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Why the Best Coffee Influencers Don’t Make Coffee in Their Videos
Benjamin Peterson | July 5, 2023
Coffee has turned out to be one of the best products that influencers can sell, and it’s not just because it’s an addictive substance. In fact, the three biggest influencer coffee brands were started by content creators who don’t even make videos about coffee! The reason they’re able to succeed at these businesses is not just because they’re relatable and have millions of followers that will buy anything they sell. The actual reason is a concept called “Content-Product Fit.”
What is Content-Product Fit?
When you’re watching a video and you don’t even notice the advertising of a product, that’s ideal Content-Product Fit. This happens when a creator doesn't need to change their video at all in order to integrate a product. A prime example of this unrelated to coffee is with Mr. Beast and his chocolate company, Feastables. In his videos, he almost always incorporates a brand integration with another company such as Brawlstars or SoFi. Instead of doing a 60-second ad-read for these companies, he just does a 30-second read for his chocolate company and has the products throughout the video, driving exposure and profit to Feastables even higher. In the long run, when his videos are averaging over 100 million views per video, it’s smarter to plug his own product. I’ve personally looked for Feastables in Walmart, and they’re almost always sold out, evidence that his marketing must be working.
This still isn’t perfect Content-Product Fit however…
Chamberlain Coffee
Emma Chamberlain quite possibly has the most perfect Content-Product Fit. In her vlogs, she always makes coffee for herself on camera. Now I know the title of this post is “Why the Best Coffee Influencers Don’t Make Coffee in Their Videos,” but Emma is the exception. Her content has never really been centered around coffee, but rather around her own life. Her personality drives the viewership and engagement. People aren’t clicking to watch about coffee, but to watch Emma be funny and relatable. At a certain point during the pandemic, it made sense to create her own coffee brand, integrating a product versus selling regular YouTuber merch like t-shirts and hoodies. This is by far the best business decision Emma’s made because Chamberlain Coffee is now widely considered the most successful influencer coffee brand. Every time I got to the farmer’s market, I see Chamberlain Coffee tote bags.
Bankroll Coffee
Graham Stephan is a finance influencer who makes videos about investing, realty, and cryptocurrency. He is extremely frugal, and for years he’s watched “What I Spend in a Day” videos, yelling at his monitor every time someone buys Starbucks. He adamantly believes that buying coffee is one of the biggest blunders to your bank account, especially if you can make it at home for 20 cents. He started Bankroll Coffee to provide a more affordable way for his followers to drink coffee and practice what he preaches.
This isn’t perfect Content-Product Fit, but it has been wildly successful for Graham and his team.
Top of the Morning Coffee
If you watch any Jacksepticeye videos, the first words you always hear him say are, “Top of the morning to you laddies!” very enthusiastically. He started his coffee brand because he felt like there was no fun in drinking coffee, and with his classically over-the-top, energetic attitude, it only made sense stimulants were fueling that realization. While Chamberlain Coffee’s branding is the most aesthetically pleasing, Top of the Morning Coffee bags are so much more happy and fun. Jack livestreams and makes gaming and reaction videos. He needs something to keep his energy up for extended recording sessions or long streams. It isn’t perfect Content-Product Fit, but it’s the best performing brand he’s made so far.
Big Picture: The reason I picked these creators for Content-Product Fit over actual coffee influencers is because they show that you don’t have to make videos about the specific product you’re trying to sell. A Soccer YouTube channel doesn’t have to make Soccer balls, but can instead sell related products like active-wear or protein energy bars. These are just three of the best instances where coffee brands take Content-Product Fit, and run.