A young, blonde woman from a coffee shop called The Nitro Bar began popping up sporadically in my feed a couple months ago, and I’ve never swiped past a video since. Apparently, I’m not alone.
This fast-growing coffee chain started by a couple in Rhode Island has 511K followers on TikTok, and they’re not slowing down anytime soon. Clearly, this brand knows a little something about harnessing the power of virality to grow a business — let’s see how they did it.
How is The Nitro Bar going viral?
When browsing through @thenitrobar on TikTok, one surprise for viewers may be the prominence of the owner herself, occasionally accompanied by her co-founder and husband. Audrey Finocchiaro and Sam Lancaster, co-founders who started the business in 2016 from Finocciaro’s parents’ basement, dominate the page, and this is no mistake.
Finocciaro and Lancaster speak to viewers on their experience as entrepreneurs and business owners, something you don’t see brands like Starbucks taking to social media to do. And let’s not lie, they’re a pretty attractive couple, a characteristic that surely isn’t hurting their viewership.
Finocciaro is truly the prominent face of the brand on social media, taking the viewers to ask baristas about the most popular drinks of the weekend and then making them. She’s witty, uninhibited, trendy and fun — like the older sister you wish you had, only simultaneously runs a booming enterprise. Easy, right?
What’s on The Nitro Bar’s menu?
Onto the Nitro Bar’s menu, which they surely aren’t slacking on. The shop is constantly inventing new flavors to fit the season or trends. To boost the drinks’ popularity, many videos posted just show a barista making the beverages — straightforward and simple, with just the sounds of ice clunking against plastic and milk running into the cup. I’m not sure what is so satisfying and methodical about these videos, but they have me hooked.
The Bar also stays up-to-date on other trends dominating TikTok, and it seizes these opportunities to put their own spin on them. Take the “this and” trend, the “how lucky are we to be alive at the same time as …” trend, and the “a little something to take the edge off” trend — The Nitro Bar has adapted them all to promote their coffee products and stay relevant.
Let’s talk about brand image now — with all of the exploding coffee shops hoping to make a dent in the latest craze, each business is charged with creating a personality that is unique to themselves. It’s safe to say the Nitro Bar succeeded (and then some) by asserting itself as a coffee shop for the young, fun adults — think the Sabrina Carpenter of coffee shops, if you will.
How did they achieve this image? The Nitro Bar doesn’t shy away from talking about raunchy subjects like sex and hangovers, and they use trendy songs in the background of their videos to cater to the younger audience.
And, of course, no food brand could be successful without incorporating some version of mukbang content into their socials. The Nitro Bar has no shortage of these try-it-in-front-of-the-camera videos, and they all keep viewers hooked to see just how amazing the new bagel, coffee, or what have you really is.
Aside from their socials, The Nitro Bar has a user-friendly, hip website that allows for customers to order ahead, and the Bar also sells no shortage of trendy merch that can be seen in their videos.