Stacy GoodmanGrowing deep roots in our nation’s capital is a cold pressed juicery called JRINK (it’s pronounced drr-ink). The brainchild of former Wall Street warriors Shizu Okusa and Jennifer Ngai, JRINK has blossomed into a leading juice bar in Washington D.C. and the surrounding area. Much like their light-strewn stores, JRINK’s Instagram presence is bright and optimistic – a celebration of beauty, of creativity, and of life. This sunny outlook permeates every aspect of their business strategy. And Instagram does, too.
With four locations and a fifth on the horizon, Shizu says that Instagram has been invaluable to the success of the JRINK business; and while it requires plenty of forethought and creativity, the juice is well-worth the squeeze.
Here, she shares five tried-and-tested ideas for brands looking to unlock in-store sales with Instagram.
1. Get buy-in from your local brand ambassadors.
From the start, JRINK has been very involved with prominent DC tastemakers – whether local artists, fitness gurus or community leaders. We’ve been lucky to befriend many of them, and these brand ambassadors have been champions of the company. They frequently post (or repost) JRINK-related imagery to their followers, helping to spread the word and increase the scope of our brand.
2. Launch co-branded campaigns with like-minded businesses.
We’re big believers in joining forces with other local businesses – so much so that three out of our four locations share space with DC fitness studios! Not only do we support camaraderie and a sense of community with co-branded campaigns, but we are also able to reach a wider swath of audience through appealing to other businesses’ followers. We love finding interesting, creative people and ways to promote JRINK throughout the community. From local restaurants who use our juices and juice pulp in cocktails and condiments to myriad fitness studios, we select our partners based on a mutual love for DC community growth and a devoted following.
3. Run in-store promotions with a social twist.
At JRINK, we focus on a light-hearted and social approach to customer service. We try and mimic our humorous nature in our Instagram as well as in casual but helpful interactions in-store. We’re very thankful to have a wide reach on Instagram, so we enjoy promoting campaigns online and then having customers engage and potentially get freebies or codes when they display their social media engagement. We think this continues a virtual/in-person involvement with the brand.
4. Target events based on the location of your store.
As a company with multiple shared locations throughout DC, we cater to a number of different neighborhoods and clientele. We try to channel the varied neighborhood personalities with events that relate to the surroundings; for example, in our Blagden Alley store in up-and-coming Shaw, we partnered with our alley neighbors and hosted a large block party to acquaint the community with our little area. We used the alley’s brick walls for a photo booth, and gave away juice popsicles from our JRINK bike parked outside. The event felt very true to the location, and the community came out in force (even though it was close to 100 degrees out!).
5. Maintain your brand’s aesthetic – on social, on site, and in your stores.
It’s important for us to have our stores, website and social media feel like one holistic, curated experience. In store, we tend towards a bright, colorful and minimalist aesthetic that still relates to the various shop neighborhoods and environments. In our imagery on our website and on social media, we largely post photos taken by our brand ambassadors, which promote this whimsical yet simple and bright aesthetic. Customers respond positively to the branding of the bottles and how that relates to our overall branding, and we get many new people who come in simply because they’ve seen the images online.
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