Emily Alves, Ripples’ Social Media Manager and Customer Success Expert (and Chief Trainer, Barista, and Trade Show Presenter), gave a live presentation on New Rules for Social Media Marketing.
Emily shared some of her best practices (especially for small businesses without a social media expert on staff – she can relate) and showed off her favorite Ripples customer examples who made their drinks viral around the world.
Watch the entire session on demand.
1. Create a style for your brand
Bring your coffee shop or bar to the digital world. Your fans will recognize your posts if you use consistent colors and topics. Need help getting started? Pick a favorite part of your décor (tile floor, bright blue wall? Choose a favorite piece of your decor (tile floor? Use your Ripple maker to incorporate your logo or holiday greetings, as well as a message you want to share, into your style.
Left to right: Cafe Georgetown Coffee Cartel Bali Cafe Lorees
2. Schedule your posts in advance to ensure consistency.
Consistently posting less means less engagement, which means less impact. This means fewer visitors to your Instagram profile and fewer new eyes on your content. Do not let a busy workweek ruin your efforts. You can use a free online scheduling tool to plan your posts for the week. You can also review all your posts in a group to ensure that they are all consistent with your brand and work well together.
“Most people that come here saw us on Instagram – they saw the photos because people tagged us. It’s also helped us build a very strong community on Instagram. We’ve gotten more than 7000 organic followers in just two months.”
Lorees Eid, Owner, Cafe Lorees
Use IG Stories to build community
Use IG Stories to showcase your human side. Your feed will now be beautiful and curated. Enjoy yourself. The stories will automatically disappear after 24 hours, so don’t worry about it. Emily’s video explains more.
Share behind-the-scenes photos of your team or events, highlight menus, or promote your happy-hour special. Create polls. Use cute stickers. Follow your favorite customers and regram any posts about or at your venue.
4. Use #Hashtags Wisely
This section is robust and actionable.
- Create a hashtag database.
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- Start by using a hashtag generator or looking at pages that you like.
- Use different sets for different topics, such as community events and drink recipes.
- Keep the list on your desktop, not mobile. This will make it easier to copy and paste your scheduled posts.
- Change the number of hashtags that you use. Post less than 30 hashtags (the maximum) each time
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- Use hashtags with less than 1,000,000 mentions. You’ll get more impact with the algorithm.
- Create a hashtag that is exclusive to your brand.
- Keep your lists updated. Update and refresh your lists at least once a month.
5. Ripple prints are a great way to jump on trends, name-drop, and encourage social sharing.
You can expect a customer to upload a selfie of her cocktail to Instagram if you serve it to them. She’ll then want to have another cocktail with it. Then, all of her followers and friends will want to find out where she went and come there to get their cocktail to post on their accounts.
You can also insert yourself into trending stories, from a US senator’s outerwear to a royal wedding.
6. Use the tool that Instagram actively promotes when in doubt
Instagram’s algorithm favors Reels as of November 2021. Instagram will always highlight posts that use newly released features. Be sure to stay up to date with the latest tools in order to maximize engagement and reach.