AIMIR: Should My Cafe Be On Social Media And Run Ads When I Can’t Even Afford To Manage It?

I run a small cafe in Penang, Malaysia. Our food is good. Many customers tell us that. But online, we don’t have any presence, be it Facebook, Instagram and others. At the same time, people keep telling me to create social media accounts and start running ads quickly to get new customers. The problem is, I can’t afford to set aside some money for the ads, and I don’t have the time to manage it either. I don’t intend to actually. Which should I do, and am I marketing it right?

Focus on these two things first. The rest can wait. First, get your business to have a presence on Google Maps. Do it via Google Business Profile. Once all is settled, quickly update all information regarding your cafe there. That includes updating the regular status with images and growing customer reviews. Ads can bring in new faces, but reviews can actually convince strangers to try your cafe or make them come over. A single good review often does more than a week of ads. Just encourage your patrons to share their reviews at the end of a meal. Simply display a little card with a QR code, or even a friendly whisper to them, “If you liked it, we’d love your review.” Build that base, and your ads will be 10 times more effective.

Second, work with a small group of friendly party people, such as friends and close customers, to post about your cafe on their personal social media accounts. Use their social media instead. When a customer starts to post something good about your cafe on his or her social media and shares it with their friends, the impact is as powerful as the customer reviews earlier. That’s it.

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