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The Most Important Line in Beverage Marketing

  • 6 min read

It’s your brand story, plain and simple. You should be able to say in a single sentence what business you’re in and why customers should care.

Wait a minute, isn’t it obvious? We’re beverage makers after all. Why would we need to tell them that? Because craft beverage is crowded and customers won’t waste time or energy.

Mobile map image for the most important line postHere’s an example. A drinker in your town does a search for “tasting rooms near me” and Google returns 20 listings. At that moment, all 20 are competitors. One or two might fall out because something in the name was a trigger; another couple may drop off because of distance; and 3 are closed on Friday. 13 remain and our drinker’s starting to get anxious because they don’t want to make the wrong decision. They click on each of the websites hoping for something, anything to boost their confidence. Chances are:

  • 4 give a poor mobile experience and are immediately eliminated
  • 5 show a brand logo
  • 3 feature a lifestyle image
  • 1 has some promotional copy

The point: not a single one made it easy for the searcher to say yes! They were forced to scroll or click for more info to help make the decision.

What if your craft beverage brand made it easier for new customers to say yes?

Would that result in an extra one or two sales? Perhaps a positive Yelp or Google review? The craft beverage producer that clearly states their brand story will generate 3x the new customer traffic of their closest competitor. Why? Because no one likes being wrong. Whether it’s a night out, a piece of clothing or a faraway vacation (yes, please!), we don’t want to regret making a decision. And with 10k+ wineries, 8k+ breweries, 2k+ distilleries and 1k+ kombucharies, cideries and meaderies, drinkers sadly have a much greater chance of making a mistake than nailing it the first time.

That is, if they don’t have a guide steering them in the right direction.

Hiking photo for the most important line postThe team at Market Your Craft helps beverage businesses like yours drive traffic, build engagement and capture more sales. We want you to have the proven tools to write a one-liner that works hard to attract new customers right from your mobile homepage. Or Google search listing. Or wherever you need to stand out in a crowd. Because relying on a great craft beverage alone to grow your business without engaging current and new drinkers won’t keep the lights on in today’s competitive environment.


storytelling: share your superpower

Storytelling Workshop cover imagePrehistoric caveman used signs, sounds and drawings on rocks to share stories of hunting and rituals. Elaborate drawings were used in Ancient Egypt to entertain and communicate religious messages. Today we swipe a mobile screen to connect with our friends. And while the means of sharing has changed, the need for storytelling has always been there! It’s just woefully underutilized and deprioritized by businesses today. We’re here to help change that!

To start, we’ll help owners and managers deconstruct all the stories they’ve told themselves about their brand, only to rebuild them in a way that lands with today’s customer in their target markets. With humility and objectivity, together we’ll address the following crucial areas of high-performance storytelling:

  1. Understanding your craft beverage superpower
  2. Knowing what’s sacred in the stories
  3. Identifying why customers should care (about you, your brand, your product)
  4. Defining good, better and best customers in your target market(s)
  5. Sizing-up the competition to find niche opportunities
  6. Writing your brand story
  7. Selecting the most effective media for the message
  8. Budgeting accordingly

Being open to the process and a critical review of their marketing efforts, owners and managers will make huge strides with their storytelling strategy. Moving forward, that strategy can serve as the basis for a marketing blueprint around social, digital, public relations, events, packaging, point of sale and all other customer engagement efforts. When your team has that kind of clarity, they are unstoppable champions for your brand!

Two opportunities in the next week for help writing a brand story worth sharing with searchers on your homepage:

Attend a Free Webinar

Next Wednesday, October 20, at 1PM ET, we will be presenting Storytelling: Share Your Superpower as part of the Craft Beer Professionals Fall Virtual Conference. For three days starting October 18, join leaders across all beverage industries for over 50 webinars ranging from technical to equity and inclusion to business and everything in-between. For a list of presenters and schedule, visit craftbeerprofessionals.org.

Market Your Craft logo - Vertical

Download our Guide

We’ve created this Guide to help craft beverage producers sharpen your focus on customer needs, with storytelling techniques to keep fans engaged and the tools needed to build momentum and capture new sales. Want a preview? View the first five (5) pages of Storytelling: Share your Superpower prior to purchase. Following, you will immediately receive an email with your link to download.

Interested in an in-depth workshop for your team? We would love to learn more about your business and help you brainstorm brand storylines. Workshops can be conducted on-site and virtually across a wide range of topics from brand story to mobile responsive websites, public relations, social strategy and others. Pick a time that works best for you to meet with our team to discuss!

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