SPECIAL REPORT
Brewing a good e-marketing plan
The chummy atmosphere of a good
coffeehouse can be reflected on its webpage. BY PAN DEMETRAKAKES
W
eb-based marketing can seem very daunting to someone who's just trying to run a good, honest,
profitable coffeehouse. What should be on your website? Why do you need a site
and a Facebook page? How should you use Twitter? What about Foursquare and other social media? And most of all, who has the time to pump out fresh content for all this between pulling espressos? There's no question that Internet presence is almost
expected of retail businesses these days, even the smallest ones. For coffeehouses, the expectation is especially strong. Many coffeehouses, aſter all, cater to a generation that grew up with the Internet. The modern stereotype of the coffeehouse customer includes him or her pecking away at a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop between sips. For all its pervasive vastness, the Internet oſten is a
place of chummy informality. That, too, fits with the atmosphere of many coffeehouses, where interaction, among customers and with the staff, is a significant part of the attraction. In fact, chumminess explains how a lot of coffee
shops got their start on the Web. It's not uncommon for coffeehouses to hire from among the ranks of their
The owner of 1369 Coffee House, Cambridge, Mass., says hiring a regular customer to do his webpage ensured that it would have the right look and feel.
14 | September 2011 • www.specialty-coffee.com
