three times before they got it right, but hey, it was fresh and tasty!) And for every franchise shop serving an alright coffee, there's probably a thousand little cafe's serving coffee that doesn't taste very nice.

mattyj

oh ... nifty ideas ... how about a web page where you can rate a cafe that you've been to ... oh ... it's already been done! The main problem I have with the rate a cafe web page idea is that everyone has their own standards. Campos will get 5/5 for coffee because they're good and so many people like them, but then, so will Mr. Nang's Charcoal Chicken Shop in Epping (using imported coffee that was ground in italy 2 years ago), because someone got a coffee there once and with heaps of sugar, thought it tasted pretty nice. Please excuse my poor excuse for humour.

nunu

Speaking of Epping, I wonder if that new block of units will have a decent coffee place...

mattyj

hmm ... there was going to be a shop in there with a roaster ... fell through. Same owner as cafe topiary, more of a wine/coffee bar feel, open at nights ... Topiary's standard has been all over the shop. A couple of times, I got served a double ristretto in a cappuccino bowl, which was half full! It seems that Will Young from Campos has been in a bit more frequently, giving some more thorough training. The standard has lifted a bit recently. If you're ever in there, try to suss out who's making the coffee ... Amy's the best barista they've got.

nunu

I can imagine that shops in that building are going to be very expensive.  If you can find parking at Coles across the street behind the building that's fine.  I really don't think they thought about the increase in traffic around the building in any of the planning.  Trying to get out onto Carlingford Rd. is a nightmare on the weekends, just imagine the place with a few hundred more residents. There's not much of a coffee presence in the Epping/Eastwood/Carlingford area.  If you like bubble tea, you have plenty of choice, but there's no real standout coffee venue.  They all serve average coffee. As for marketing themselves, these places will have a difficult time, since their coffee is average, there's no drawcard.  Maybe some training in latte art would be some sort of thing to draw customers in.

mattyj

re: traffic: I live on carlingford rd, near coles ... it's not just weekends that it's bad. It seems they've re-synchronised the traffic lights there too. Now, rather than there being a traffic jam between 7 - 9am, there's a traffic jam all day! There's also plans to 'parisienne-ise' oxford st ie: narrow the road, get rid of 80% of the parking spots to beatify epping ... i don't think they've really thought about where all the cars will go... re: coffee/cafes - hopefully with all the 'beautification', some better cafe's will pop up. Topiary is a good start, but could be better. Banjo books was good once (when the trainer from allpress was making the coffee) ... but that's it.

nunu

The only time to go through Epping via Carlingford Rd. is on the weekend.  Sadly, I am forced to go towards Beecroft via Blaxland Rd. on Thursdays, what a mess!  I really feel sorry for anyone living near that intersection. I certainly wish there was a decent coffee outlet near home, but I certainly enjoy my own coffee.  Buy my freshly roasted coffee, and you won't be disappointed.

askthecoffeeguy

You know what, in a competitive market place customer service is often an after thought. I think treating customers as individuals rather than as dollars walking in through the door makes a big difference to return trade. The corporate coffee houses might provide the introduction to coffee for a lot of young people, but hands-on owner operators and long-term committed staff make all the difference