Terres de Cafe - Making Coffee Digital

Putting the best paris cafe on the map

In 2009, Terres de Cafe introduced Bob-o-Link, a Star Wars sounding, ultra-premium coffee roast. 

Launched by a 3rd generation coffee roaster, Christope Servell, it received investment from Jérémie Trigano, co-founder of epic hotel chain Mama Shelter. Its goal is respect for producers, nature and consumers.

Coffee in a traditional French brasserie is felt more than tasted. Dark roasts, extremely hot, standing at the bar. Terres de Cafe is the opposite. 

During the first COVID wave, I missed popping into the cafe daily. 

Beans replicate the smell, but not the freedom of a delicious coffee in the Paris sun.

Like most small businesses, Terres de Cafe was badly impacted by the lockdowns. I wanted to help keep the community alive and unique coffees on my doorstep. 

The owner and I discussed how customers are discovering and engaging with Google Maps and I suggested he could benefit from promoting himself.

Google Maps focus has evolved from Streets to StreetView to Places. Places are Businesses, parks and attractions on the Map. These appear in searches too, for example “coffee near me”. 

This evolution has made Google the primary source of business information, reviews and photos for most consumers (outside of China).

Google profiles typically receive 80-150% of the traffic of a company’s own website! These interactions occur ‘off-site’ so many companies don’t accurately count them. 

They also drive engagement. According to Google, “76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day.”

Customers scroll through photos and reviews to judge a business on their Google profile before visiting. To leverage this you must understand what people do near you?

Work from home locals are Terres de Cafe’s weekday customers, but on sunny days Parisiens pack the nearby Champs de Mars park.

People find their friends, check transport options and search for food & drinks nearby. 

Terres de Cafe is posting photos to engage these potential customers and to show the business is active and engaged.

To make coffee digital next up is Google Posts to promote a delicious iced latte on sunny days and daily espresso special during the week.

Terres de Cafe is starting the journey to improve their online presence and we’ll share data in the coming months of these experiments. If we can make coffee digital, I’m sure you can help your local business survive and thrive post-COVID.

Here are actionable tips to help your favorite local business:

3 easy ways to improve your Google My Business profile:

1. Include 3 business categories to increase reach in searches (summary of the 2021 categories courtesy of Brennen Bliss at PixelCutLabs)

2. Confirm business hours post-COVID, otherwise Google warns hours may vary, which is bad

3. Respond to existing reviews, politely engaging both positive and negative comments

3 intermediate steps to expand the reach and engagement

1. Add two photos per week to show how great your business is in 2021

2. Encourage new reviews with an easy to scan QR code

3. Test Google Posts to see if they generate traffic

Additional reading on the topic

PHOTO METADATA:

Google won’t say if their search algorithm considers photo metadata, however many people recommend a photo title, geo location and description (no keyword stuffing!)

I suggest adding Google’s photo types, like Exterior, Interior, Food & Drink, Team, to your file name.

The list of business-specific photo types

Easy instructions on how to add photos

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS CATEGORIES

Aim for 3 relevant categories, follow the link to choose or update your Google My Business categories. There are special features for different categories. Here are some examples of category-specific features:

Food and drink businesses can add URLs to their profiles for online orders, reservations, and their menu. They can also add menu items directly.

Businesses that offer specific services, such as health and beauty businesses, can add a booking button to their profiles and update their menu of services.