Whether you are a new owner trying to get off the ground or an established business, constantly refining your marketing efforts will help your business grow year over year and keep you afloat during unexpected emergencies (like Covid).
The main ways that Boba Tea Shops market themselves are by word of mouth, through their website and social media accounts, promotions, positive reviews, walk-by traffic, and internal branding.
Word of Mouth Marketing
Word of Mouth is one of the best ways to get new customers because it is coming from a trusted source. If a friend recommends a great boba place, restaurant, book, pair of shoes, etc. you will probably want to try it out.
The way that you can promote your store through word of mouth is by having great products, a nice clean store, and amazing customer service. If you can deliver all three of these to your customers, they will naturally tell their friends and family about the great experience they had at your store.
Website and Social Media
Having your own website makes your business look more established and more professional. Customers can come here to see the latest news about your business and you can also sell other products here like merchandise and tell them about franchise opportunities if that is a road you want to go down.
Social Media accounts are also an easy way to keep your customers informed about your latest deals and engaged with your store. You don’t need to go overboard either. Having just a Facebook and Instagram Page is usually enough to reach most of your customers. Combine that with a website for customers who don’t use social media and you should have all of your bases covered. If you’re too busy to build a website and post on social media, you can click here for our Marketing Packages.
Promotions
Everyone loves a good deal and promotions are a great way to get customers into your store. These can also be posted to your website and social media accounts for customer engagement.
If you’re not sure where to get started, try a “Flavor of the Week Campaign”. Each week you can introduce your customers to a new flavor of bubble tea and you can offer this at a discounted price. This will help make customers excited about your new flavors and get them in the habit of going to your tea shop.
Another popular promotion is Happy Hour. Bars usually do this during a slow time to get customers into their store. If you notice that your business dips from 2 pm-3 pm for example, then you can consider making this your “Happy Hour” and give customers a discount during this time period.
Positive Reviews
Now that everyone has a smartphone in their pocket, they are undoubtedly checking out the reviews of your tea shop before going in. If you are focusing on the basics that we talked about earlier, like great products, great service, and a clean store, then your positive reviews will start to come in naturally. But there is nothing wrong with giving them a little bump in the beginning.
Asking your customers for positive reviews is the best way to get them. While some business owners might feel uncomfortable about asking for reviews, you have to realize that most people will not leave a review unless they have a bad experience. But if you have a regular customer who loves your product then you can ask them to help support your business by leaving a positive review.
Walk by Traffic
Your logo will be one of the first things people notice, next is how clean your store is. Most places do better with a bright and clean environment.
How does your store look when you walk by it? Is it dark and dirty or bright and clean? Try to pretend that you are a customer and walk around your town and see what kind of stores make you want to go into them. Ask yourself why you want to go into them, clean, good location, smiling people, interesting products, etc. Now walk by your boba shop and see if your store has these same attractive qualities.
Internal Branding
Another way to attract customers is with your internal branding. This means things like the color scheme of your store being consistent with your logo. Also having your equipment branded with your logo helps solidify your brand and look professional, we can put your logo onto your Sealer Machine and Fructose Dispenser.
Having big clean glass windows is also a plus so people walking by can see what’s going on in your store. Unique equipment like an Automatic Boba Making Machine will also make people interested in your cooking process and shows them that you are using fresh ingredients.
Finally, custom cups and films with your logo on them are a walking advertisement. If someone leaves your store with your cup, they are promoting this to everyone who sees them. Having a nice-looking clean logo on your cups goes a long way. You can also put your Website, Facebook, and Instagram information on your cups to give people an easy way to learn more about your store.
Putting Your Bubble Tea Marketing Strategies Together
In the end, your marketing strategies and brand should represent you and the type of mood and experience that you want to give your customers. Bubble tea is a fun drink, so your brand should be fun too!