Katarina’s Coffee’s perked-up approach to digital presence
Nicole Hudson and her mother Carla took over Katarina’s Coffee Shop, a local favourite in Prescott, in the first summer of the pandemic. “We definitely had a vision in mind,” says Hudson. “For the first few months, we were just feeling it out – especially during COVID when it was only takeout.”
Hudson has a background in hospitality management and grew up amongst the various beach resorts her parents ran in the Philippines. But Katarina’s – which is known for its ice cream and coffee – was a new challenge. “I've been in the business ever since I could remember,” says Hudson. “But this was our first coffee shop and ice cream business.”
They began to introduce new offerings and shifted from a seasonal business to year-round. They found a baker and introduced sandwiches, started offering breakfast, and formed partnerships with local suppliers to expand their retail offerings.
“You have to feel it out to actually see what decisions you should make to be better,” says Hudson.
The incremental changes paid off. Service became steadier and as the business was able to bring back indoor dining, it expanded its offering again. Alongside the brick-and-mortar transformation, Hudson began to strategically invest in the business’s online presence.
“It had a Google-generated website when we bought it… it was just a landing page,” says Hudson. The business had a few hundred followers on its Facebook page and the only posts it had were every few months to highlight the business's hours or seasonal closing. “(They didn’t) really keep up with it.”
But Hudson made digital presence a priority. She tapped into Digital Main Street, a program combining grants and one-to-one support from the Province of Ontario alongside partners to help main street businesses strengthen their online capabilities and plan for the digital future.
She applied for two rounds of the $2,500 Digital Transformation Grant, using it and the digital training to fine-tune her social media posts and gain a stronger understanding of search engine optimization (SEO). The latest round of funding she devoted to re-vamping the website beyond the one she built when they first took over the business.
Today, the business’s Instagram has over 1,800 followers and Facebook sits around the same. Hudson also launched a newsletter which has developed a solid following.
“We have great reviews on Google, which is nice, (and helping) people find us,” says Hudson. “I've seen a lot of impact on the digital side, especially with customers ordering online through Instagram or Facebook messaging.”
It’s a new way of generating income for the business that complements the growth in walk-in traffic. She says she uses analytics to see the impact of her social presence across channels, targeting different demographics with each.
“You need a lot of strategies in place before you put something out there,” adds Hudson. “But everything you do makes an impact, whether it’s good or bad – it’s all a trial and error.”
Photos courtesy of OttawaRoadTrips.com
If you're in the Prescott area, make sure to swing by Katarina's Coffee Shop for a delicious breakfast!
To learn more about Digital Main Street's programs and how we can help your business visit here.
Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Meta, Intuit QuickBooks, Square, Lightspeed, Ebay and Canada Post.
Continued investment from the Province of Ontario, through the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade (MEDJCT) has allowed the ongoing expansion the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses going digital across Ontario.
