Costa Coffee uses social media to do three jobs: launch seasonal drinks, stay on the radar of younger coffee drinkers, and push people towards its Costa Club app. Its best known social work leans on music, creators and short video rather than polished product shots, and almost all of it is built around the menu changing with the seasons.

You do not need Costa’s budget to borrow its thinking. Most of what makes Costa Coffee marketing work on social comes down to timing, partnerships with people your customers already follow, and a reason to come back. Here is how Costa does it, and what an independent café, deli or bakery can take from it.

Costa is a big brand with a long local story

According to Costa’s own history page, brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa set up a small roastery in London in 1971 and opened their first coffee shop on Vauxhall Bridge Road in 1981. The Coca-Cola Company completed its purchase of Costa from Whitbread at the start of 2019, in a deal reported at £3.9 billion by BeverageDaily, when Costa had nearly 4,000 outlets across more than 30 countries.

It has not been plain sailing since. Semafor reported in October 2026 that Coca-Cola was again looking to sell the chain, which it says has about 2,700 UK and Irish outlets, and that Costa is adding iced drinks and matcha to appeal to younger customers. That pressure to win over a younger audience runs through most of Costa’s recent social activity.

The small business takeaway: even a household name has to keep earning attention from the next generation of customers. If your regulars are getting older, social media is one of the cheapest ways to reach the people who will replace them.

Seasonal launches drive the content calendar

Look at Costa’s feeds over a year and the pattern is obvious. Summer is about iced drinks and Frappés, autumn brings spiced flavours, and Christmas has its own festive menu and cups. Each launch gives Costa a fresh, ready-made reason to post, film and advertise.

This is the easiest part of Costa Coffee social media to copy. A café menu changes naturally through the year, so plan your posts around it:

• Announce the date in advance. A “coming Friday” teaser builds more interest than a surprise post on the day.
• Film the first pour. A 10 to 15 second clip of the new drink being made is better than a still photo for Reels and TikTok.
• Give it a short run. Limited editions create a reason to visit now rather than “some time”.
• Post the last chance. A “final week” reminder often does as well as the launch post.

Four or five seasonal moments a year, plus your regular posts, is enough to give a small café a proper content calendar.

Music and creators carried Costa’s best campaigns

Two Costa campaigns from 2022 show how the brand uses other people’s creativity rather than relying only on its own adverts.

FrappéLists

In summer 2022, Costa ran a three month campaign aimed at Gen Z coffee drinkers. Five up and coming UK artists each created a playlist inspired by a Frappé flavour, and customers could scan codes on drink stickers and posters to listen on Spotify. Video content ran across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok. According to the campaign’s Shorty Awards entry, it reached 8.8 million users on TikTok, grew followers on Costa’s TikTok channel by 159% and helped cold drinks grow from 5% to 24% of the Costa menu.

The Festive Remix

For Christmas 2022, Costa worked with TikTok creator Fin Draper, known for making music with everyday objects. As reported by LBB Online, he remixed “Carol of the Bells” using cups, latte glasses, coffee grinders and steam from a Costa store’s coffee machine. The video ran on Costa’s TikTok, Instagram Reels, Snapchat and Facebook, and on Draper’s own TikTok channel, to launch the festive drinks.

Both campaigns follow the same rule: find a creator whose style already fits the moment, give them your product and space, and let them make something their audience wants to watch.

Related reading: innocent Smoothies Social Media: What Small Businesses Can Copy

For a local café, that might mean:

• Inviting a local musician to play an acoustic session and filming a short clip for both of your accounts
• Asking a local food or lifestyle creator to try your new seasonal menu, with clear “#ad” labelling if they are paid or gifted
• Making a “what the team is listening to” playlist and sharing it on your stories
• Featuring local artists on your walls and introducing them on social

If you work with creators, follow the ASA’s guide to making clear that ads are ads. The rules apply to a free coffee in exchange for a post just as much as a paid deal.

Paid social puts the ads where people are already watching

Costa does not rely only on organic posts. TikTok’s own case study on Costa’s “Made a Little Better” campaign describes how the brand used TikTok Pulse, an ad product that places ads next to the top 4% of trending content. TikTok reports an 11.3% lift in ad recall and a 120% uplift in click through rate, and says the campaign beat its benchmarks.

Costa’s newer “Made With Heart” brand platform, launched in May 2025 according to Mobile Marketing Magazine, also rolled out across TV, YouTube and social media. Costa’s global chief marketing officer, Cecile Angrand, described coffee in that campaign as a moment of connection woven into people’s everyday lives.

A small café will never run a national TV campaign, but you can run small, local ads. A Meta or TikTok ad with a radius of a few miles around your shop, promoting a new drink to people nearby, can cost as little as a few pounds a day. Results vary a lot by area and creative, so start small, test two or three versions and keep what works. If you want help setting this up, our paid social team does exactly this for local businesses.

The Costa Club app turns followers into regulars

Social media gets attention, but Costa’s loyalty scheme is what turns that attention into repeat visits. LBB Online reported in 2021 that the previous Costa Coffee Club scheme, started in 2010, had more than six million members, and that the new Costa Club dropped points in favour of simpler rewards such as free drinks and a free cake on your birthday. At the time of writing, Costa’s website describes Costa Club as a free scheme run through the app, with Beans earned on purchases, a free drink after a set number of purchases, an extra Bean for bringing a reusable cup and a birthday treat.

The link between social and loyalty is important. Social posts about a new drink are far more useful when they also say “and Costa Club members get a bonus”. It gives people a reason to download the app, and the app gives Costa a direct line to them that does not depend on any social platform’s algorithm.

You do not need an app to do this. Simple options include:

• A paper or digital stamp card, promoted on social with photos of happy customers redeeming a free drink
• An email or WhatsApp list for regulars, with early access to new seasonal drinks
• A birthday treat for people who sign up, which is cheap to give and lovely to post about
• A small reward for reusable cups, which also says something about your values

What small cafés can copy from Costa Coffee marketing

1. Build your calendar around the menu. Every seasonal change is a launch. Tease it, film it, post the last chance.
2. Use video first. Pouring, steaming, stacking and serving all make great short clips. Shoot vertically and keep them under 30 seconds.
3. Borrow local creativity. Musicians, artists and creators in your area can make content your own team never would.
4. Give social a job beyond likes. Point people to your loyalty card, email list or booking page.
5. Back your best posts with a small ad budget. Boosting proven content to people within a few miles is more efficient than guessing.
6. Keep it human. Costa’s 2025 campaign is about everyday moments over coffee. That is something every independent café can show better than a chain.

Frequently asked questions

Which social media platforms does Costa Coffee use?

Costa is active on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat in the UK, and its campaigns have also run on X and Spotify. Which channels it prioritises changes by campaign, with short video playing a big part.

Who owns Costa Coffee?

The Coca-Cola Company has owned Costa since completing its purchase from Whitbread at the start of 2019. In 2026, Semafor reported that Coca-Cola was exploring a sale, so check the latest news for any change.

How does the Costa Club loyalty scheme work?

Costa Club is free and runs through the Costa app. Members collect Beans on purchases and swap them for free drinks and other rewards, with extras for reusable cups and birthdays. Costa’s website has the current terms.

Can a small café compete with Costa on social media?

Yes, on the things that matter locally. You will not match Costa’s reach, but you can be more personal, more local and quicker to react. People follow independents because of the faces behind the counter, so show them.

Get your café noticed with Delivered Social

Whether you run one café or a handful of sites, a planned seasonal calendar and a little local paid social can make a real difference to footfall. Our team plans, creates and manages content for food and drink businesses across Surrey, Hampshire and beyond. Find out more about our social media management, or get in touch for a chat about your café.