Have you ever had someone in the drive thru buy your coffee and you just can’t seem to wipe the smile off of your face for the rest of the day? Maybe you paid it forward to the person behind you too! Doesn’t it just feel so good to give back to people? How do you think your community would feel if you treated them to a cup of coffee??
Speaking of drive-thru, let me just say how amazing is it that you can just pull up, roll down the window and order your coffee. Better yet, how amazing is it to order it right off of your phone? Did you know that Starbucks mobile ordering is the most successful payment app? Even more than ApplePay!
One thing I have been doing and teaching my private coaching clients to do is to pay it forward to their community via everyones favorite Starbucks!
Not only is this an amazing way to give back, its also a great way to boost your engagement and get lots of traffic to your instagram.
First of all, let me say that Starbucks doesn’t have this figured out 100%. We went through lots of trial and error to find out all the ins & out of properly sharing Starbucks with your online community WITHOUT any hiccups… because it’s really annoying when your online card stops auto reloading and you receive 5 billion messages in your DM’s and comments that they are in line at Starbucks and the card isn’t working.
I don’t want that to happen to you, so follow these steps below.
1. Download the Starbucks app on you phone (if you don’t already have it)
Follow the steps within the app to get your Starbucks account set up. You’ll become a rewards member.
2. Pick a day you’d like to give back.
This can be any day of your choice. Get creative, have fun! You could have a cute hashtag like #ThirstyThursday #FrappachinoFriday #StarbucksSunday #CoffeeWithAshley
It’s fun to share for special occasions, but even cooler to share consistently!
3. Pick An $ amount you’d like to spend
- I suggest going in person to Starbucks and purchasing a card. Believe me, we’ve had LOTS of practice (and calls with Starbucks customer service) and learned this is the best option (especially if you have a large audience)! If you purchase a card online, your max is only $100. To place a higher amount on your card, you’ll have to go in-person and the maximum is $500.
- Starbucks will only allow an AUTO-reload (at $100 max) 1 time per day
Lets lay it out shall we…
A $500 card (maximum allowed purchased in person) + $100 auto reload= $600 total for the day.
A $100 card (maximum allowed purchased through Starbucks app) + $100 auto reload= $200 total for the day.
That means, for those of you with larger communities, the $500 option is the way to go. Think about it this way, people are going to be sharing and reposting and sharing and reposting. The larger the audience, the more they will be using the card. If you choose a smaller amount, and you only get one auto reload, you’ll be getting DM’s left and right about the card not working. The reason Starbucks only allows 1 reload through an e-card is, according to Theresa the amazing woman who helped me in customer service, because their automated system flags multiple reloads as fraud. Their system automatically shuts the card off.
If you know you want to share the love a lot, some of my clients have even purchased 2 or 3 $500 cards just to play it safe. We take spreading the love VERY seriously over here!
The amount really doesn’t matter, but just be aware that know the card will go fast. Set a budget that is comfortable for you.
After the card is purchased, its super easy to upload it to your mobile app by opening up Starbucks, clicking the “Card” tab at the bottom left, and then clicking “ + Add Card”
Then, just type the corresponding numbers on the back of your card into the app.
4. Create Your Social Post
Okay so this is SUPER important!! Yes, you’re giving back to your audience because you love them but, you’d also like for them to love you back by sharing a selfie, tagging their friends and just showcasing how wonderful it is to give back and make people smile.
So, in your post you want to make sure to include these call to actions and rules.
- Ask them to tag 3-5 friends who would like a free coffee today.
- Ask them to share their selfie with their coffee/tea in their stories and tag you (be sure to re-share their pic on your IG Stories!)
- Ask them to use the specific hashtag you have created.
- Add a Rules or disclaimer- “Please be respectful to be sure many people receive their free drink, limit 1 drink per person, Card open from X time – X time (or until card runs out!).
- If anyone asks to share the barcode, you can decide yes or no, and if it’s a yea just say something like this, “Absolutely, please just ask your community to return the favor & follow my page.” ☺️
I recommend NOT sharing the card balance with your audience. It’s super easy to screen shot the barcode, crop it and overlay it onto a picture of you holding your favorite cup of Joe! Below is an example of what Alex and I did. The Over App is the easiest and quickest way to create an image like this plus its free in the App Store!
I hope this blog post was useful! Please share with other fellow online entrepreneurs that would benefit from this post. 💜 YOU!
Tag me on IG if you share Starbucks with your online fam! I’d love to see how you do it. 🥳
3 comments
Hi. Starbucks app wouldnt allow us to screenshot it for “security”
Sooo I just did this today and someone used the whole card in one purchase. Just be aware of that going in!
Oh my! When we’ve done this in the past the app only allowed $10 at a time. If you don’t mind me asking, what was the limit on your gift card? I was wondering if they automatically set a budget per order depending on the limit on the card.