When it comes to social media, Karen Locke, founder of marketing and branding agency High Proof Creative, likes to joke that while the spirits industry brings the alcohol to the party, it’s always the last to be invited.
“We used Facebook and Instagram for so many years without the presence of any spirit brands, and then there was this kind of a trickle in,” said Locke, whose agency has specialized in working with craft beverage companies since 2018.
Legal restrictions and a complicated path to purchase are two of the reasons Locke cites as to why spirit brands can be slower to hop on social media. The rules for creating alcohol-related content often vary— policies and enforcement on channels like TikTok still remain murky, for example. But with the rise of new platforms and features, keeping current can be a challenge for any start-up or independent brand that doesn’t have a large marketing budget. The good news is that more channels can create diverse opportunities for spirit companies to engage with consumers, and ideally find a way to stand out against their competitors.
For Solento Organic Tequila, an Instagram feed heavy on beachy travel and lifestyle photography (plus inspirational quotes) was a way to express the ethos of the brand— and differentiate from other agave spirits. The company was founded in 2019 by Taylor Steele, a filmmaker who specializes in surf films, and has earned about 10,000 Instagram followers.
“The tequila category is an extremely competitive space to play in. To stand out, you can’t just follow the rules of what has been done before,” said Raani Blewitt, Solento’s marketing director. “Solento is more than just a tequila brand, it’s a mindset.”
The company’s goal on social media is to create a place for people to see and feel the tone and the essence of the brand rather than pushing a purchase, said Blewitt. According to the experts, that’s an appropriate strategy for companies whose path to purchase is different from consumer brands because of the three-tier system.
“Where other e-commerce is a lot more focused around conversion and getting somebody from social to the website, with alcohol the long game is being played with social. And that makes sense because if somebody loves your brand that’s as good as it gets,” said Abby Colby, the director of social media for The Brand Guild, which has advised spirit companies like Uncle Nearest.
That means a brand’s return on investment might not be counted in bottle sales, but in exposure, engagement and impressions. Social media is an opportunity to build a connection and entice consumers enough to buy a product by educating followers in a way that can’t be done on a bottle or packaging, said Colby.
That’s where one of the most popular content strategies for spirits and for ready-to-drink products comes in: instructional and cocktail recipe videos.
“Instructions in cocktail videos engage people, especially if it’s a specialty spirit or one that people haven’t purchased before,” said Locke. “That education piece is huge in teaching the consumer how to best use your product.”
Ironically, even RTD brands are producing simple cocktail videos. Instagram reels from Golden Rule have demonstrated how to make a blended canned cocktail with its margarita. DrynxMyth offers recipes beyond its own bottled products from partner bartenders. BeatBox reposted a reel from an Instagram user combining its wine-based RTDs with 7-Eleven slushies.
“They have to be creative, because no one wants to see a feed full of cans,” said Locke.
Brands are also continuing to lean on influencers, who are growing their followings beyond their initial channels. Working with influencers is one way brands seem to get around TikTok’s policies that prohibit branded alcohol content but allow individuals to create content as long as it doesn’t “offer the purchase, sale, trade, or solicitation” of alcohol products. While TikTok has recently been cracking down on influencers, #DrinkTok has 1.2 billion views, and although there are fewer spirit influencers on TikTok, they have the greatest number of followers, according to a study by Upfluence. But if brands are still wary of dipping their toes into the platform, the information and style of instructional videos TikTok has popularized can be found on other outlets as well.
“I think the good news is that a lot of these TikTok influencers have a reach and a following that follows them,” said Colby. “A lot of them have moved to podcasting or to Instagram, and they built audiences on those platforms as well.”
For example, one of TikTok’s biggest mixologists, Julianna McIntosh, produces cocktail-centric podcasts, Instagram reels, and curated collections of entertainment merchandise like her favorite glassware. YouTube influencers have emerged as leaders in the spirit industry too, said Colby, as that channel offers evergreen content that can give brands more exposure time compared to quick Instagram reels or TikTok videos.
“It offers you a longer timeframe than just a post, so if there’s a podcast where they’re filming themselves talking and the whole time they’re sipping a certain brand of liquor or a cocktail, that exposure goes a lot further than an Instagram post or a 60 second video,” said Colby.
The social media guru is also tracking the growth of new brands that are leveraging their social media followings as cultural content creators to make a splash in the spirits industry. This year, entertainment company Betches launched Faux Pas, a canned cocktail co-created in partnership with Spirit of Gallo, the spirits arm of E. & J. Gallo. Sparkling hard tea, spritz and canned cocktail producer Loverboy was founded by stars of Bravo’s “Summer House.” Both of those brands are appealing to a customer that’s social media conscientious, said Colby. Those types of brands also represent a new era of beverage companies that are quicker to jump on social media trends like memes.
“You’re seeing just a lot more trending content that you wouldn’t expect to see from really big brands, and I think that’s where the smaller brands will actually have an edge or be able to develop a larger following,” said Colby.
But no matter the hashtag, connecting with a targeted audience in an authentic way has been the key to success for RTD brands like BeatBox. The brand, which has over 63,000 followers on TikTok has partnered with some of the biggest names on the platform and according to co-founder and COO Aimy Steadman, has had more engagement on social media in the past 12 months than any other alcohol brand. Part of that success is due to the company’s diligence around targeting the communities it connects with— music festival attendees for instance— and inviting them to engage further. One of its newer channels is Discord, where several thousand fans connect with each other and plan to attend festivals together.
“We provide a platform for them to meet and get together and have fun, which again is the whole reason why we started BeatBox in the beginning,” said Steadman.