If a majority of Americans are still working from home…do they technically have to call off this morning for celebrating too much yesterday 😉 In any normal year, “Super Sick Monday” is one of the biggest days to skip work. Many of us watched The Big Game – a phrase used by non-sponsors in all industries to avoid legal backlash – and probably enjoyed a craft beverage or two. It’s commendable that the NFL and the NFL Players Association were able to pull off a complete season during COVID-19, capped off by a hard-fought battle, spectacular entertainment and, of course, the advertisers.
You don’t have to like professional football to appreciate what it took for Bud Light Seltzer, Cointreau and Oatly (wait, what?!) to secure a commercial on CBS: entry point was $5.6M for a 30-second spot on broadcast television (streaming was $300k extra). For 99% of craft beverage brands, that’s simply not an option. Which got us thinking: when is the right time for your craft beverage brand to spend money on advertising? Our team came up with a checklist to read with your morning coffee:
- Amplify messaging with social media
- Direct traffic with Google AdWords
- Build awareness with community engagement
- Place your bets
 | How does advertising make your craft beverage brand more discoverable? |
You’ve got a great craft beverage story you’ve shared with anyone who visits your tasting room, your website and your social channels. Fantastic! You’re a marketer. Marketing happens on channels within your control, while advertising is paying for the opportunity to share your marketing efforts with new, hand-picked audiences. The challenge comes with knowing when to pay, and how to get the greatest return for your investment. We’re here to help size-up the opportunities for you, without breaking the bank.
amplify messaging with social media
Posting photos and videos to social media channels is free, of course. This is called organic posting, and it relies on your content being interesting enough for current fans and followers to want to engage with and share to their networks. But what if your posts get the same number of likes each day? It could be time for a new content strategy to add some energy to your messaging. Or you could increase the reach of your posts to craft beverage drinkers outside your friend group. Paid advertising is an option when you have an engaging message you wish to share with a new audience.
Pick a post that has gotten 25% or more engagement OVER your baseline and format to promote to new audiences using one of the following formats:
| Platform | Objective | Formats |
| Awareness Consideration Conversion | Photo Ads Video Ads Stories Ads Carousel Ads Slideshow Ads Collection Ads Messenger Ads Playable Ads | |
| Awareness Consideration Conversion | Photo Ads Video Ads Carousel Ads Collection Ads Ads in Explore Stories Ads Instagram TV Ads | |
| Awareness Consideration Conversion | Promote Ad Campaigns | |
| YouTube | Collect Leads Drive Website Traffic Increase Product Consideration Increase Brand Consideration Build Brand Awareness Extend Your Reach | In-Stream Ads Non-Skippable Ads Video Discovery Ads Bumper Ads Outstream Ads Masthead Ads |
The benefit of choosing advertising on social channels is A/B Testing – or posting a variety of messages to see which one(s) resonate with your audience. If a post does particularly well with your current followers, the same messaging can be formatted to introduce new audiences to members of the Chico Beverage Association with very little additional effort. Want help? Just set up a time to talk with a member of our team.
drive traffic with Google AdWords
Nothing beats the energy and vibe of a buzzing tasting room! Major metros might have hundreds of choices for drinkers on a given night, many of which are first-time visitors. Google is where mobile customers get their information, and paid advertising helps you rise to the top of the list. Optimizing your web pages for search (SEO) is the right place to start, but you may hit a wall where you can’t improve your search ranking organically. At that point, the difference between being listed in the first ten results or buried on page ten is paying for one of Google’s ad formats to help you get noticed:
| Platform | Objective | Formats |
| Google AdWords | Drive Website Visits Get More Phone Calls Increase Tasting Room Visits | Text Responsive Image App Promotion Video Product Shopping Ads Showcase Shopping Ads Call-Only Ads |
It’s no secret that AdWords pits advertisers against each other in a bidding war for premium positions. Pick those keywords and phrases that help the craft beverage drinker – the character in your brand story – solve their unique problem: where to go/meet/drink tonight, for example. If bids are equal and your content provides the best answer to the user query (what’s typed in the search bar), then your brand will be served up before others.
build awareness with community engagement
Some of your most effective and targeted advertising opportunities are found within a short drive of the tasting room. Connecting with the community makes your craft beverage brand even more relevant and discoverable to new drinkers. And while it’s vitally important to recognize those who support you, only choose those vehicles that help tell your unique story. For example:
| Media | Involvement | Trial Opportunities | Newspapers Handbills/Flyers Apartment Newsletters HR for Nearby Companies Directories, Books, Printed Materials Next Door, Neighbor Forums | City Council Visitors’ Bureau Fermentation Clubs Hotel Concierge Services Small Business Resources Sponsorships Donation and Charities Arts Industry Guilds and Associations | Events and Pop-ups Office Drops/Stocked Fridges Passports Buses Mobile Aps Local Community Meetings Disc Golf, Guerilla Sampling |
These not-so-traditional ad formats will require a little more of your team’s time, but creative execution and budget are often negotiable. Think about your craft beverage customer and how they would react to seeing your tasting room promoted at their workplace. Or to samples being handed out at a sponsored event. This hyper-local touchpoint could be the perfect introduction to your craft beverage brand.
place your bets
Many craft beverage producers equate any advertising with super-sized budgets. This type of targeted advertising doesn’t have to be a big-ticket item – it just needs to be part of your annual budget every year. Because if it’s not, you will always find reason to not advertise. We like the idea of testing and learning what media-messaging combination connects with your craft beverage drinkers. Remember, you’re looking to achieve your objectives – like driving website visits or creating awareness – in a predictable amount of time and at a reasonable cost. And once you build some momentum and see the results, you will look for cost and other efficiencies to make your investment work even harder.
Below is a sample media plan in support of a brand event:
| MEDIA PLAN [YOUR CRAFT BEVERAGE BRAND] Event: craft beverage launch 3/1/21 Audience: 21+ drinkers in neighboring cities to Lakewood, CO Objectives: drive website traffic, online to-go sales Facebook/Instagram:
Google AdWords:
Community Engagement:
|
While your media plan will necessarily look different from the above sample, the point is to test and learn with a smaller budget to start. Use the tools available to track response to your advertising so you can tweak for the next round. And make sure your entire team is aware of any promotional activity by capturing advertising efforts on your monthly content calendar.
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