Social Media is one of the primary ways people interact with others. People share every moment—to show they are living in the moment. For brands to be relevant, it takes planning and research while at the same time there’s a constant pressure to be current. Brands that have success are flexible and quick to respond making them relevant in the conversation without appearing forced.
Unlike other marketing tools, social media needs to be continuously on point, concise and eye catching. Knowing your audience and which platform will provide the best engagement for each message is what separates top social brands from the rest. What’s the overall goal in using social media? I believe that brands need to focus on brand awareness.
While managing social media for Banging Gavel Brews (BGB), I have gotten a glimpse into how it can be used for a small local craft brewery. Learning while doing in this case, seeing what types of posts are celebrated and which ones are just looked past. The goal isn’t to be the next big brewery (well not yet). The goal is to simply get the BGB name out in front of people and let them know beers are available locally. The brand’s focus is on being unique, inspired and bold in flavor and style. If we reach and connect with local craft beer lovers who enjoy trying something different — cool, we’re successful. We use social media to promote local events, as well as, share live event and brew day footage, pictures and updates. We connect with the community, share articles and tag other breweries and individuals on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This works for us, but like everyone else, we have to evolve to stay up with any social media changes.
One of the ways we stay current is by embracing the apps and tools that our fans are already using. The app and social media platform Untappd focuses specifically on sharing and exploring the world of beer with friends. It’s used by beer enthusiasts and has become one of my favorite online tools for this industry. Breweries use it to provide background and descriptions for the beers, while fans use it to explore beers and check out what their connections are drinking. It’s a place where people can rate what they’ve tried, find where beers are on tap, and even toast or comment on their friend’s beer explorations. This mobile app has the most action during beer fests, so we keep up with it by toasting and commenting the fest goers during these events. People get excited if they are one of the firsts to give a review for a new beer or when we toast their check-in and comment on their experience. We can track what people like and don’t like, get instant feedback that helps improve our product and continue to engage and connect with our fans.
Social media should be fun not a chore. Let’s appreciate how we can instantly stay in touch, learn about customer’s interests and find new ways to provide something unique. Don’t stop living in the moment. Go experience new flavors for yourself — and be social with your beer.
Beckie O'Connor
Partner & Digital Creative Director
Beckie specializes in working with medium sized entrepreneurial-minded companies to develop, design and execute a cohesive brand platform across multiple advertising and marketing mediums. Her clients span the financial services, real estate, and CPG industries.
If you are looking for help with your company’s brand, and how to market it to your audience. Contact the team. If you’re looking for a good beer, Beckie can recommend a stellar stout.