Coffee Shop Marketing - 13 Marketing Strategies For Strong Growth

What is Coffee Shop Marketing?

Coffee shop marketing is the process of getting people to come to visit your coffee shop. Successful marketing occurs through research, analytics, and understanding your ideal customer profile. Coffee shop marketing utilizes all customer channels: guest WiFi, website, social, rating sites, mobile apps, online ordering platform, email, text, and advertising.

Coffee shop marketing in 2025 is now more critical than ever.

With fierce competition and big-name brands on almost every corner, creating effective marketing for your coffee shop is crucial to keeping your business alive.

Likewise, it is crucial not to overspend your marketing dollars on ineffective or overpriced tactics.

For coffee shops looking for a marketing advantage, we have listed several strategies below that not only work well but will not eat up your marketing budget.

The #1 Rule: Know Your Guests

Before embarking on any type of marketing campaign, you must know who your current and potential guests are.

Without this knowledge, you will be sending messages that may not resonate with your actual guests.

Basing your marketing strategy on personal opinion can be devastating for your campaigns.

Likewise, sending general messaging to guests about your brand may not be effective either.

Consumers today expect personalized, targeted messaging that appeals to their demographic. They want the message to be about them and their interests, not necessarily about how great your brand is.

So, how do you find out who your guests are? There are a few different ways.

 

1. Coffee Shop Comment Cards

First, you could implement a customer comment card project. Have comment cards at each table and located around your POS.

Ask your guests to fill them out, and then you can begin consolidating the data.

Ask questions such as what their favorite thing is about your coffee shop. Or what they would change if they were to choose one thing.

And don’t forget to have questions about their age, gender, and other demographics.

You can gather a lot of valuable data using comment cards.

However, getting all of the data together in a useable format is time-consuming and difficult. Also, it can be off-putting to some guests.

 

2. Collect Guest Data Using Your Guest WiFi

As you can see, this is by far the best customer data collection method when gathering data for your coffee shop marketing.

Using your guest WiFi access points, you can gather tons of data about your guest’s behavior patterns while they are at your place of business.

Even if they do not log in to your WiFi, you can collect valuable anonymous data such as:

• Guest Counts
• First-time Visitors
• Guest Repeat Rates
• Dwell Times
• Guest Visit Times
• And a Lot More!

You can sort the data by location or date span to identify trends. Or, you can get baseline and ongoing data for your marketing strategies.

Also, it is completely unobtrusive to your guest experience. Again, this data is collected in real-time, whether guests log in to your WiFi or not.

But it doesn’t stop there. When a guest does log into your WiFi, they will first go to a WiFi landing page.

This page requires the guest to opt-in with their email address with the option to log in with their name, birthday, zip code, phone number, or gender to get access to the internet. Or, they can log in through a social media account like Facebook or Linkedin.

At this point, the system creates a customer profile for that patron. All previous data associated with their device will go into their profile.

You can immediately gain access to the profile in your guest database. And it is all done passively. What’s more, you now have their contact information.

 

3. Customer Segmentation for Marketing

Now that you are building an extensive list of customer profiles, you can begin marketing to them.

However, it is wise to segment your list into various groups of guests based on their demographic and behavioral data.

For instance, you could create a segment of men under 30 who have longer dwell times. Or, you could create a list of women over 50 who have only visited three times or less.

Chances are you would send a very different message to each of these groups in terms of imagery, copywriting, and the overall message.

This separation is known as customer segmentation. Studies show that segmented targeted messaging is much more useful than mass messaging one email to your entire database.

An article from CMO.com stated that targeted advertisements are, on average, almost twice as effective as non-targeted ads.

Likewise, in a study by The Direct Marketing Association, segmented and targeted emails generated 58% of all marketing revenue. And 77% of ROI comes from segmented, targeted, and triggered campaigns.

All of this is part of a WiFi marketing and analytics strategy, which we will discuss in detail below.

 

 

4. Word of Mouth Advertising

Word of mouth is a compelling way to get new guests through your doors.

People will always trust the word of their friends and family over that of a company.

So it is imperative to make sure that every guest you serve has the best experience possible.

And when you see guests having a great time, don’t be afraid to ask them to mention you to their friends and family.

Not only will it put the idea into their minds, but it will allow you to ask questions about their experience and use their answers to make your business even better.

If you take their comments seriously and act on them, you will create loyal guests who will spread the word.

 

5. Physical Location Appeal and Signage

The way your coffee shop appears to people passing by can make a massive difference in terms of attracting new guests.

Invest in making your storefront look appealing to those who are walking or driving by. Make sure it stands out.

Also, try to make your interior decor match the interests of your ideal guests. Also, pay special attention to cleanliness.

Many coffee shops place a sign or chalkboard outside their door to attract attention. Be as creative and original as you can.

Creativity will help you not only stand out to passers-by but can help showcase your brand identity.

Using humor or originality on a sidewalk sign is also a great way to gain social media attention.

When people see a funny sign or an original idea, they will share it on social media.

6. Social Media for Coffee Shop Marketing

When it comes to effective coffee shop marketing, social media is a potent, low-cost tool.

Every coffee shop marketing professional should create and maintain a social media presence.

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are must-haves. However, there are so many more that you can utilize for your marketing campaigns.

Encourage your visitors to like your pages and share their experiences and images.

As you can see, this is in line with the word-of-mouth benefits discussed above. People tend to trust their friends and family, and social media is a great way to spread the word.

But it doesn’t stop at having your guests post about you.  The coffee shop needs to post regularly, as well.

Images, contests, upcoming events, and compelling content can go a long way in increasing the follower counts on your social media pages.

Also, make sure that all of your coffee shop information is on the page – hours, address, website link, etc.

Engage with your guests on social media. Make sure to answer questions, respond to reviews, and always maintain your brand voice.

7. Implement a Loyalty Program

Customer loyalty programs are trendy in restaurants all over the world.

Coffee shop owners and operators know this guest-engaging marketing strategy has a strong capability to expand their customer base and extend the average lifetime of guests.

It is a great way to engage guests and help them trust your business and become more loyal.

They work because consumers like (and even expect) them.  Consider, for example, these metrics from CMO:

• More than 75% of consumers currently participate in at least one loyalty program.
• Almost half of the consumers have joined a hotel program.
• About 40% of consumers are part of an airline program.
• Loyalty marketers, on average, receive about $12.00 in earned media for every dollar they spend.
• Loyal customers, on average, spend about 70% more than first-time customers.

On the surface, loyalty programs are there to generate repeat guests, but they’re a crucial piece of the marketing puzzle.

They help to increase sales and give your guests a more personalized experience.

The thing to keep in mind is that the worth of a loyalty program is not the number of signups you receive.

Instead, the actual value lies in maintaining engagement, increasing repeat visit rates, and allowing your guests to engage with you when and where they wish to do so.

 

8. Encourage Guest Ratings and Reviews

More often than ever, consumers will turn to online ratings and reviews to make decisions about how to spend their money.

Reviews are especially crucial for restaurants and coffee shops.

According to Modern Restaurant Management, the impacts that ratings have on a business are substantial.

Here are a few facts they listed:

• For every star a business gets, there will be an approximate 5-9% increase in business revenue.
• Consumers are likely to spend 31% more at a business with excellent reviews.
• 72% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more.
• Restaurants with an improved rating of just 1/2 star (out of 5) were much more likely to be full at peak dining times.
• 61% of consumers have read online reviews about restaurants and coffee shops – more than any other business type.
• 53% of 18-to-34- year-olds reported that online reviews factored into their decisions, as do 47% of frequent full-service guests.

So, when it comes to marketing your coffee shop, a focus on getting positive ratings and reviews should be a big part of your strategy.

When you see guests having a great experience, strike up a conversation, and ask them to review your business on Google, Yelp, or Facebook.

It is also possible to use a WiFi marketing platform for coffee shops like Bloom Intelligence to drive more positive – and fewer negative – ratings and reviews on popular websites.

9. Local Advertising

Budget limits many coffee shop marketing professionals. Because of this, they may overlook opportunities for local advertising.

However, local advertising isn’t limited to only television and radio.

There are many other local advertising opportunities to take advantage of marketing platforms that do deplete marketing budgets.

For instance, placing an advertisement in a local magazine or newspaper can be surprisingly inexpensive.

Likewise, you can have a coupon created and included in a coupon mailing.

Coupon mailing companies can include your coupon in their mailing for a relatively low price, primarily if you can design the voucher yourself.

Local advertising is also online.

 

10. Online Coffee Shop Marketing Opportunities

It is possible to execute an online advertising campaign that targets a specific geographical area.

Geotargeting allows coffee shops to use tools like Google Ads or Facebook ads. These tools will place your ad in front of users who are in your configured geographical area.

They will not charge you unless someone clicks on your advertisement leading them to a page on your website.

Clicks can cost you as little as a few cents. Plus, you can set a daily budget so that you know you will only pay for what you configure in the tool.

Also, look around for other local websites that allow banner advertising. Most will charge a monthly fee to have your banner displayed on their website pages.

Remember that your advertisements need to speak to your ideal guest demographic, and should maintain your brand voice.

 

11. Coffee Shop WiFi Marketing

As mentioned above, a WiFi marketing and analytics platform, like Bloom Intelligence, is the most effective and low-cost way of gathering detailed guest data.

But that is just the beginning.

Bloom provides coffee shop locations the ability to:

1. Understand guest behavior at every location.
2. Passively grow large, clean, and verified guest databases.
3. Segment detailed customer profiles into groups to target your marketing messaging.
4. Re-market to guests based on their behavior and demographic data.
5. Track every marketing campaign all the way down to a guest walking back in your door.
6. See the tangible ROI of every campaign.

With Bloom, as you build your extensive list of clean and verified customer profiles, you can begin creating targeted marketing campaigns and automatically send those messages based on guest demographic and behavior data.

 

12. Behavior-Triggered Marketing

For example, let’s say you have identified that your largest customer segment is millennials. However, another considerable portion consists of women over 40 years old.

With Bloom, you can create these two segments and create completely different marketing campaigns and messages for each group.

Then, you simply tell the system when to send your messages. You can send immediately, a later date/time, recurring, or whenever a guest in the segment meets specific demographic and behavior data.

For instance, one of the most potent automated campaigns you can execute is one to save churning guests.

Bloom uses machine learning and AI to determine when a guest is about to churn – or has already churned.

When the system tags a guest as being at risk of churning, you can configure a campaign to immediately fire off a message to that guest with an incentive to return and re-establish their loyalty.

As a result, Bloom users see up to 30%+ of their churning guests return. The value of this type of campaign alone can improve your coffee shop marketing.

And this is just one of the countless campaigns you can implement with Bloom.

WiFi marketing is becoming very popular among coffee shops because of its relatively low cost and very high return on investment.

 

13. Online Ordering Marketing

If you offer online ordering to your guests, then you have a wealth of marketing data at your fingertips. Most importantly, you have your guest’s contact information.

You also have guest data such as their name, postal code, food and beverage preferences, and spending habits. With this data, online ordering marketing becomes a possibility that can not only improve your marketing ROI but also increase guest loyalty and lifetime values.

Using the same triggered marketing as the previous section explains, you can further engage with your guests, building trust and loyalty.

 

Coffee Shop Marketing Strategies

We hope these ideas and strategies will help your coffee shop grow and prosper for years to come.

If you would like more information on the power of WiFi marketing and analytics, and how it can grow your coffee shop business, click to schedule a demo, or call us today at 727-877-8181.

We would love to talk with you!