Iron Works Coffee
Iron Works Coffee is located just across the street from my apartment at the Graduate Hotel. It is yet another local Athens coffeehouse that is a popular study spot for UGA students.
Oddly Iron Works Coffee has zero online presence apart from their website and on Yelp which they do not contribute to.
As I have spent the last 8 weeks visiting cafes in Athens and analyzing their social media marketing strategies, I find it very strange that Iron Works wouldn't put forth any effort in their own social media marketing. Perhaps this is because the coffeehouse is located in a hotel and encourages it's guests to buy their coffee. But on the other hand, each time I have visited Iron Works, the majority of the cafe has been filled with students rather than hotel guests.
I recommend that Iron Works establishes a presence on social channels in order to reach more local Athens residents and to engage them outside of the brick and mortar location. My suggestions for implementing a digital marketing strategy include:
As I have spent the last 8 weeks visiting cafes in Athens and analyzing their social media marketing strategies, I find it very strange that Iron Works wouldn't put forth any effort in their own social media marketing. Perhaps this is because the coffeehouse is located in a hotel and encourages it's guests to buy their coffee. But on the other hand, each time I have visited Iron Works, the majority of the cafe has been filled with students rather than hotel guests.
I recommend that Iron Works establishes a presence on social channels in order to reach more local Athens residents and to engage them outside of the brick and mortar location. My suggestions for implementing a digital marketing strategy include:
- Creating an Instagram to share high quality photos of their menu items and location
- Creating a Facebook to encourage attendance at events and for special offer days
- Creating an e-newsletter to contact customers that opt into their email subscription
- Encourage customers to review them on Yelp
- Encourage customers to share their own photos of their menu items on Facebook and Instagram
I believe that if Iron Works takes the above steps in implementing a social media marketing strategy, they will be able to increase their sales and repeat purchases.
I also did my blog on Iron Works Coffee Company! I really like how you are visiting and evaluating cafes in Athens. That will help you to see the clear differences between the companies on their social media presence and possible improvements. I personally think that the only marketing factor that Iron Works Coffee Company is using is the Word-of-mouth. It is very popular place to study for those who know that this place exists, but still many do not even know this place exists. I also enjoyed reading your suggestions. Great post!
ReplyDelete-Simon Kye-
I actually have never even heard of Iron Works until this blog post and I"m a senior! For this reason, I think your social media strategy would boost their presence around Athens in an impactful way. I knew that there was a coffee shop in the Graduate but I never knew the name and didn't know college students could go! I definitely plan on going now that I know! If they begin to increase their social media presence even throwing in a few sponsored ads here and there, I think they would dramatically see a rise in their customers.
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