As a coffee house owner, you don’t have a lot of time or money to plan special events. However, it doesn’t take a lot of man power to create fun special events that will draw in more customers, and create a fun, festive ambience within your coffee house. Special events are also an effective way to market and bring in new customers through your doors. Free events usually draw in crowds, but you can also charge a nominal event fee (especially if you incur an expense or have to use extra staff to assist with your event).
Plan a monthly coffee tasting/roasting demonstration
If you specialize in organic/fair-trade coffee and/or roast your own coffee beans, host a monthly coffee tasting for your customers. Bring in a coffee expert to talk about the roasting process. If you want to impress your customers, give a quick bean roasting demonstration. Plan it during a Friday evening or weekend when you have more foot traffic.
Host poetry readings or music events
Customers always love live entertainment so it makes sense to host a poetry or music event. If space is limited, you could bring in an acoustic guitarist.
List your events in your coffeehouse calendar and also use your social media
Post announcements on your Facebook page (if you don’t have a business page, it would be a good idea to create a Facebook account). If you have an email list, send out event announcements to your marketing list. Ask participants to cross-promote to their email lists and post information about the event on their social media for more marketing exposure.
Organize a fundraising special event and give back to your local community
Become more involved in your community. Pick a local cause and organize a fundraising event at your coffeehouse. Are you an animal lover or have a family member who has battled cancer? Reach out to your local non-profit organizations that would be interested in hosting a special event with your coffeehouse. Donate part of your proceeds to the cause of your choice. Partner with other local businesses (but not your competition) for more marketing exposure.
Use bright, colorful signage the day of your event
Draw attention quickly to your special event with a billboard sign and/or balloons placed in front of your coffeehouse. Place signage outside and hand out flyers a few days before the event.
Repeat frequently and with regularity
There is a good chance that the first time that you run an event you will only see a marginal improvement. Find out what people liked and repeat a similar experience. Word-of-mouth will spread that your coffee shop has great events and attendance and busines will improve.
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Posted on: 2013-07-19 12:00 AM 
