When Jeanette Janzen-Jones and Darren Bradley Jones launched Dog-Eared Café in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were prepared with a smart set-up that allowed them to safely serve customers while abiding by government guidelines. With a strong foundation in place, the co-founders turned their attention to digital marketing and the results speak for themselves.
Janzen-Jones and Jones had originally planned to open a bar. The couple, who met as university students in Toronto, was inspired by establishments like The Green Room, where students would gather to study and socialize for hours on end without getting side-eye from wary servers trying to turn their tables. After years of working in the service and event-planning industries, the couple decided to apply what they had learned in their previous roles to open their own business. With the COVID-19 pandemic raging on and the cost of rent for commercial spaces skyrocketing in Toronto, they began exploring different locations. During a visit to Paris, Ontario, the couple discovered a gap in the market. While the small community had plenty of bars, coffee appeared to be in short supply. “In the morning, we wanted to go find a cafe that had decent coffee and was cozy so that we could hang out for a bit. And there just wasn’t anything. […] That’s when we’re like, that’s what Paris needs,” says Janzen-Jones.
The couple jumped in with both feet and opened Dog-Eared Café in 2021. They served coffee and baked goods and sold second-hand books from a takeout window. About a year into their business, with restrictions lifting and life in Ontario returning to a new normal, the co-founders heard about Digital Main Street’s Digital Transformation Grant (DTG) program through a Brant County Digital Squad Member. The initiative provides brick-and-mortar small businesses with a digital assessment, online training, and a $2,500 grant to implement their Digital Transformation Plan (DTP).
Janzen-Jones and Jones were no strangers to thinking on the fly. Having opened the café in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic the pair say they had to relearn their business every three to six months to keep up with the ever-changing regulations. However, moving from a takeout model to an in-person experience was a more substantial hurdle. They recognized that the reopening plan would come with a learning curve and the DTG program offered the co-founders the opportunity to work with a Digital Squad Member to put a plan into place to help them navigate the changes ahead.
Dog Eared Café’s DTP focused on two key areas: operations and marketing. To optimize business operations the couple invested in hardware and software to make serving customers in-person easier. An iPad and a subscription to Square Restaurants were purchased which allowed the café to start tabs with customers. Another portion of the grant funds was used to purchase a second point-of-sale device which made it easier for the front-of-house staff to serve takeout and in-person customers at the same time.
With operations optimized, the team turned their attention to digital marketing. Using the DTG funds and leveraging the knowledge they had gained from working with the local Digital Service Squad, Janzen-Jones tested the performance of Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads. “We realized that the Google ads were really helping us because we could see the analytics of where people were coming from,” she says.
In addition to the paid marketing strategy the café implemented, they also invested in an organic social media strategy with a subscription to Canva. Using the graphic design software, the co-founders worked to create compelling Instagram content that showcased the cozy atmosphere of the café and promoted the second-hand book inventory available for purchase.
The digital marketing strategies appear to be working well for Dog Eared Café. The couple says that they chose Paris as a location for their business in the hopes that they could ride the coattails of the already popular tourist destination. However, it would appear the tables have turned in the best way. “In the last year, we’ve had a lot of people […] coming to Paris just for us,” says Jones. “We’re really grateful to this program. I don’t think that we could have made the strides to where we are right now if we hadn’t gone ahead and [applied for] this grant.”
