In August 2009, award-winning chain of coffee shops Coffee#1 tasked Delineo’s Manchester social media agency Social Magnet to develop a community of followers through social media and to create content to improve the search engine rankings of the business.
The results have been astounding – in one year, Coffee#1′s Facebook community has increased from 10 to 950, with Twitter followers rising from 5 to 825. Furthermore, total monthly website visitors rose by 268% with the average time on the site increasing to 2 minutes 51 from 52 seconds. In response to these results, James Shapland, Managing Director of Coffee#1, said:
“The return on our investment is undeniable – better customer communication, greater brand awareness and, yes, more coffees ordered on the shop floor. Social Magnet have been responsive, strategic and excellent value throughout and we look forward to continuing our involvement with them in the future.”
So how did we create this Coffee#1 buzz?
First of all, the much loved Coffee#1 in-store experience was translated online by incorporating a redesign of its website and migrating it to the search and blog-friendly content management system, WordPress.
Using custom backgrounds designed by our creative studio, we recreated something of an idyllic world that mixed animated scenes with actual elements of the Coffee#1 experience.
To keep in line with Coffee#1’s corporate goals, key aspects of the brand were clearly communicated such as the story of its coffee, the “Coffee#1 swirl”, its corporate responsibility and its staff. In addition, a Friendfeed widget was added to aggregate all its social media activity, which played a vital part in creating the community.
In order to bring coffee lover fans together, Social Magnet used a range of social media tools to allow them to engage with the company and to tell others about their love of all things Coffee#1. Key elements of the social media campaign include:
- Creation of a YouTube channel to showcase the care that Coffee#1 puts into sourcing its products in Costa Rica
- Creation of a Flickr account to highlight the human face of the company, as well as the staff’s regular appearances in barista tournaments
- Content creation and management of Facebook and Twitter pages
- We have recently launched a Foursquare campaign as a trial at the Chepstow store, with two-for-1 coffees for the ‘mayor’
In addition to the above, in the lead up to Christmas, Social Magnet ran a competition for Coffee#1 entitled ‘The Twelve Days of Coffeemas’. Each day for 12 days, a Coffee#1 hamper (cost value £13) was given away at random to the Facebook and Twitter communities – Coffee#1′s most loyal supporters.
To enter the competition, entrants simply had to include the word ‘Coffeemas’ in either their tweet or Facebook comment. The response was fantastic, with several hundred entries in total. Over the course of December, Coffee#1′s Twitter following rose by 119% – from 194 to 425 – while the number of Facebook fans grew by 32% from 374 to 495.
