Jenn ChenJenn ChenJenn ChenJenn Chen
  • About
  • Work with Me
  • Portfolio
  • Resources
    • Newsletter
    • Recommendations: tools, apps, and products
  • Blog
  • Contact me
  • About
  • Work with Me
  • Portfolio
  • Resources
    • Newsletter
    • Recommendations: tools, apps, and products
  • Blog
  • Contact me
12.01.22

Business owners should be on social media

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Business, Social Media

Should business owners be on social media?

The short answer is yes.

Do business owners need to be on social media? No.

There are also a few other questions related to this:

  • How personal should your business account be?
  • Should business owners be responsible for social media accounts?
Read More

01.26.22

Influencer disclosure basics

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Business, Marketing, Social Media

It’s been three years since I wrote about influencer tips so I thought it’d be a nice revisit on the basics. I’ve seen quite a few social media posts now where either the influencers or brands or both weren’t disclosing their relationships.

Read More

11.10.21

Your brand DMs aren’t private

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Business, Social Media

DM like it’s going to be public because it basically is.

If there is any tl;dr to this, it is that DMs between a brand and person are never private and should never be written as if they were.

Read More

05.11.20

Planning the plan for the plans

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Marketing

There’s a weird partnership between perfectionism and marketing. You spend too much time thinking about how a campaign can go poorly and you miss an opportunity. But if you don’t think about enough, you might end up trending on Twitter in a bad way. How do you craft a plan that feels good but also stops you from becoming a nitpicking monster?

Read More

12.23.19

Harnessing jealousy to your advantage, Part 2

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Business, Marketing

In Part 1, I wrote about how to use your internal jealousy to pinpoint where you want your goals to be and determine what you want to do in life and business. For this post, I want to examine it from a marketing perspective where you use jealousy to subtly encourage sales and drive FOMO (fear of missing out) among your customers.

Unless you’re a marketer, you’ve probably not thought about marketing psychology tactics. Many times, in social media, you are not advertising once and converting that customer on a sale. In general marketing principles, the average consumer needs to see an ad seven times before committing to a purchase. And this number jumps even more if you have luxury goods. It is important to note that the stat was established before social media came about. So it’s very possible that your ad could be shown an average of three times before conversion.

Ways that businesses harness jealousy among consumers include: limited edition products (a special color or style), flash sales, and creating an in-group of influencers. We often want the lifestyle that someone else has, even if we are aware that it’s a facade. I highly doubt that any influencer out there lives the life that is shown on their Instagram feed. We all have to run errands and deal with friendship crises. But the unglamorous parts of life is not what sells. The best kind of influencer is the one that makes you think that you, too, could live their life if only you had the products. It doesn’t matter if you actually can, it only matters if you could.

So, to execute some of what I mentioned, here are some ideas for you try out for your coffee company. Each of these are doable throughout the year. Many of these ideas also hinge on the hope that customers will post about them on social media and brag in a way that will cause other potential customers to be jealous.

Limited edition products

Even if you’re not a manufacturer, swag is included here as a limited edition product. You can take an existing swag product that you already offer and release a new design on it by working with an illustrator. Turn it into a series with different illustrators and it becomes a collectible item. Or, change up colors and release them in limited quantities. 

Flash sales

Everyone loves a sale and a flash one really drives up the need to buy right now. Mark the discount or sale as even higher than you normally would for a sale and then limit the sale. This can be limited in two ways: number of uses or time.

Number of uses

  • Online sales: “First five customers to enter this code online receive this free gift.”
  • In-person sales: “First 10 people to mention this sale get a free drink.”
  • DM gifts: “First five people to DM will receive this gift!”

Time: Many of these depend on your reach. So if your social media presence is small and/or your audience isn’t very engaged, then you may need to extend the flash deal time.

  • Online sales: “This coupon expires in two hours.”
  • In-person sales: “Buy a drink, get a cookie for the next two hours.”
  • DMs: “Send us a DM while this story is up with your favorite drink and receive a free drink coupon.”

In-group of influencers

This now gets into more influencer marketing territory. To execute this, you need to cultivate a group of influencers that you can send products to ahead of a launch. They then post about it and you have people driving buzz before the product is available. This creates a sense of jealousy among your customers. 

Alternatively, you can time their posts with the same day as your product launch so your digital share of voice is high that day. To make the product even more desirable, turn it into a limited edition item.


I hope some of these ideas help create new marketing campaigns for you! The holidays are a great time to test some of these out.


top-down look at espresso against tiled countertop
08.21.19

Coffee marketing failures and their lessons: David Yake

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Business, Coffee, Marketing, Social Media

Failure is a part of doing business. After a certain amount of time operating, you’re bound to fail and that’s okay. Failure can also be used as a learning experience. Earlier this year, I asked my followers if any would be interested in talking to me about their coffee marketing failures – big or small. I was curious to know if people jumped on marketing trends or invested too heavily in a new product. This Q&A series is titled “Coffee marketing failures and their lessons.” 

Read More

07.25.19

Social media sound bites are necessary for consumer education

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Business, Marketing, Social Media

I went to an event at Red Bay Coffee recently. It was titled “The Impact of Coffee Crisis on Communities & the Border Crisis.” It was targeted to consumers and ultimately, both illuminating and thought provoking to me. Attendance was 50/50 in consumers and industry professionals.

Read More

07.11.18

3 Tips About Sending Free Things to “Influencers”

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Business, Marketing, Social Media

I get it. It’s tough out there. You have a new product or you’re a new roaster and you need to get the word out. You think, “If I send people something, they can post about it and it’s free marketing!” I mean, kind of.

But you should still know a few things about this “free marketing” concept.

Read More


06.27.18

What to Look for in a Social Media Consultant

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Business, Marketing, Social Media

This is Part 3 of my outsourcing series. Here’s Part 1 and Part 2.

How do you figure out if the social media consultant you see online is the perfect one for you? This article is going to go into tips on what to look for in a consultant and manager. The content creation part of outsourcing, like photography, is a little easier since you can see tangible products (e.g. photos) and evaluate fit through there.

Read More


05.30.18

What to Outsource for Social Media Marketing

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Business, Marketing, Social Media

This is Part 2 of my outsourcing series. To read Part 1, visit the article here.

As I mentioned in my previous post, there are many things that make up social media marketing. Depending on how much time you have and what you’re willing to part ways with, you may decide to go 100% outsourced.

Outsourcing does not mean that you need to hire an agency. It could mean offloading your social media management to someone else on your team. In this context, we’ll take a look at the items that you can outsource and when to know you need to do it.

Read More


123
About Jenn Chen

I'm a San Francisco-based writer & photographer. On the side, I munch on donuts & hang out with my dog Zoey.

You can reach me here or on Bluesky.

Life goal:
eat / drink coffee / write / travel
>>>> all in one.

Buy Me A Coffee

Search
Categories
  • Business
    • Social Media
    • Marketing
    • News
  • Coffee
    • Coffee Events
  • Personal
    • Food
    • Travel

about

Jenn is a San Francisco-based writer & photographer. On the side, she munches on fun flavored chips & hangs out with her dog Zoey. You can reach her via the contact page or on social media @thejennchen.

links

Blog
Photo services
Portfolio
Contact

about this site

All photos were taken by Jenn Chen, unless otherwise noted, & under full copyright. Photos of me in red & orange were taken by Jessica Caisse. Do not use copy or photos without prior permission. Logos designed by Hannah Ellen.


All images & copy are Copyright Jenn Chen Media, LLC 2008-2025. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions