Alcohol marketing is the advertising and promotion of your company’s brand / portfolio with the goal of building awareness and increasing sales. With the shifts in drinking trends and habits across alcohol markets, including new generations coming into the market, post-pandemic shifts in drinking behavior, the rise of alcohol delivery, RT D market growth , specific spirits consumption trend shifts, and compliance considerations there’s a lot to consider for your alcohol marketing strategy.
Some key alcohol marketing strategies for 2023 and beyond can include:
To get details about recent trends and the marketing strategies listed above (with alcohol marketing examples), see our 2023 Alcohol Industry Trends & Marketing Strategies Report
Alcohol promotions are specific tactics that fit within an overall marketing strategy and are the building blocks that can help your company or brand build longer-term customer loyalty. Promotions come in the form of one-off or a series of campaigns that can include:
You can start by running these one-off promotions and graduate to a continuity program that focuses on increasing purchase frequency and as well as customer lifetime value (CLTV). This can lead to a full customer loyalty program that focuses on ongoing engagement, deeper connections, the opportunity to build up to bigger rewards, and stronger loyalty with your brand. If you already have a continuity or loyalty program in place, promotions are a great way to keep up the engagement and bring back former members.
It might seem like a complex process, but with careful planning and attention to the required details, you can ensure that your sweepstakes campaigns meet the necessary regulations. Use this checklist to avoid missing anything before releasing your sweepstakes to the public.
To help you with your alcohol marketing promotions checklist, here are the key phases of any campaign.
Promotions not only drive awareness, discovery, trials, and sales. They also allow your company to collect valuable data and to increase your marketable database. What can you learn from your promotions?
With receipt validation (for purchase-related promotions), there’s a ton of insight you can get from your customer base. With basket analysis via scanned receipts, you can get insights on:
First & Zero-Party Data: You can collect more first and zero-party data to better understand your customers and to build up your CRM data (giving you a larger marketable database). The types of first or zero-party data can include contact information, location, household size, flavor or brand preferences, activity preferences (music, sports, recreational activities), purchase frequency and more.
It’s best not to go it alone when it comes to alcohol promotions. Working with an alcohol marketing company or a company that has deep experience running various types of promotions, specifically in the alcohol marketing area will save your company time and risk and will usually lead to better results.
With alcohol promotions, it’s important to follow the laws closely. Some key legal considerations include the following:
Create official (and abbreviated) rules: The agreement between sponsor and participant, including "No purchase necessary" disclosures, start and end dates, entry methods, etc.
Provide TCPA Disclosure for any Text CTAs: Official wording including consent to receive text messages and options for help or to "stop".
Include Age and State Gating: For registration and will often include age verification for winner (e.g. drivers license)
Do Bonding and registration: In certain states, including New York and Florida for prizes over $5K
Perform Random Winner selection / Winner release forms /affidavits
Select Prizing, Rewards: Trips/vacation, sporting events, outdoor equipment (grills, coolers, chairs), gift cards, checks; No alcohol as a prize in most cases
Obtain Alcohol Control Board approval of POS & other marketing materials : States such as Alabama, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia
Check against California restrictions
Some great alcohol marketing examples include the following:
Jim Beam their customers and boosted engagement via a fun photo upload contest, managed by Snipp. Consumers would scan a QR code to visit an age-gated website. There they would register and upload a photo of their backyard. Rewards included a VIP Distillery Trip (with behind the scenes tour), backyard games tournament, exclusive tastings, catered meals and other bespoke experiences. Learn more about it here.
Radeberger launched a digital rebate solution that was flexible to be used across brands, retailers, location and season. Working with Snipp, Radeberger can run any number of contests and promotions programs, including digital rebates, GWP, sweeps, pin-on pack, sweeps, instant wins, punchcard, text-based programs, etc. and collect data on which types of activations are working the best. In addition, they are able to build up their CRM data (first and zero party data) and can run programs with purchase validation (e.g. receipt processing) or non-purchase validation. Learn more about it here.
The craft beer manufacturer Goose Island (AB Inbev) wanted to become more consumer-centric and to offer their consumers an omnichannel, more cohesive shopper experience by seamlessly unlocking consumers' transactional and behavioral data from their offline and online network in the UK. The solution included the option for customers to purchase at retail and upload an image of their receipt or to upload an image of Goose Island pints. Entries would qualify them for a sweepstake for various rewards. Learn more about the program here.
There are a lot of changes in the alcohol industry and in the marketing landscape, but one that doesn’t change is that customers want great quality products, they want to be entertained and engaged and they love to participate in fun or interesting promotions. Contact Snipp if you want to learn how we help brands grow awareness, drive trials and increase sales via alcohol promotions.
