The explosive growth of craft beer in the United States is kind of old news. Unless you live under a rock, you probably know that craft beer sales have risen on average 10.9% every year for the last decade and that craft beer now accounts for 7.8% of the total US beer market. Meanwhile, macro-brewers like Anheuser-Busch and Miller Coors have seen their market share fall. While the biggest reason for this growth is the high quality product that craft brewers make, many of them have also successfully used social media to spread their message. Here are a few ways that craft brewers have used social media to increase their sales.
Sierra Nevada
Sierra Nevada has 111,000 Twitter followers. Sierra Nevada uses their social media presence to share news about their brand, but also to build community- talking directly to fans, and even other brewers. Craft brewers like Sierra Nevada use their social presence to do something that’s difficult for the behemoths of beer to do- put a human face on their brand.
Dogfish Head
Dogfish Head has 71,067 followers on Instagram. Dogfish Head takes the time to create great content that they distribute through Instagram. Using the photo-sharing service, they share pictures of their brewing process, and photos that emphasize their “off-centered beers for off-centered people.” Their message- we are for those who march to the beat of a different drummer. Their great content sticks a thumb directly in the eye of the macro-brewers they are taking business from.
Untappd
Untappd is FourSquare for craft beer lovers. Using the app or mobile-website, users can log, rate, and share what they’re drinking with their friends all over the world. Many craft brewers have partnered with Untappd to create unique badges, events, and other awards for the network’s users. Many users do log big beers like Bud Lite on Untappd, but in terms of popularity amongst their user-base, they lose out to the Sam Adams, the Stones, and the New Belgiums (all great craft brewers) of the world.
For more great marketing from craft brewers, check out our article on New Belgium’s app.
