PRO TIP: Consider brand positioning, occasion theme and your target audience when selecting occasions to market your beverage brand.
Plan Ahead to Be a Beverage Marketing Best Practice
Events and holidays are like locomotives. They cannot be stopped once in motion, so preparation is the key to making your beverage branding a success during a celebration. We’ve provided a tip list here for you to follow. Just count back from the celebration you’ve selected, then get ready for the gravy train to come your way!
Marketing Prep for Celebratory Events
This advice applies to Suppliers, Distributors and Retailers, so be sure to pass it on to your channel partners ahead of time.
Email/Web
Ensure your email list is up to date. Collect emails consistently; have an opt-in form on your website (available on many free email providers). Empower your sales representatives to collect emails when visiting accounts. If available, offer incentives* for opting in such as a discount (*legality varies state-to-state).
1-2 weeks in advance:
Send an email to your subscriber list with a clear, immediate and compelling call-to-action (CTA) tied to the occasion (e.g., “Call/Email Your Sales Representative to Discuss Profitable Cinco de Mayo Cocktail Features!” “Mother’s Day Quantities limited, reserve now!”). If you can incorporate personalization (account name or their dedicated sales representative’s contact information), that makes your message much more impactful.
Point-of-Sale Print
1-2 weeks in advance:
On Premise: Order table tents/get menu features at least 7-10 days in advance of your celebration to ensure timely delivery.
Off Premise: Ensure posters, shelf-talkers and eye-catching displays are in high-traffic areas to drive purchase. (*Where/As Legal)
On a budget? Have generic materials that can be adapted for local applications; leave room to swap out drink and pricing details as needed per location. Consider items such as a dry-erase or chalkboard that can be inexpensively changed for occasions/specials.
Social Media
1-2 weeks in advance:
Sharesocial media assets from your own channel, but leave room for on- and off-premise retailers to adapt the creative to fit their specific locations.
Consider creating a Facebook event to house imagery that can be reused on the major SM platform for local application.
Integrate!
Creative materials should be similar across platforms, leveraging enough branded content for promotion and also focused on the occasion, which is what consumers will be attracted to in the first place.
PRO TIP: Plan your beverage marketing across channels so distributors and retailers can promote your timely recipes with an integrated, consumer-focused theme.
Measuring Beverage Marketing Impact Goes Beyond Tracking Sales
While counting your money is always nice, determining marketing success requires more metrics than tracking revenue. What caused the increase in revenue and which marketing tactics should you invest in for your next celebratory campaign? Tracking marketing success will make sure you’re identifying the tactics and channels to optimize success. Here are a few tips from our experience:
Measuring Success
Email/Web
Short-term
Check open rates and CTRs (click-through rates) to gauge campaign effectiveness. Going a step further, did any of your recipients take action? Are you able to trace product orders based on when you sent the email? Go beyond digital metrics if you want to show ROI.
Long-term
Always look to grow subscribers among your key demographics. Incorporate opt-ins to your social media pages to drive relevant subscribers. Sharing great social content with incentives to current subscribers is a great way to create potential virality and potentially watch the referrals pour in.
Point-of-Sale Print
Short-term:
Sales of a product is the premier metric, but think beyond this. Depending on the brand and the way it was featured (e.g., if you developed a cool signature cocktail), permanent placement on an on-premise menu would be a great indicator of success as it would ensure continued sales.
Also, measuring output (e.g., how many flyers were printed/delivered) helps determine if an event was popular with distributors/retailers.
Long-term:
As print and digital converge to form integrated campaigns,
your measurement should be looking across channels as well. Consider creative ways to tie printed materials to digital properties and sales. Coupons (where legal) can help, but think about driving consumers to a unique landing page for a holiday-themed beverage recipe to track engagement with the campaign.
Social Media
Short-term:
Monitor social media for mentions for your brand and use a branded hashtag to see if campaign assets are being used.
Long-term:
Develop a social listening strategy for your business to help determine which celebratory events are best for your beverage brand.