In case you haven’t noticed, the craft brewery industry had completely taken over the US.
In fact, 75 percent of Americans now live within 10 miles of a craft brewery. This is both great news and bad news for your own craft brewery. It’s great because you now have a larger audience to reach than ever before. But, the downside is that you also have more competition than ever before.
If you’re not doing what you can to stand out from the competition, then you’re quickly going to go out of business.
One of the best ways to make sure you’re standing out from your competition is to focus on marketing. Read on to learn about the top marketing strategies for breweries.
1. Know Who You’re Marketing To
You can’t put together an effective marketing strategy without first knowing who you’re marketing to.
And while the answer may vary a bit in the craft beer industry in terms of specific demographics, one thing’s for sure. The majority of your marketing is going to be focused on millenials, as those are the ones who participate the most in the craft brewery scene.
There’s a lot that goes into marketing to millennials, but in general, you need to make sure you’re presenting a product that’s luxurious but affordable, environmentally friendly, local, and made with social issues in mind.
2. Get Social
In this day and age, you simply aren’t going to survive in any industry, let alone the craft brewery one, without getting loud on social media.
Your brewery will need to have a website, Facebook page, Instagram page, and even Twitter page. You may even want to consider starting a YouTube channel, given the rise in importance of video marketing.
But, simply having accounts on these platforms will not be enough. You need to be participating in Throwback Thursdays, posting funny jokes and quality pictures ( like the ones found on SBStandard.com) and giving people an inside look at the day to day happenings at your brewery.
Doing this will bring life to your brand and help your customers find you more relatable and trustworthy.
3. Build Relationships
In order to help market your craft brewery, there are two types of people you want to start building relationships with: locals you can work with and customers.
Start getting to know local musicians, food truck vendors, and artisanal good makers. Building these relationships will not only allow you to create special event nights at your brewery, it may also give you the chance to be the local beer sponsor at other events.
You should also work on getting to know your local customers. You’re bound to have some regulars after awhile. And once you get to know them, you van start sharing with them on social media, using their expertise for classes and events, and welcoming them into your beer family.
And don’t forget, bringing them into your beer family also means they’ll be bringing in their friends and family, so don’t forget to work extra hard to nourish these relationships.
