Do you want to know what it takes to run a successful digital campaign for your spirits brand? With years of experience in the craft spirits space, the Drinkubator team has run countless successful campaigns for both startups and established brands. In this article, we will share nine key lessons we can learn from some of our most successful campaigns.
Lesson 1: Define Your Target Audience
At the heart of every successful campaign is a strong understanding of the target audience, which isn’t always easy to figure out. Your brand likely speaks to several very distinct audiences, which would require different messaging styles or content. Drinkubator takes the time to research and define the target audience for each campaign to tailor the messaging and media placements that are most likely to resonate.
Context is critical here; before publishing, view each ad from the POV of each audience and their unique persona. The goal is to have the campaign speak directly to that particular audience and their needs and desires. Don’t worry if you don’t nail it every time. The point is to learn, optimize, and improve over time. Digital marketing is an iterative journey and not a destination. We’re constantly testing different audiences and messaging.
Lesson 2: Tell Your Story
Every brand has a unique story to tell, and sharing this story can be a powerful way to connect with consumers emotionally. Every brand has a unique story to share that transcends the liquid in the bottle. That story, often more than the liquid itself, is what wins the consumer’s loyalty.
Drinkubator works with our client-partners to develop and share their brand stories, creating a connection with consumers beyond traditional advertising. With so much competition in the craft spirits space, you want to ensure every impression you get conveys your unique value propositions and expresses your brand story and values.
Lesson 3: Create Engaging Content
Whether a viral video or a clever social media campaign, engaging content can be the key to success for a digital campaign. Drinkubator’s team works with your brand’s creative team to develop compelling content that tells a story, drives engagement, and ultimately converts consumers into loyal customers.
Once the campaigns are underway, we rigorously A/B test all of our campaigns to help determine which content resonates most and provide insight into how to optimize your campaign spending best. This allows brands to spend their production budgets wisely by continuing to create engaging content and drive conversions.
Lesson 4: Focus on Brand Personality
Your brand’s personality can be a crucial differentiator in a crowded market. Drinkubator recognizes the importance of developing a unique brand personality and works with clients to define this branding, ensuring consistency across all marketing channels.
Much like how you can identify specific, loveable, and endearing traits of your friends, you should be sure that your campaigns embody identifiable traits that make your brand uniquely you. Are you cheeky, silly, and irreverent? Stately, cultured, and measured?
Whatever your brand is, wear it loud and proud. Consistency is key here—just like your product, your brand personality shouldn’t waver or change across campaigns or channels.
Lesson 5: Prioritize Consumer Engagement
Consumer engagement is essential for developing long-term customer relationships that will grow your brand’s enterprise value. Drinkubator prioritizes consumer engagement by creating interactive campaigns encouraging two-way communication between brands and consumers. One great way to achieve this is through email marketing automation and flows, leveraging advanced segmentation techniques to engage with the right audience at the right time. The days of “batching and blasting” a single message to engage your list are long gone. The name of the game is personal, timely, and relevant.
Lesson 6: Utilize Influencer Relationships
Influencer marketing is a particularly effective way to get your brand in front of new audiences. Drinkubator has experience leveraging these partnerships to amplify messaging, create engaging content, and connect with new audiences.
Though it is a tool with enormous potential to grow brands, influencer marketing can be tricky. Consumers can see through disingenuous influencer campaigns, and the audience who responds most to influencers (Gen Z, and to a lesser extent, millennials) doesn’t give brands a second chance to win them over.
Whether your brand already has existing influencer relationships or if you need a strategic partner to help identify opportunities for collaboration, we can help!
Lesson 7: Leverage Data and Analytics
Data and analytics are non-negotiable for successful brands and are used to inform and optimize marketing campaigns. Drinkubator uses data-driven insights to continually optimize messaging, placements, and campaigns, ensuring the highest possible ROI and consumer engagement.
Brands should be looking at data and analytics to inform every decision they make as they look to scale. From creative and copywriting decisions to deciding on new points of distribution or where to invest in more feet on the street.
Do you have a “brand home” like a distillery or brewery? Do you sell direct-to-consumer with an ecomm site? Do you attend exhibitions, festivals, or events to get liquid to the lips of new consumers? These are all excellent opportunities to capture boatloads of data.
If you want help to ensure you’re capturing all the right data and, most importantly, using it to inform your overall strategy, call the data junkies at Drinkubator. We’ll ensure we’re utilizing the right data in the right ways to keep your brand growing and thriving.
Lesson 8: Stay Ahead of Trends
The beverage alcohol industry is constantly changing and evolving, and staying ahead of trends can be crucial to success. Drinkubator’s team of industry experts keeps their fingers on the pulse of consumer preferences and leading-edge platforms and uses this knowledge to inform their campaigns. And unlike other agencies, Drinkubator is unapologetically and singularly focused on building spirits brands. This affords our client partners the considerable advantage of our collective industry experience, knowledge, and connections.
Lesson 9: Take a Holistic Approach
Successful beverage marketing requires a holistic approach that considers all aspects of the consumer journey. Drinkubator understands that every touchpoint matters and takes a comprehensive approach that considers everything from packaging design to digital advertising in our campaigns. Most importantly, we will customize our strategy and the channels we implement based on the outcomes necessary to drive your brand’s enterprise value.
To accomplish this, we will always integrate all the best and latest digital tools and tactics into every aspect of your marketing. So, whether we’re talking on-prem, off-prem, ecomm, field, or distillery marketing, your overall strategy will include all touchpoints with no digital blind or weak spots.
Lesson 10: Work with Experts
The final lesson from Drinkubator’s successful beverage campaigns is the importance of working with industry experts. Craft spirits marketing requires unique skills and expertise, and working with a team like Drinkubator ensures you have access to the insights and strategies needed to achieve unparalled success.
Let’s Get To Work!
By following the ten lessons outlined in this article and working with the team of experts at Drinkubator, you can develop campaigns that drive consumer engagement, build brand loyalty, and ultimately achieve success for your brand.
So what are you waiting for? Contact Drinkubator today to learn more about how we can help take your spirit brand’s marketing to the next level!