In the recent Cask Report it mentioned about the importance of social media and an online presence for breweries and licensees and while I agree that it’s a very important (I’m a web developer by trade) tool it’s still seems that most breweries in the UK don’t consider the Internet an important medium and if the beer scene in the UK is going to grow then the Internet needs to be embraced.
Of those that do use the Internet there are only a few that seem to do it well, Like the cask report says it’s a two way street, It’s a dialogue not another broadcast stream.
Adnams, nice site, great social presence
Some breweries have a website, some are great, some are terrible, not just in design but also in the information they provide and the frequency they are updated.
Some use Twitter and Facebook, some even use it very well, others use it to see who can get the highest number of followers or friends or as a way to broadcast information to people but don’t interact or engage with their followers.
A quick search on Google, Twitter and Facebook, shows the vast difference in uptake in the UK and abroad, Twitter is choc full of breweries in the USA tweeting and engaging with their customers, some even have some top notch websites. The UK on the other hand only has a few that do it and most of the websites are out of date.
And while I love the beer blogging scene and agree that it’s important for promoting beers, breweries and most important of all starting discussions, I still have a feeling that it thrives because of the lack of information out there that is actually provided by the breweries and licensees.
Hardknott - great twitter, no website yet.
There could be a number of reasons for the lack of take up in the UK these include:
Time – It seems many brewers and licences work long hours and lead very busy lives, this seems especially true for Micro breweries who are often ran by one or two people doing everything from brewing to marketing and accounting. Updating can be as simple as sending an email or adding quick tasting notes about your latest beer. There are also a number of solutions available that will let you update all your online places at once, saving you having to publish the same thing to lots of different places individually.
Cost – It’s not always cheap to get a website built by a professional company, In order to re coup these costs the brewer will need to sell a lot more beer. Having said that there are grant’s available from local schemes around the country who will help fund websites for all sorts of businesses if you know where to look. There are also a great raft of off the shelf systems with a huge array of professional templates that are easy to customise and brand, these work out much cheaper than a custom built website and will generally do a great job in terms of search engine optimisation and allowing the brewer to update the content when ever they want.
Fear – I’ve spoken to a few brewers who said they aren’t bothered about a website or online presence as they don’t think they will be able to cope with any extra demand, be it for extra orders, dealing with emails or updating content. They also seem afraid of the technology and that it will be hard to grasp or will cost them a fortune to keep the site updated. In reality many of the new systems make it easy to update and control your website, so easy that if you can send an email you can update your website. Some are also scared of selling online, just because you have a website doesn’t mean you have to sell online, there are plenty of companies that will sell your beer online for you, if you do want to sell your beer online then it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune to set up and run.
Sheffield tap - great twitter shame about the site
What I would like to see:
Pubs – Updating beer lists on websites/twitter/facebook, providing information on what’s happening/coming soon.
Breweries - Setup a website and blog, keep people up to date with latest news, beers (past and present), tasting notes and where beers can be found. The site’s don’t require any fancy animations, movies or music, while these are all nice they are expensive and take up valuable time.
In both cases there are a few places that do some of it really well and have built up a bit of a following whether it be through their website blog, twitter or facebook but like I said earlier they are few and far between.
If the UK beer industry is going to grow and thrive then people need to take the Internet more seriously.
Great post Andy,
Some well made points. As a publican, I have found http://www.yourround.co.uk a fantastic tool for keeping my customers up to date with what beers we have on and what are coming soon.
You don’t have to have any web knowledge to keep it up to date, although if you do, you can embed it into your website or blog http://www.thatchersarms.co.uk/drink.html
simples.
Great post mate, spot on, I have an extremely basic knowledge of the net and I find it very useful for getting the word out and getting feedback from customers too!
Nicely put. The internet is hugely important and pubs and breweries can use it to great effect. Social media is a big thing and it’s simple – just talk to people. A website needn’t be all bells and whistles but it’s imperative, even if it’s just a link off to the facebook page or twitter accounts.
One problem is that I think many places think it’s difficult to use or will take too much time… it doesn’t have to and the benefits can far outweigh the time input. One of the main things is that it builds up a reputation in a different place and word of mouth (word of tweets) can spread quickly.
Now, we need to set up a web, design and marketing agency that focuses on the beer industry. Between the bloggers I’m certain we can cover designer, web design, copywriter, digital marketing, social media and PR… How about it?!
Cheers Mitch, the your round thing looks great, i’ve seen it a few times on twitter, the embedded bit looks really handy too.
Glyn – thanks, like you say it’s a handy way to get feedback from people, it’s most definatley a 2 way street.
Thanks Mark, funny you should mention setting up an agency as from what I gather quite a few bloggers are “in the industry”…
For whatever reason most brewery sites are very poor. What you touch on are issues that many companies have (particularly cost and time) but in many other industries they see a website as the hub of new business not an add on or a fanciful luxury.
Things can work without the web – Marble’s holding page arguably adds to the slightly clandestine aura around them and creates even more intrigue.
Some breweries have nailed the web, with the help of being a leader in the marketplace (e.g. bottled ale in the supermarket, which has helped Badger’s social based site become big.
If breweries are so keen on glassware, pump clips and the like, why is a suitable web presence not up their with other marketing priorities? You can offer so much more engagement than a print ad, a pump clip or even a visit to the pub!
For many smaller brewers and busy pubs, a social media presence really isn’t worth the time investment. As an outdated website/media stream is worse than none at all, it’s understandable that many busineses choose not to go there in the first place.
I use Twitter & Farcebook, have a website for the pub and brewery. I haven’t updated my brewery website in at least 6 months, i use twitter everyday because i like it, Facebook a second thought really. Being too busy is not an excuse as exhaustion does set in. Having a brewery and pub i find 18 hour days are the norm (including weekends) The beer list in our pub changes about 3 times a week (10 rotating pumps) so it is difficult to keep updating a web list and in my opinion pointless. We do it now and again, when we get time. I’m sure our clients would prefer good food a hearty welcome and fast service over an online presence. Customers come to the pub to see what you have because they know our reputation. The majority of landlords and brewers will probably think as i do, our business is conducted in person, face to face, brewer to landlord, landlord to drinker. I believe even with a heavy web presence those customers who read blogs etc would only make up a tiny fraction of our customers, i really do mean well under 50 people. That’s my experience anyway.
Hi Andy – I work with Badger ales, we have the Badger Sett Ale Club with blogs from our Head Brewer Toby, guest bloggers, forums where we try to answer all questions and people can rate our beers and upload photos – we just re-launched it….. http://www.badgersettaleclub.co.uk
We also try to stay as active as we can on twitter @badgerales and facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Badger-Ales/113360532026962
and we have started to upload some great clips to our Youtube channel – http://www.youtube.com/user/BadgerAles#p/a
We are certainly giving it all a go!!
Cheers.
Great post, Andy.
I was particularly interested by the findings in the Cask Report around social networking.
Not only am I a huge beer fan (Burton upon Trent-based with a history of brewery ancestors) but I also work for one of the world’s largest technology services organisations where part of my informal role is around social networking and social media / computing. It’s interesting to look at how this relatively recent phenomenon is embraced, not only by breweries, but also by industries irrespective of their speciality.
I think as much rests on the “people” side of things, and – for want of a better word – “categorising” those who manage this outward-facing part of any business. It’s interesting to note there are three tranches of individual:
1) Boomers,
2) Generation X, and
3) Millennials.
Now basically, your Boomers are going to be your 50- and 60-somethings who are hierarchical, guarded, formal and less open to technology hence less likely to be comfortable with Twitters and Facebooks and what-have-you. Your Generation X tranche is 30- and 40-somethings who are more independent, self-aware, and comfortable with technology so more likely to use these tools and technologies on maybe a daily basis. Your Millennials are the 20- and early 30-something, collaborative, hyper-connected, on-demand, ubiquitous, technology-all-embracing users.
In short, to make a success of any Twitter, Facebook or Internet presences, breweries (large or micro) should be handing the conch over to its younger intake. They must stay aware, however, of how to manage that mouthpiece at all times!
Good post, I think breweries and pubs need to realise more the value a good internet profile can add to their businesses. The Grove in Huddersfield regularly updates it’s beers online and I often base visits around what is on as do my friends. As far as online beer sales are concerned we set up http://www.myBrewerytap.com to
help breweries utilise ecommerce and make their
bottles available online for a minimum outlay.
Good post Andy
Mark may have something when he talks about a company specialising in breweries for websites. I run http://www.rightclickinternet.co.uk/ and have thought about this very thing but haven’t had the time so far to do anything about it…..
I think it is the perceived cost of maintaining an on-line presence that scares most breweries. But it doesn’t have to cost the Earth. I’m sure there are many companies such as ours that would put together a cost-effective package. But if the brewers are busy then something like this will fall down their list of priorities…
I also run http://www.aletalk.co.uk/ where we try to list every UK brewery and the beer they brew, a combination of beermad & quaffale if you like. All a brewery has to do is let us know their new beers & we’ll add them. We have pumpclip images & tasting notes on there too.
Apologies about the shameless plug(s)
thing is why should the UK brewing industry be any different to any other industry in the UK in terms of its interaction with the internet or social media. what I mean is you could pick any industry type or special interest grouping and find exactly the same traits of the sites you mentioned, covering this whole breadth of experiences from the very good to the why did they bother again.
So its not a beer related problem to me, its not that breweries are necessarily dis-engaged, they are engaged to the level that the whole of the UK is currently engaged. Its easy for us Generation Xs,to forget surrounded everyday by tweets or updates and slick internet design that theres still a significant amount of people who walk in a pub, because its there, not because beerintheevening recommended it,and buy a drink because its there, not because the landlord tweeted it was just on.
and Id agree that Adnams have a nice designed website, great social presence and interaction. But as a beer drinker, signing upto the mailing list to receive about a ratio of 1 in 10 newsletters about beer whilst the rest are about kitchenware or wine tasting. tells me they havent got it wholly right either.
Clive, what you point out about Adnam’s emails is related to their email preference centre – if you are getting all their emails regardless then they either haven’t asked what topics you’re interested in or haven’t actioned your preferences via segmenting their database.
Pete – I think you’re right when you talk about time and number of customers on twitter – and that’s the same issues that any small or niche business face. For the pub it certainly doesn’t make sense to spend an hour on twitter instead of an hour talking to customers. However, I would argue that as an industry as a whole, including both larger and smaller breweries (and forgetting pubs) the medium of a web presence is sorely underused (not to mention a website can not only be a medium but a distribution channel, a customer service channel, a hub of stakeholder interaction for a modern business.
And talking of age ranges, the ‘Boomers’ are amongst the fastest growing online audience and have disposable income to boot – let’s say most of the cask ale/premium bottled ale drinkers fit generation X/Boomers the surely the web is the perfect place for a brewery to engage with their potential customers?
Clive, I totally understand what you are saying about our emails and Mark is correct although you control the settings yourself, we probably haven’t made this clear enough. If you look at your last email from us, at the bottom is a banner with a link to set your own preferences, you can select from Beer, Wine, Hotels, Store or Events News or any combination.
Andy – Twitter has been a real boon for us in relation to beer. It has enabled us to cost effectively communicate directly with the consumer whether they are buying online or looking for a pub local to them. It’s by far the most popular of our online channels in terms of engagement.
I manage Twitter alone most of the time, so not as time consuming as you might think. I am seeing the number of pubs following us increase rapidly. We gladly promote outlets by Retweeting announcements of our lines going on the bar.
Our sales team assist at times and pro-actively offer to promote any outlet taking our lines to our Twitter followers when they place an order.
Whilst we are comfortable with Twitter, have regular updates on our web site (it’s based on WordPress so easy to manage), I find Facebook still proves a challenge.
Birmingham’s superb ‘The Wellington’ has an on-line beer list, updated in real time.
The 16 handpumps are numbered, so you can choose your ale before arrival, and confidently walk up to the bar asking for “A pint of number 8″.
Incase anyone missed this on twitter there are some nice brewery websites
here http://creativefan.com/45-inspirational-beer-and-brewery-websites/