You can’t force community by posting online, but you can facilitate the real-world connections that make it happen naturally.
Welcome to Operator Notes, a weekly newsletter written by coffee operators, consultants, creators, and practitioners who spot trends and share insight on what to do about them.
This week’s edition is written by Julie Hanell, Founder of The Coffee Dispatch.
✉️ Operator Notes: practical advice from people working in coffee.
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A Big Following Isn’t a Full Cafe
Among the coffee brands I consult for, social media is the number one marketing channel for cafes today, and with it, “build a community” is the number one piece of advice I hear small business coaches give operators. But building a community isn’t a few months’ exercise of posting content onto a social feed. It takes time, and a lot of effort to learn who walks through your door, and ultimately a cause people want to belong to together.
That cause can be as small as wanting to have more fun, as long as it’s felt every time someone walks in and shows up in something they can join, like a Saturday afternoon cupping event that turns into a quiz, or having a table where regulars who work remotely sit at, and ultimately start chatting with one another because they meet each other again and again.
So what is community, really? The Latin communis means “common, shared by all,” which is a good reminder; to build community you need to make a lot of people feel for your story, your cafe and eventually each other because they care about their coming together in a place they love. Community is the people who show up, again and again, and start to feel like part of what you’re building.
This doesn’t mean social media isn’t important. Becoming known through Instagram and TikTok matters all the more as you grow; four in five Gen Z consumers say they’ve visited an independent business (cafes included after discovering it on social media, according to Amex’s Hype to High Street study.
Online growth and in-person community aren’t in conflict, they’re just not the same thing. Confusing the two is what leaves operators posting into the void, hoping followers magically turn into regulars.
Actions Speak Louder Than Instagram Posts
Find local small businesses with established communities. A bookstore, a flower shop, a vintage store—all have loyal customers, and most of them would love one more excuse to meet people like them. Partner with one and throw a collaborative event; a poetry night, a bouquet workshop over flat whites, where you both meet people who might be a good fit for your community too. They get new faces through their door, you get new people through yours, and you both split the cost, the effort and the Instagram post (small business owners are much stronger together than alone!).
Make one day a month special. Pick the last Thursday of the month, and give a free croissant with every coffee. Or go smaller and stranger—every time a poodle walks in, its owner gets a free coffee. Word gets around, poodle owners start showing up on purpose, and before long owners will swap numbers for playdates. When that happens often enough, your regulars start greeting each other before they order their usual, which is when you know a community is forming on its own within your cafe. You’ll get the double benefit of being distinct and worthy of remark, while creating moments for genuine connection (way more powerful than posting yet another drink pic on social media!). A ritual gives people a reason to come in, and the surprise gives them a reason to talk to you. Community starts as a habit and grows into a story people can’t wait to tell someone else.
Make it your duty to learn people’s names. Starbucks got this right long before anyone called it community: a name, a favorite order, a funny story from last time. Regular or not, remember two or three details about someone and you’ve shown them the kind of effort that brings them back. It sounds silly but it adds up, and before you know it, people will be talking about your cafe for that exact reason.
Make loyalty feel earned and worth the wait. A loyalty program is often the obvious first step when shops want to build community quickly, but most of the time they just add clutter to customers’ wallets and phones. And most shops hand it out too soon, before any trust exists.
Even worse, it looks exactly like the program at the cafe down the road: a paper card, seven stamps, and a free coffee on the eighth visit.
If you’re going to run one, make the reward a moment worth talking about—a customer’s favorite seasonal drink with a cookie, or a pastry fresh out of the oven. It should feel far more generous than it costs.
Then let the rest of the loyalty grow out of the relationship; give a regular their usual on the house when they bring a friend, or an early taste of the new seasonal menu for your most familiar faces. People rarely remember a stamp, but they talk for weeks about the day their cafe spoiled them.
Ultimately, congruence and authenticity are what turn customers into community—what you say has to match what you do. If you get the coffee, the branding, and the follow-through right, the community will follow, so long as it’s built into your cafe and not just a marketing stunt.
Go Deeper
Instagram Used to Be a Must. Some Coffee Shops Are Walking Away.
Anthology Coffee and Seasons Coffee explain why stepping back from Instagram didn’t hurt, and in Anthology’s case coincided with faster growth.
Beyond the Throwdown: Other Ways to Grow Your Coffee Community
Tastings, trivia, open mics, and collaborations that bring a coffee community together beyond the latte art throwdown.
More Than Coffee: 5 Tips on Building Community In Your Coffee Shop
Owners at Oddly Correct, Sip & Sonder, and Loyal Coffee on meeting neighbors in person, starting events early, and listening to feedback.
Behind the Headlines: Is Starbucks Writing Names on Cups Again Sweet or Silly?
Shop owners weigh in on whether names on cups build real connection or whether remembering regulars matters more.
Photo couresty of Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash.
