Want to know a great way to express your love and appreciation to your community that will knock their socks off?
Treat them to coffee!
No, I don’t mean take each and every person out to coffee (which would be a lovely option if we all had at least 100 extra hours in the day!)
It’s as simple as sharing a barcode on your favorite social media platform that you purchase through the Starbucks app. The lucky members of your community need only to get on down to their local Starbucks, order a delicious cup of coffee, show your code (from their phone or printed) to the barista, and they’ll be enjoying a delightful coffee treat on you!
I can tell you from experience, giving back to your community in this way feels really good and it’s fun to see who takes you up on your offer. Because so many of us spend a lot of time in the myriad of online spaces, we don’t always have a way to communicate our thanks, but this is a really simple but significant way to do just that!
I want you to be able to love on your community in this way, too, so I’m going to show you how easy it is. Oh, and by the way, I have an extra resource to support you further in growing your audience. So be sure to read to the end to grab that free resource! But in the meantime, follow these steps:
1. Download the Starbucks App on your iphone or Android.
Download the Starbucks app for iPhone here.
Download the Starbucks app for Android here.
NOTE: All images shared in this post are from my iPhone.
2. After downloading the mobile app, create your free account by clicking on “Join Rewards”
3. You know the drill…give all the pertinent details to set up your free account.
4. Don’t forget to go to your email inbox to verify your account.
5. You’re In! Next, you will enter your choice of payment information to your account. Click “Load your card” or if you already have an account with payment set up, move on to step #6.
They make it easy with lots of payment options! Maybe a little too easy. ; )
6. Now that your account is set up, click on “GIFT” at the top of your screen.
7. Select the artwork you’d like to appear on the e-gift card you’ll be sharing with your community. I recently shared some #CoffeeOnAmy love on Valentine’s Day, so I chose a fun “love” theme (see more about that later in this post).
8. Now that you’ve selected the artwork, add yourself as the recipient (type in your email), and select the dollar amount you want available on the gift card. I wouldn’t add more than $25, to begin with (we’ll talk budget and how to load more money on the card at the end of this post). Now select “Send” at the top right of your screen.
9. You will receive a few emails from Starbucks, but this is the one you want to pay attention to. Click on the “REDEEM YOUR EGIFT” button.
10. This will open the eGift card with the barcode you will share. Take a screenshot on your phone of this so you can share on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, but make sure to crop or edit out your card number, dollar amount and name. People will be able to walk right into Starbucks and show the barista this barcode to pay for their cup of coffee.
11. Now the for the fun part! Share the gift of coffee with your community. Here’s how I recently shared a Valentine’s Day gift via my Instagram story.
First, I started with a video telling them what I was up to:
Then I posted a series of fun messages that ultimately included the actual barcode that they brought in to Starbucks with them:
I then added a video message in which I encouraged my community to take a screenshot of themselves with their coffee and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #CoffeeOnAmy.
Followed up with just one more post wishing everyone a happy Valentine's Day!
And here are some of my community, enjoying their free coffee! It was so much fun to see them enjoying their treat!
12. And last but not least, let’s talk about how to manage your gift budget for this project, as well as how to set up a safeguard for the gifting so no one single person takes unfair advantage of the full budgeted amount (not that anyone in our amazing communities would try to pull something like that on us!).
First, definitely set a budget. Why? Because we’re smart business people, right!? : )
Whether you budget $25 or $300, you’ll want to set that budget and stick to it. Secondly, if you have a budget higher than $25, it’s best to set an auto-reload amount that incrementally adds a certain dollar amount that you determine when your balance falls below a certain amount (this way no one’s left hanging when they order their coffee.)
Important: When you set your auto-reload amount, I wouldn’t set it for more than $10-$20 at a time. This will help curb those potential BIG spenders out there from ordering coffee and pastries for their family of 7!
If you go with the auto-reload option, you’ll want to make sure you watch your card balance and turn off the auto-reload when you get close to reaching your budget.
Let me show you how it’s done:
Select “PAY” from the top of your screen and then “MANAGE at the bottom.
Turn “Auto-Reload” on:
Add Reload amount (remember don’t go over $10 -$20):
Now, you're all set! Have fun with treating your community to a cup of coffee!
Cheers!
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