Build my website
A full 90-day sample · then make yours in about a minute

Coffee Shop Marketing Plan

The morning rush fills most coffee shops without help, so the real marketing job is everything else: the slow mid-morning, the quiet afternoon and the weekday lunch. Customers decide on foot, usually on their phone and within a few minutes of the door, which makes the Google listing, the photos and the reviews matter more than a leaflet. Regulars are worth more than one-off visitors, since a coffee habit is a daily one. Workplaces nearby supply both the routine customers and the meeting orders that fill a quiet day. A plan puts those pieces in order, so the shop is easy to find, easy to picture from the inside and easy to return to.

Free · about a minute · with the searches your customers make

Copper Kettle Coffee, a made-up shop with a small budget, wants more people through its door. Its 90-day plan starts with what people type when they want coffee, breakfast or a place to work, then covers the customers, the channels, the website pages and three months of actions. Content ideas, the budget and a few counts for the quiet hours close it. Your own version is ready in about a minute, shaped by your shop and by the searches your customers make.

What a marketing plan for a coffee shop should cover

  1. Find your quiet hours and give them a job

    A rush needs no help, but a quiet stretch does. Look at your till for the two emptiest hours, then offer a reason to come in then: cake with a coffee, a calm table for working or a place for a small meeting. Tell people about it in the window and on your listing.

  2. Win the offices within a short walk

    People tend to buy coffee near where they work or study. Visit the closest offices with a small tray and your menu, and leave a card for whoever orders for meetings. A standing weekly order from one company can matter more than a lot of passing trade.

  3. Show the seating, not only the coffee

    Photos of the room are what convince someone to bring a laptop or a friend. Show the tables, the light and the corners where people can settle in. Keep the photos honest and current, because customers notice when the room has changed.

  4. Change the menu with the seasons

    Cold drinks in summer and warming, spiced ones in autumn and winter give customers a reason to return and give you something new to post. A new seasonal drink is also a natural moment for a small advert to people nearby. Keep the core menu steady so regulars still find their usual.

Sample

Copper Kettle Coffee is a made-up coffee shop. Its plan shows what a 90-day marketing plan for a coffee shop covers: the searches its customers make, the channels in order and the work month by month. Yours is made for your own business, town and budget.

90-day online marketing plan

Copper Kettle Coffee

Copper Kettle Coffee will fill its tables in the quiet hours and turn passers-by into regulars: visible on the map, inviting from the inside and rewarding to return to.

More visits to your shop · Under 100 US dollars a month

Your three priorities

  1. Make the Google listing your shop window, with the menu, photos of the room and the pastry case, accurate opening hours and a steady flow of reviews, because people choose a coffee shop on their phone while they are already close by.

  2. Find your quiet hours and give each one a reason to visit, such as cake with a coffee in the afternoon, a calm table for working or a spot for a small meeting.

  3. Turn first-time visitors into regulars with a stamp card or a small reward that brings them back within the week, and treat the offices around you as your nearest circle of regulars.

What your customers search for

Search on GoogleSearches a monthCompetition
“cafe near me”25K-130KHigh
“breakfast near me”25K-130KHigh
“brunch near me”25K-130KHigh
“coffee shop near me”7.5K-25KMedium
“takeaway coffee near me”7.5K-25KMedium
“meeting catering near me”7.5K-25KMedium
“cafe to work from”2.5K-7.5KMedium
“coffee and cake”2.5K-7.5KMedium

Searches a month in United States, from Google's own search suggestions. Competition is how hard page 1 of Google is for that search.

Your customers

Commuters and parents after school drop-off

What they need: A quick, reliable drink and something to eat that is ready fast on the way to work or home.

Where they look: Google Maps on the walk, your sign on the street and word of mouth at the school gate.

Remote workers and freelancers

What they need: A comfortable table, steady coffee and a pace that lets them stay for a morning without feeling rushed.

Where they look: Google searches such as cafe to work from, photos of the seating on your listing and Instagram.

Office managers and small businesses nearby

What they need: Coffee and food for team meetings and visitors, ordered ahead and ready on time.

Where they look: Google searches for meeting catering, a visit from you with a tasting tray and LinkedIn.

Your channels, in order

  1. Website and Google search Medium effort · Low cost

    People nearby search for coffee, breakfast and somewhere to work, and a site with your menu, hours and catering page answers them.

    • Make a page for the menu, one for the room and the seating, and one for meeting catering with an enquiry form.
    • Set the address, the opening hours and a map at the top of the home page.
    • Use the phrases cafe to work from and coffee and cake on the pages that answer them.
  2. Google Business Profile Low effort · Free

    Most visits start on the map, so this is where a new customer decides whether to walk in.

    • Choose coffee shop as the main category and add the menu, the hours and details such as outdoor tables or a quiet corner.
    • Upload fresh photos of the counter, the pastry case, the room and the drinks every month.
    • Print the review link on the stamp card and ask regulars to rate the shop.
  3. Instagram Medium effort · Free

    Latte art, the pastry case and cosy corners are what people look at when they decide where to meet.

    • Post a photo or a video of the day's bake and one drink each weekday.
    • Use stories for today's special and for the quiet hours, with a line saying there is room.
    • Add the location tag to every post and tag the businesses around you.
  4. Local offices and neighbours Medium effort · Low cost

    Offices, gyms and coworking spaces nearby hold the daily routines of future regulars.

    • Take a tray of coffee and pastries to the nearest offices with a menu and your catering card.
    • Ask neighbouring businesses to display a small card or to hand your stamp card to their staff.
    • Offer a standing weekly order to any team that holds a regular meeting.
  5. Facebook Low effort · Low cost

    Community groups and event pages are where neighbours ask where to meet and what has opened or changed nearby.

    • Create a page with the opening hours, the menu and a message button.
    • Post the weekly special and any new seasonal drink in the neighbourhood groups that allow business posts.
    • Run a small advert for the quiet hours, aimed at people living or working within a short walk.
  6. Stamp cards, sleeves and window signs Low effort · Low cost

    A stamp card is the simplest reason to come back, and a printed sleeve or window sign keeps the shop in view.

    • Print a stamp card with a small reward after a number of visits you choose.
    • Put the website and the review link on the cup sleeve and the paper bag.
    • Use a chalkboard or window sign for the daily special.

What your website needs

  • A home page that opens with the words coffee shop, shows the opening hours, the address and a map, and has a photo of the room.
  • A menu page with drinks, pastries and lunches as text, with the milks and a note on allergies.
  • A page about the room and the seating that uses the phrase cafe to work from and says when the shop is quietest.
  • A breakfast and brunch page for the morning menu.
  • A coffee and cake page for the afternoon, showing the pastry case.
  • A meeting catering page with what you supply, the notice you need and an enquiry form.
  • A gallery page with real photos of the shop.

Your 90 days

Month 1: Get on the map

  • Build the website with a menu page, a room page and a meeting catering page.
  • Fill in the Google Business Profile: the menu, the hours and photos of the counter, the pastry case and the seating.
  • Design and print a stamp card and a small sign for the window and the counter.
  • Set up Instagram and Facebook in the shop's name and post a week of photos to start.
  • Walk the streets near the door and list the offices, gyms and coworking spaces within a few minutes.

Month 2: Fill the quiet hours

  • Pick the two slowest hours of the day and give each one a clear reason to visit.
  • Post a drink or a bake on Instagram every weekday, and the day's special on Facebook.
  • Give each regular a stamp card at the till and ask how the visit went.
  • Take a tray of coffee and pastries to the nearest offices with the menu and a catering card.
  • Ask a few neighbouring businesses to display your card or share the stamp card with their staff.

Month 3: Bring them back

  • Look at how many stamp cards come back and which hours are still quiet, then adjust your specials.
  • Offer a standing weekly meeting order to the offices that tried your tray.
  • Try a small advert on Facebook for the quiet hours, aimed at the streets around the shop.
  • Add a seasonal drink to the menu and photograph it for the listing, Instagram and the website.
  • Email the offices that ordered a thank-you note and ask for a review.

Content ideas

  1. Today's bake in the pastry case, photographed in daylightInstagram
  2. A latte art clip from the barInstagram
  3. A corner of the room set for working, with a note on when it is quietestGoogle Business Profile
  4. The new seasonal drink and the day it startsFacebook
  5. A meeting tray laid out on a table with a clear list of what is in itWebsite
  6. This week's special on the chalkboardFacebook
  7. How to order for a meeting: what we need to know and how much noticeWebsite
  8. A weekday morning at the bar, from opening the door to the commuter queueInstagram

Your budget

Facebook and Instagram adverts35%

Small adverts aimed at the streets around the shop, run in the quiet hours and when a seasonal drink starts.

Stamp cards, sleeves and signs30%

Printing the stamp card, the window sign and the cup sleeve with the review link.

Samples for nearby offices20%

A tray of coffee and pastries for the nearest offices, handed over with the catering card.

Website15%

A domain and hosting to keep the menu, the hours and the meeting catering pages online.

The numbers to watch

Customers in the quiet hours

Count the till transactions in your two slowest hours each week and note whether they rise.

Stamp cards started and finished

Count the cards you hand out and the cards that come back full.

Directions and calls from Google

See how many people ask Google for directions or tap to call the shop, week by week.

Meeting catering enquiries

Note every enquiry and where it came from, whether the website, a visit or a recommendation.

New reviews

Read the new Google reviews every month and note what people mention most.

How AI Web Maker runs this plan

Your website is where every channel sends people. On AI Web Maker it comes with the tools that do the work of this plan every week:

AI SEO Tool. Scores every page out of 100 and fixes each problem with a click, so your pages climb on Google for the searches in this plan.

AI Blog Writer. Writes and publishes articles about your business on a schedule, so new visitors keep finding you on Google.

AI Social Media Marketer. Writes and posts to Facebook, Instagram and more on a schedule, sending people to your site.

AI Chatbot. Answers your visitors day and night from your own information, and takes the details of people who want to talk.

Contacts and leads. Every sign-up, contact form and chat lead lands in one place, so no customer slips away.

AI Marketing Outreach. Finds businesses that need what you offer and drafts a personal email to each, sent from your own domain.

After the plan

Every plan starts with your website

Google, your Business Profile and every post send people to your website. AI Web Maker builds one for your coffee shop in minutes, with the pages this plan asks for, ready to preview.

Make my plan first Build my website →

Free to build and preview · $119 a year hosting when you go live · domain not included

Questions

Marketing a coffee shop: questions and answers

How can a coffee shop get more customers?

Make the Google listing complete, with photos of the room and the pastry case, the menu and the opening hours. Visit the nearby offices with a tray of coffee and a card. Then add a reason to return, such as a stamp card or a weekly special.

How do I fill a coffee shop's quiet hours?

Find the slowest hours on your till and give each one a clear purpose, such as cake with a coffee in the afternoon or a calm table for working in the morning. Say so in your window, on your Google listing and on Instagram. Invite nearby businesses to hold a small meeting there.

Should a coffee shop offer a loyalty card?

A simple stamp card is one of the easiest ways to turn a first visit into a habit. Keep the reward small and easy to explain, and make the card carry your website and review link. Count the cards that come back, since that shows how many regulars you are building.

How much does a coffee shop need to spend on marketing?

Less than most owners expect, because the best tools are free: a complete Google listing, good photos and a friendly counter. Printing for a stamp card and a few small local adverts for moments such as a new seasonal drink cover most of the rest. Put any extra into office visits, which bring weekday customers who return.

Marketing plan samples for other industries