The Coffee's Hot. Where Are Your Customers?

October 26, 2026•11 min read

Social Media Is the Coffee Shop, Not the Destination

Brew Before You Post | Part 8: The Final Pour

You know what drives me crazy? Watching business owners work their butts off creating social media content, celebrating every new follower and every little bump in engagement, without stopping to ask whether any of it is bringing them customers.

Don't misunderstand me. Getting noticed is important. People need to know your business exists before they can buy anything from you. But if all you're doing is getting noticed, you're missing a rather important part of running a business. And you know what I'm going to ask next: You're creating all this content... IN ORDER TO WHAT??

Imagine opening a coffee shop where people come in, compliment the decor, admire the menu, and tell their friends what a wonderful place you've created. They're having a marvelous time, except nobody's ordering coffee.

That's what happens when your social media gets attention but doesn't give people a reason to take the next sip. After seven weeks of learning how to plan, create, and schedule your content, it's time to talk about what all that work is supposed to accomplish.

☕ Are You Collecting Followers or Finding Customers?

There's nothing wrong with wanting more followers. A larger audience can mean more opportunities to reach potential customers, and engagement helps you understand what interests people. But followers aren't customers, and likes don't pay your bills.

You could have 10,000 followers who enjoy your videos but have absolutely no intention of buying what you sell. Meanwhile, another business with 300 followers might be attracting exactly the right people and turning those relationships into paying customers. Which business would you rather own?

Your social media should introduce people to your business, demonstrate your expertise, and help potential customers understand why they might want to work with you. Think of it as the coffee shop where people first meet you. They come in, get comfortable, have a conversation, and begin to trust you. But eventually, somebody needs to order something.

Your social media presence should serve your business, not become another business you're running for free.

☕ What Happens After Someone Likes Your Post?

Let's say someone watches your video and thinks, "Well, she knows what she's talking about." They visit your profile, look at a few more posts, and decide they like your approach. Maybe they follow you. Maybe they come back next week.

That's a good start! But what happens when they're ready to learn more about your services? Can they figure out what you offer? Do they know how to contact you? Have you given them a reason to move beyond watching your content?

This is where the buyer's journey we discussed in Part 4 comes back into play. Different people need different things depending on how familiar they are with your business and how close they are to making a purchase.

Where They Are	What Your Content Should Do	Their Next Step
Awareness	Introduce your business and the problems you solve	Follow, watch, sign up for newsletter, or explore
Interest/ Consideration	Demonstrate expertise and build trust	Visit your website or learn about your services
Ready to Buy	Explain your offer and how to purchase	Book, call, request a quote, or buy
Delight	Support customers and strengthen relationships	Return, review, or refer

Not every post needs to ask for a sale. In fact, constantly asking people to buy before they've had a chance to get to know you is a pretty good way to make them scroll right past. But every piece of content should have a purpose, and that purpose should support the bigger picture of getting customers.

If someone is ready to buy, don't leave them standing at the counter wondering whether you're taking orders.

☕ Where Are You Sending People When They're Ready for More?

Here's something I want you to understand about social media: You're building your business on somebody else's property.

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and the rest can be wonderful places to find customers. But you don't control their algorithms, policies, or decisions about who sees your content. Your website, email list, and direct customer relationships give you more control over what happens next.

That doesn't mean everybody needs to leave social media to become a customer. Some people will message you, book through a platform, or purchase directly from a social media shop. That's perfectly fine. The point is to give them a clear, convenient way to do business with you.

So take a look at what happens when someone decides they're interested. Is the next step obvious, or have you left them wandering around looking for the freaking cash register?

Your profile: Does it clearly explain what you do and who you help/work with?
Your website: Can visitors quickly find your services, products, and contact information?
Your booking process: Can someone schedule an appointment without exchanging six messages?
Your email list: Can people stay connected while they're deciding whether they're ready to buy?
Your contact information: Can customers actually find a phone number, email address, or another way to reach you?

Now, don't go making this complicated. You don't need some elaborate marketing funnel with seventeen automated emails and a flowchart that looks like the New York subway system. You need a sensible path from "I think I like this business" to "Here's how I become a customer."

And for the love of coffee, test that path yourself. Click the links. Try the booking form. Look at your website on your phone. Don't spend weeks convincing someone to visit your business only to lock the freaking front door.

☕ Are You Actually Telling People How to Work With You?

I've seen businesses produce wonderful educational content and never once explain what they sell. They're teaching, entertaining, answering questions, and building relationships. Their audience loves them, but nobody knows how to hire them.

Sometimes business owners are so worried about sounding salesy that they avoid talking about their services altogether. Other times, they assume people already know what they offer. They don't. And even if you've explained it before, remember that not everyone sees every post. You have to keep telling people what you do, who you help, and how they can work with you.

This is why I recommend making approximately two out of ten videos an invitation to work with you. Not another vague reminder that you're available. An actual explanation of what you offer and how someone can get it.

Tell people:

Who you help: Make it clear whether they're the right customer.
What problem you solve: Explain why your service or product matters.
What they get: Describe the outcome or benefit.
How to get started: Give them one clear next step.

For example, I can spend weeks teaching business owners how to make videos. But occasionally, I need to remind them that I can also come to their business and record those videos for them. Otherwise, someone might love everything I'm teaching and never realize they can hire me to do the work.

That's not being pushy. That's making sure people know what you're selling.

And please understand the difference between these two calls to action. "Follow me for more tips" keeps someone connected to your content, while "Book a Content Session and I'll come record your videos" gives someone a way to become a customer. Both have their place. Just make sure you're using the right one for the job.

☕ How Do You Know Whether Any of This Is Actually Working?

We've spent seven weeks building your social media strategy, and now we've arrived at the question that matters most: Is your social media helping your business grow?

Reach and engagement can tell you whether people are seeing and responding to your content. They're useful indicators, but they don't tell the whole story. Start paying attention to what happens beyond the likes and comments.

Are people:

Visiting your website?
Clicking your booking link?
Requesting quotes or scheduling consultations?
Buying your products or services?
Joining your email list?
Returning or referring friends?

You don't need a complicated analytics dashboard to get started. Choose a few meaningful actions, track them consistently, and look for patterns. And here's something ridiculously simple that business owners forget to do: Ask your customers how they found you.

You might discover that someone has been watching your videos for months without ever liking or commenting on a single one. Then one day, they need your services, and you're the first person they call. That person didn't announce their interest with a heart emoji. They just became a customer.

We've spent this entire series making social media more manageable. We started by establishing a posting habit and choosing the platforms that make sense for your business. We found content ideas, learned how the buyer's journey shapes your messaging, and developed a monthly strategy. Then we learned how to batch the work and turn those plans into finished, scheduled content.

All of that was designed to make social media less overwhelming and more productive. But none of it matters much if you've forgotten why you're doing it.

You don't need to become an influencer. You don't need to go viral. And you certainly don't need to spend every waking moment creating content. You need people to discover your business, understand what you offer, trust you enough to take the next step, and become customers.

Social media is a wonderful place to start those relationships. Just don't forget that you're running a business, not collecting applause.

Make sure somebody's buying the freaking coffee.

☕ Plug-and-Play Hooks: Get People From Interested to Buying

These hooks are designed to help you move beyond simply attracting attention. Replace the bracketed text with something specific to your business, customers, or offers.

The idea isn't to make every post a sales pitch. It's to help your audience understand what you offer, why it matters, and what to do when they're ready.