Steepers looking to elevate their tea wisdom can now look to DavidsTea’s brand new blog, Steep Thoughts, which launched April 5.
The Montreal-based company made the move to go “bloggy style” (their words, not ours) after receiving numerous requests from fans to feature editorial content on its website. Through social channels, the marketing team picked up on tea drinkers’ thirst for more.
“The idea stemmed from our existing customers who told us they were craving information about tea,” says Nathalie Tremblay, head of digital marketing and e-commerce at DavidsTea. “We’re all about making tea fun and demystifying ideas around it, so this blog was just a natural extension of our overall marketing approach.”
The blog will feature two to three easy-reading articles a week, from company news like product launches to tea-based recipes like spearmint mojito and lavender shortbread. The majority of stories will have an education slant, so readers can also learn how to properly store their loose leaves or what temperature their water should be at. Videos will soon be dipped into the mix, showcasing the goings-on of the company.
To keep the continuity of the DavidsTea brand, Steep Thoughts carries over the same clean-and-teal aesthetic, tongue-in-cheek tone, and subtly vignetted photos.
“There’s so much more to tea than making a cup. It’s the most interesting drink and it’s got such a storied history,” says Youri Hollier, content strategy manager at DavidsTea. As one of the brains behind the blog, Hollier is tasked with curating a breadth of content that excites readers about tea, ultimately enticing them to pick up a Japanese Sencha or Cream of Earl Grey.
As for who creates the content, it’s cross-functional; writers are pooled internally from the marketing, digital, social, public relations teams—essentially any staffer who’s got a story to tell. “We have brainstorming sessions where we come up with new blog ideas based on what’s happening in the general market, what’s going on internally, and what our fans are asking for,” says Tremblay.
Since launch, the English blog has received over 13,000 sessions (French received 7,000). Clicks come from DavidsTea’s already follower-strong social channels including Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Its large subscription-based Frequent Steeper loyalty program also serves as an entry into the blog via DavidsTea’s e-newsletter. Though it’s been around since the company’s inception, the newsletter has been revamped to match the style of the blog, pulling in readers with excerpts and teasers that link back to Steep Thoughts.
Eventually, any tea lover will have the option to subscribe to the blog directly through the website. According to Hollier, the blog aims to attract all varieties of drinkers, from the aficionados to the first-time tea drinker who’s clueless about brewing.
“We want to spread the interest of tea as far and wide as we can,” says Hollier.
