How Starbucks Can Inspire Your Email Marketing Strategy
It’s October and you know what that means…
Pumpkin season! And let’s face it, no one does pumpkin season better than Starbucks.
That’s true about a lot of things because if you know anything about Starbucks, you know they’re really good at business. So, when it comes to an email marketing strategy that gets you die-hard fans, there are a lot of things we can learn from Starbucks. Here are eight:
1. Personalization
Any Starbucks Barista will tell you about know that the importance of remembering your regulars’ names and orders that is drilled into their head from day one.
Mary with the nonfat, no-foam latte.
Adam with the light foam 2 Splenda cappuccino.
Starbucks knows that no one likes to feel like just a number.
So, include names throughout your emails! Just about all ESPs(Mailchimp, Klaviyo, ConvertKit) allow you to do this.
2. Create an experience and provide value
Starbucks doesn't just sell coffee; they sell an experience. That’s why they let you stay in their stores for hours at a time to work on your assignments even though you only bought one drink.
When you think of Starbucks, you don’t only think of a drink; you think of a cafe, library, meetup spot, etc.
Just like Starbucks, your emails should provide value for the reader.
Whether that's through educational content or entertainment, make your emails about what you can do for them, not what they can do for you.
3. Limited-time offers
The chestnut praline, pumpkin spice latte, and red velvet cake. All elusive favorites of the Starbucks menu. Starbucks often features seasonal or limited-time items on its menu to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity. Any big chestnut praline lover will get annoyed at this, but hey, it works!
Use this strategy in your emails by occasionally offering limited-time promotions or exclusive deals to encourage subscribers to open and act on your emails quickly.
4. Automate processes
Have you ever seen the Startbucks Barista’s work on a busy morning? They take about 30 seconds to make each drink because Starbucks has processes that make the flow of the store much faster. Almost like an assembly line! So, it’s time for you to automate your own processes within your email marketing! Automated email sequence are a huge time saver, especially if you have a big list!
5. Community building
Starbucks has a strong sense of community through its cafes and loyalty programs. Your email list should be a community, too. Encourage your list to reply to emails or tell their customer stories. If it works for your business, regularly organize virtual events, webinars, or Q&A sessions.
6. Storytelling
Starbucks is a master at brand storytelling. In the famous origin story of Starbucks, longtime CEO Howard Schultz took a trip to Italy and was impressed with the “warmth and artistry” of the Italian coffee culture and wanted to bring it to the company.
This story is steeped into the current culture of Starbucks.
They even use the Italian words “Venti” (Italian for 20) and “Trenta” (Italian for 30) instead of “large” for its largest-sized cups.
Use storytelling in your emails to connect with your audience emotionally and make your brand more memorable.
7. Promote, promote, promote
Let’s face it: you might have the most amazing emails out there, but if no one knows about it, it’s probably not doing much for your business.
Starbucks is the master at promotion.
Throughout the years, they’ve strategically placed their iconic cups and storefronts in popular movies and TV shows, like You’ve Got Mail, The Devil Wears Prada, and The Office.
There are even conspiracy theories about the infamous Starbucks cup in Game of Thrones being intentional.
To promote your email list, optimize your website with signup forms, offer incentives, and use your social media following to reach wider audiences.
8. Segment your audience
Starbucks is also a master of catering to multiple types of customers. We all know various “Starbucks” personas. There are the people who go to Starbucks to work on their computers and use the free wifi. Starbucks also gives cheap refills so that these people have no reason to leave the cafe.
There are also the trendy customers who find recipes on TikTok and come in asking to try these drinks. Starbucks provides extreme recipe personalization for these folks!
There are also the people who go to Starbucks because they just want coffee and have no desire for human interaction. That's why Starbucks created the mobile order.
Starbucks has systems in place that make sure that every type of customer has a great experience at the store (unless it's a Saturday morning when lines are out the door and chaos ensues).
You should be doing the same with your emails. And segmenting your audience so that you only send relevant emails to each person is incredibly important for preventing high unsubscribe rates.
Want to learn more?
Email marketing is one of the consistent ways to engage your audience and sell your offers. That’s also not just my opinion, as email has the best ROI of any marketing channel. The average ROI of email is $36 for each $1 spent. So, hopefully, this blog post has given you ideas on how you can make your email marketing strategy more effective. But do you need more help? You can learn more about blogging, websites, email marketing, and more on the blog! Here are some of our favorites!
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