Marketing your coffee cart business

The excitement of hitting it big in the food business is so great at the beginning. Especially when your coffee cart is ready, your permits are in place, your staff are all good to go, and you already have a full stock of ingredients and materials.

Now, are you ready to open your coffee cart business? Yes? But have you given marketing a thought? Have you planned on how to promote it? We don’t want you to lose that excitement and enthusiasm but being equipped with a simple yet effective marketing plan is the key to attracting your would-be customers. This will also help ensure that your coffee cart will roll for a very long time even with big competitors behind its wheels.

Follow these tips and let us help you out in making sure that your coffee cart business gets introduced properly to your potential market.

What’s in a name.

Having an eye-catching and intriguing name and logo for your business is the first step to catching your customers' attention. The logo of your brand is the first thing that people will notice so investing on a well-designed logo, business name, and even a slogan is necessary.

Try to establish a brand that will strongly represent your business. One example is by integrating your business’ being mobile into the logo or slogan. You can also be creative and strategic by letting your customers suggest names online. This will also hype up the launch of your upcoming coffee cart business.

You can also let your customers suggest names for the coffee and food that you will sell. You can do this via your business’ social media pages. Giving your customers the chance to give names to their favourite drink will give them the bragging rights and bragging means a little advertisement through word of mouth. This will also boost your customers’ affinity to your coffee thus, you will gain early patrons.

The face behind the brand

While having a well-defined business name is what’s going to give your business the first impression, your way of serving your customers, on the other hand, is what’s going to make them come back. Repeat business is a key to success in all businesses and yours is not an exemption even if you are mobile.

Being a mobile business has an edge because you can keep visiting places where your potential patrons are, hence, you can always make ways to strengthen your connection with them. Happy smiles, welcoming atmosphere, and of course, delicious coffee, are the perfect ingredients for any customers to warm up to you and decide to have another delightful experience.  

Your personal approach in dealing with your customers can help you foster a good relationship with them. Knowing your repeat customers’ favourite coffee mix, letting them know that you are pleased to give them service once again, offering them a free taste on their third or fourth return, or giving them loyalty cards will let them know that you recognise them and that you value them too. You can also provide them discounts cards if they refer a new customer.

Word of mouth entails no cost at all but is a very effective way of marketing your coffee cart business. Ask them to give your Facebook page a good review or re-share your Instagram posts to their network. You can use your patrons to your advantage by ensuring that they are being valued. Always say thank you when you receive a compliment. 

Be everywhere on the net

Almost everyone is online nowadays. Your business information being available online is no longer an edge but a must! Being online is another avenue to market your coffee cart so to gather audience and followers, you can use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even LinkedIn.

Social media is a great way to let people know the coffee and food that you offer, the places where you’ve been to and where your coffee cart or coffee van is currently stationed. Make sure to post something catchy and relevant to what you are offering.

You can also conduct surveys online. Let your customers suggest ideas and give you an honest opinion about your small business. This is another form of marketing research so you will know the pulse of your customer whether there is still something that needs to improve on your coffee flavours or where you should be stationed more. Make your customers feel that you listen to them also by replying to their questions.

Be where your competitors are not

Since what you have is a mobile business, you can definitely be anywhere. But don’t hit the street aimlessly. Plan ahead of time. You should have a neat strategy on where you should be in the next few hours or the next coming days.

Do research as well on where the people might be converging which are not limited to food conventions only. Examples are parks, job fests, outdoor concerts, book launches and the likes. Everyone wants a cup of coffee after getting a newly signed book, right? Explore the upcoming gatherings in your area so you can come prepared and ready to serve.

Be friends with non-competing business owners so you can build a partnership with them too. You can exchange referrals to increase each other's business profits. Yoga class and Zumba class plus coffee afterwards is a great marketing strategy for two non-competing business since coffee is good and beneficial to take after a tiring workout. You can get free invites whenever they will have a session and all you need to do is be there to sell you delish coffee.

Give out stickers and decals to customers so that they can post them on to their bikes, cars, or anywhere they like. This will help you market your brand in a cheap way. You cannot be in many places all at the same time but your customers can. Seeing your logo anywhere with the help of your customers will certainly make you a common and recognisable local brand.

These are just a few tips on how to market your coffee cart business. It surely is going to be fun and exciting. However, bear in mind that marketing entails a great amount of hard work. Do you need more help in running your coffee cart business? Let us help you with this FREE manual.