The Microbrewery Handbook

Chapter 26Tips for Improving Your Social Media Presence

DESPITE A DECADE spent in the more traditional – some might say archaic – advertising platform of the print newspaper, the lion's share of our marketing budget is used on the digital and social media platforms of Facebook and Instagram.

I love the hard work journalists do to deliver the news and be our city's watchdog. However, we know that our target market is best found not through a full‐page print advertisement, but through digital platforms. All of our ad dollars in 18 months – other than a few “thank you” award ads here and there – have been through the creation of our own art and video, Facebook, Instagram, and some subtle digital targeting during tourist season.

The largest marketing expense we've taken on so far was hiring the best videographer team in our city, Calliope Films, to make 45‐ to 60‐second spots to use not for television but for social media.

The vast majority of the time we aren't paying anything; we're just cultivating the best social media presence we can without using any dollars. It's the most effective way to reach our target audience, and our brewery business model – pretty tanks, pretty beers, outside‐the‐box creative processes – is tailor‐made to put on display.

Telling brewery owners to have good social media isn't exactly a novel idea, but you'd be surprised how many breweries are doing it wrong. Or not doing it at all. I won't go into too deep a technical dive here because there is a ...