Craft breweries looking to strengthen its social media presence should focus on developing a distinct tone of voice and placing digital platforms at the forefront of marketing efforts.
Emphasizing the importance of a brewery establishing its own voice, a communication style that matches the brand’s personality and engages its audience is key explained Eliana Barnard, Director of Marketing at NoFo Brew Co.
“If you’re copying somebody, you’re not yourself,” Barnard told a group at a recent social media webinar hosted by RadCraft. “When you create a tone of voice that’s true to your brand, you’re able to resonate better with your audience.”
Barnard advised breweries to consider a brand’s core values, mission, and target audience when developing their own voice, noting that consistency is key. Whether aiming for a fun, approachable tone or something more professional and educational, staying true to the brand’s identity can help create meaningful engagement.
“If you look at your brand’s personality traits and how you want to be perceived, that will guide how you speak to your audience,” Barnard said. “The tone you create helps ensure consistency across engagement and posts.”
She also suggested that breweries with multiple locations might benefit from different tones for each region. A brewery with a laid-back California outpost might adopt a more relaxed tone on social media, while a New York location could take a grittier, edgier approach.
Another key element to an effective social media strategy is organizing content through what Barnard calls “content pillars.” These are categories that help guide the types of posts a brand shares, ensuring consistency and relevance. She used examples such as core products, the brewing process, team highlights, and customer stories.
Highlighting core products, such as new beer releases, gives the audience something familiar and tangible to engage with. Meanwhile, sharing behind-the-scenes insights into the brewing process can cater to an audience eager for transparency and authenticity, Barnard explained. She also stressed the importance of humanizing the brewery by spotlighting team members and sharing customer reviews or stories.
“If you post consistently within those categories, you’re less likely to go off-brand,” Barnard said. “Big companies like 7-Eleven and Kroger do this, and it’s something breweries should adopt if they want to take their social media to the next level.”
Beyond defining tone and organizing content, Barnard advocates for breweries to adopt a “social media-first” strategy, where platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok become the primary focus of marketing efforts. According to Barnard, this approach means creating content specifically for social media instead of repurposing material from other platforms like email newsletters or blogs.
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“When I first got into marketing, we used to post the same announcement across email, web, blog, and social media without really altering the wording,” Barnard said. “But a social-first strategy maximizes impact because its content is made just for social, which is what your audience is looking for on those platforms.”
This strategy is especially effective in a landscape dominated by visually engaging content. Barnard pointed to the rise of TikTok as a prime example of how content created specifically for social media, like trending videos and interviews, can capture users’ attention and increase engagement.
“A great example is when you see people doing interviews with mini-mics on the street, asking random questions,” Barnard said. “That kind of content is purely social-first. You’re not putting that on a blog or an email — it’s for social media because it’s fun and engaging.”
The final social media workshop for RadCraft, Social Media Automation That Sells More Beer, is set for November 15.
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