Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/659497
instantly, and it's allowed me to build and shape the Barista Parlor brand. Too, social media has helped contribute to the national, and international, success of Barista Parlor. Through a vibrant social media presence, Barista Parlor is able to connect with followers in a global scale." In a way, social media seems to be replacing, or at least supplementing, customer communication with businesses and brands. "It is near impossible to have your voice heard as a business in 2016 without putting at least some kind of content out into social media's infinite universe," says Andy Reiland, creative director for Café Imports, which has some of the most fascinating and dynamic content on its various social media platforms. The word "content" is important to note; most social media platforms don't just distribute information, but find interesting and creative ways to disseminate it. "The most straightforward communications involve boosting sales and informing people of run-of-the-mill points like when your store will be open, or if there's something new that they can buy," says Lanny Huang, director of marketing for City of Saints Coffee in New York. "However, social media makes the content interactive in new ways, and it's giving businesses an avenue to form unique identities that can separate them in the marketplace." Social media allows businesses to use the information they need to communicate with customers creatively, and give them a sense of who they are and what their brand is about. The accessibility of social media, however, is a double-edged sword. Sure, it's free and easy for anyone to use—that's a good thing, right? Yes, but anything that is all of a sudden necessary to your bottom line can feel more like a weight than a gift sometimes. "I think that coffee companies need to rely on social media more than ever, with so many people vying for their attention from so many different places," says Jason Dominy, director of content marketing at Pardot and former Barista Guild of America chair. Social media doesn't just allow some companies to engage with customers, but all companies, so a business has to figure out how to find its unique voice quickly. "It's really important that you get in front of people where they are, and for most people, social media is that place every day," Jason says. Different businesses, different messages How you decide to get in front of people where they are isn't the same for every coffee company. A small neighborhood coffee shop will likely need a different social media strategy than a large roaster, and it's important to differentiate the goals and needs of both to formulate an approach. For example, as a coffee importer with offices in the U.S.A. as well as Costa Rica, Australia, and Europe, Café Imports must consider social media from a global perspective. "The day-to-day business that Café Imports operates is on such a large scale geographically," says Andy. "The relationships with farmers and exporters in coffee- producing countries finds Café Imports in a messenger role, while selling their product to roasters all across the world—with whom we are as equally interdependently connected." Roasters have different goals, especially those without a retail presence. Not having the pressure to sell coffee, however, allows companies like Counter Culture Coffee to use social media as a way to highlight the people and places they work with. "We use our social media, in part, to celebrate our partners and their success, and that is reflected in our content," says Rachael Lambert, director of marketing for Counter Culture in Durham, N.C. "Because we do not operate cafés, our focus is on our people, our wholesale partners, our roastery, and our producers and their coffees—as opposed to things like daily offerings or special menu items." The company's Instagram, which is followed by almost 63,000 people as of this printing, features a mix of coffees currently being sold, retailer partners, and internal staff accomplishments. That's something any coffee company can and should consider, too: Using social media as a platform for celebrating individuals is not only good-hearted, but also good business: Customers like to see the people with whom they interact on a daily basis recognized on a public platform. Certainly social media has played a massive role in the need for formalized marketing, whether as a company department or an off-site vendor. That doesn't mean, however, that a café or roasting company can't achieve social media success all on their own. Based on the numbers, Temple Coffee Roasting in Sacramento, Calif., has achieved extraordinary social media success for its size, which is three cafés and a roaster in Sacramento, and one café in a nearby college town, Davis. Get this, though—it's all the work of one employee who has plenty of other responsibilities besides overseeing Temple's socials. "Social media is not my full-time job, although it could very easily be made a full-time position if needed," says Cole Cuchna of Temple Coffee, which as of this printing had 37,000 Instagram followers. "I'm also the director of education, which loosely translates to managing our training team and quality-control in our retail locations. I'm also creative director, which translates to social media, website design, product design, and essentially overseeing any branding or visual elements of the company. Lots of hats." It might seem like smaller businesses would struggle to find the resources to launch meaningful social-media content, but that ignores "Ever since my grandparents got Facebook accounts, I've gravitated away from it. I love my grandparents! It's just that they're not my company's target audience. I want to put my energy where my customers are, and since two of my cafés are near college campuses, that's Instagram." — Sean James, café owner 104 barista magazine