Wage transparency has been a hot topic in coffee social media lately & influenced by other cities’ surveys (article recap further down below), I started the coffee worker survey for those in the Bay Area. I’ve been feeling more energy lately. In honor of World Mental Health Day, I shared on social what my September was like.

There’s a lot of info packed in this issue. I pulled an excerpt for my Q&A with Morgan but I hope you read the whole interview and watch some of the videos. Being a coffee marketer also means keeping an eye on digital trends and TikTok definitely qualifies here.

Featuring my own work & press

Screencaps of one of Morgan's TikTok's videos. Every barista opener can relate to this.

Q&A With Morgan Eckroth, Barista & TikTok Creative

Morgan Eckroth is a full-time college student who works part-time as a barista during the school year. She’s also a barista competitor and photographer who has garnered 615.4k followers on TikTok (@morgandrinkscoffee) in just a few months. In exploring a new social media platform, I thought she’d be a perfect candidate to do a Q&A with.

J: Have there been any unintended consequences (both positive or negative) from having a popular account?

M: Positive: I’ve been able to meet a lot of amazing people through the app and I love being able to share my love of coffee with others. I frequently see comments from people who didn’t know coffee could have art on it or that barista competitions exist. Whenever I see a comment along the lines of “Now I want to be a barista!” it makes me super happy because that’s exactly what I thought a few years ago. I love creating humorous content that all of us customer/food service people can relate to but it’s even more rewarding to be able to show others why I love my job so much.

Negative: The main negative I see is the loss of some of my privacy. I’m pretty careful not to share where I work but, you know, it’s the internet. It’s out there and it’s not difficult to find. I once had someone message my business email with my full name and work address. So that was pretty creepy. However, I’m aware that’s the risk I’m taking on by posting publicly on the internet. The only other thing is that I get teased a lot more by my coworkers about TikTok, but that’s a welcome side-effect!

J: Have you seen an increase of customers who recognize you? How does the conversation usually go? (I’m imagining it’s something similar to “I follow you on Instagram!”)

M: I haven’t seen a large increase at my work but that’s mostly due to our customers being slightly older than the main demographic that uses TikTok. More often than not I have regulars saying, “My (insert child’s name) watches you!” I get recognized a decent amount when I’m in areas with a lot of middle or high schoolers and it’s always a lot of fun. I usually like getting to know them, finding out what types of videos/creators they like watching, and taking pictures with them if they want.

J: What do you think about TikTok being used as a marketing tool for brands & companies, more specifically cafes? Currently there doesn’t seem to be much brand presence but do you see that changing?

M: TikTok is an incredibly young platform, it’s just barely a year old now. Over the past few months I’ve seen large companies begin to advertise on it but I’m not sure what the success rate is. A lot of TikTok’s draw is its random virality, it’s the perfect example of how the internet will grab onto a seemingly meaningless clip and turn it into a massive meme. It’s interesting to see companies adopt TikTok trends to promote products but their videos often feel like the equivalent of that Steve Buscemi “Hello, fellow kids” meme, it just doesn’t feel organic.

I’m really curious to see how the advertising scene on TikTok changes in the next few months as it continues to grow. I see a lot of potential in cafes promoting themselves through video content and I would love to see more coffee, especially specialty, on the app.

For the full intro, embedded videos, and Q&A interview, visit the blog post here.

Bringing Sexy Batch: The Ground Control Cyclops By Voga Coffee

[BYLINE- my first tech reporting piece + some photos by me!] The Ground Control Cyclops from Voga Coffee.

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Quick text updates & links on what's new on the networks

Instagram launched: Create mode in Stories with “on this day,” “emails from Instagram” feature in-app to avoid scam emails, “restrict” option for trolls, and killed its “Following” tab. It’s testing: event invite stickers, DMs for its website app, and “try on” AR ads for advertisers (e.g. try on these glasses).

Facebook is testing: new formatting options for multi-photo posts and new keyword alerts in Groups for admins. The company was fined $40 million for inflating video metrics four years ago.

Twitter announced . It’s testing: new set of advanced search tools and live-streaming of Tweets (which is what it was like in its earlier years). The company apologized for using accounts’ email addresses & phone numbers in ad targeting without anyone’s knowledge.

Helpful links on how to improve your digital marketing

Inside the Facebook Ads of Your Competitors: How to Research, What to Learn

We’re diving into the Facebook Ad Library to give you tips on how to research the ads of your competitors and how to find inspiration from some of the most creative and effective Facebook advertisers out there.

buffer.com  •  Share

How a Visual Language Can Spell Success for Your Next Marketing Campaign

To help you take your marketing visuals to the next level, let’s explore what visual language is, and how you can develop your own for your next campaign.

blog.hubspot.com  •  Share

Email Marketing vs. Social Media: Can They Intersect?

Learn the pros and cons of email marketing and social media marketing. Plus, how they work together.

blog.hubspot.com  •  Share

Anything I've enjoyed reading recently

Radical Wage Transparency Surveys Sweep the Country

In the Google Doc-based surveys, baristas and coffee workers are encouraged to share where they’ve worked, positions held, starting and ending wages, estimated daily tips, and whether they received any benefits or other perks. 

www.baristamagazine.com  •  Share

Recipes Can’t Be Copyrighted, So Can a Restaurant Chef Ever Own One?

How chefs and cooks protect their intellectual property when they leave a restaurant job

www.eater.com  •  Share

Why Having a Peer Mentor Can Be the Best Move

By making introductions for each other, you and your peer mentor expand your mutual network, which can be vital in getting the inside track.

mmlafleur.com  •  Share

An update from my container garden!

A leaf cutting of a Hoya kerri that will just grow as a heart. I stuck eyes on it to brighten up my mood.

What'd you think?

Feedback, questions, or fist bumps 👊 – send them my way by hitting the reply button. Also happy with the 👍 at the end. Or find me on the social networks @thejennchen. 

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By Jenn Chen

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💭 Thoughts on digital marketing as they intersect at specialty coffee, social media, writing, photography & social issues.

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