You make craft beverages, and your customers love them. Yet you’re not growing as fast as you like. Or maybe you are, but want to increase your capital in an effort to grow your chain or open another branch.
Whatever your reason for wondering about marketing, we’re here to offer some of the best tips the beverage industry has to offer. Choosing and using the right promotional merchandise is critical if you want to outfit your store, make a splash at events and even make an extra buck or two. So without further ado, here are nine can’t-miss beverage industry tips to try today.
Match Your Glasses to Your Bevvy
The beverage industry – heck, beverages in general – have a long history of matching glassware to specific beverage type. Ales go in tall, open glasses. Red wines enjoy bowl-like stemware that allows the wine’s aroma to swirl around without it all escaping through the top. Brandy goes in a snifter because … well, someone probably knows why. We’ll leave it at that.
Now, we don’t want to be perceived as too unimaginative here, but might we suggest that you too match your glasses to your brews? Whether that be kombucha, hard cider, fresh-pressed juice or good old-fashioned alcoholic libations, it’s smart to buy the glasses that complement your drinks best. After all, while it’s fine to be creative in your promotional marketing approaches, there are some rules. We’re trying to have a society here, people.
Classic glass and beverage combos include:
- Coffee and mugs
- Wine and stemware
- Flutes and champagne
- Pint glasses and ale
- Tumblers and liquor
- Handled glasses and cider
- Highballs and juice
These are just some of the creative ideas you can employ, of course. In many cases, you might benefit from more than one glass to market your business and sell to customers.
Brand Your Options Well
No matter what glassware you choose, don’t forget to brand. While you can use regular old pint glasses and stemware, why leave it at that when you could stamp your logo on things and really up your marketing results?
For glasses, this could mean a subtle white or black logo, or even etching. For tumblers, a nice bold logo looks good. Water bottles provide an especially good surface on which to emblazon a solid-colored logo or a multicolored stamp declaring your brand. Whatever you choose, make sure it matches your company theme and shows you off to best effect.
Use Your Own Gear
Many companies buy branded items, but reserve them for customer gifts or event swag. Why limit yourself in such a way, though? You can see much better marketing results when you use your own drinkware in restaurants, cafes, juice bars, wine shops and at festivals. This makes it even more likely people will think of you later on, especially if you let them take the glassware home at a reduced price with their purchase.
Sell Your Beverage Containers
Speaking of price, did you know that drinkware can provide a nice little side income for you? Not only will you make money from your product itself, but you can sell the matching glasses or cups or mugs or bottles that will let people enjoy them most effectively.
Pop online right now and choose one or two drinkware items that you think customers will buy. If this is a new marketing technique for you, make sure to take it slow. Don’t order a year’s worth of merchandise now. Instead, select just a few and experiment. Place them in different spots in your shop. Stack them near the register of your food cart. Offer them as a value-added gift at your tasting counter. See what sells best, then order more of that.
Offer Water Bottles – No Matter What
All fancy beverages aside, everyone needs water. The more of the clear stuff we drink, the healthier we are. As a beverage company, it’s important you support human health as well as your own bottom line, so why not brand some water bottles as well as glassware that matches your product? They look lovely sitting on the shelf in your store, and are perfect items to give away at race days, fundraisers and other functions.
Plus, water bottles work well for some beverage companies. If you bottle mineral water or tea, your customers are likely to enjoy water bottles in which to carry your beverages. Time for a perfect pairing!
Make Gift Sets
Everyone loves a good gift set. If one present is good, then two must be better – and three even more awesome. Et cetera, et cetera. Combining your pourable products with glasses and other items is a perfect way to upsell your customers without appearing as though you’re upselling at all.
Use gift baskets or reusable bags, then pack in beverages along with glasses. Fill in with smaller items such as bottle openers, napkins or shot glasses. Lastly, stuff some tissue paper or paper “grass” in around the goods to make the whole thing a bit more festive. Voila: You now have an amazing marketing tool for which others will pay good money.
Don’t Forget About Food, Friend
Everyone loves food, and most beverages have their classic complements. Take advantage of this where you can. For instance, wine goes well with chocolate. Beer and cheese are firm friends, while liquor and nuts are close companions. For every beverage you sell, select a branded item you can stock alongside it. Not only does this up the number of branded items out in the world, it will again net you a little extra.
Hint for branding food items: Make sure the name of the food stands out. While non-edible items are usually quite apparent, food items tend to blend together in container shape and size. So along with your name and logo, advertise the comestible itself clearly.
Revisit That Logo
Keep in mind that half the reason you market with promo items is to attract the customer’s attention visually. You rely heavily on the eye-catching design to remind them of you and your great products, as well as to catch the eye of their friends and family members. If you want all that great free marketing now and in future, it’s critical your logo stand the test of time.
That said, you might want to revisit it. Here are a few situations in which you should consider redesigning that logo:
- You haven’t looked at it for 10 years.
- Your brand has changed considerably, but your logo hasn’t.
- Your logo bores you.
- It no longer reflects your products today, as brands tend to shift their emphasis over time.
- It’s too close to a competitor’s.
If you resonate with any of the above, it’s time to create a new logo. While it might seem expensive to outsource your new design, don’t hesitate. Hiring a logo designer usually results in a much better logo. After all, you got into this industry to sell drinks, not to design graphics, right? So leave your future design to the experts and do what you do best.
Don’t Wait to Get Started
Perhaps the best tips is to stop waiting and start marketing. When you’re ready to up your marketing success, it’s time to get in touch with the friendly team here at Reusable Promos. No one has more experience or expertise when it comes to putting promotional items to work for you. Give us a call today to learn more about your options, customizations, the ordering process and more. We’ll help you get an order started, guide you through the beginnings of your new marketing plan, and pick up the phone whenever you need us, no matter how long it’s been since you last ordered.
Ready to see better results for your beverage company? We’re ready to help, so don’t wait any longer. Call today.