Look to branded drinkware to market your brews

The craft beer market in the U.S. is booming. While production of suds from the big three – Budweiser, Miller and Coors – slumped in recent years, beer sales are on the rise overall across the nation, according to the Brewers Association.

Meanwhile, the production volume of craft beer is up as well, as breweries manufactured 22.2 million barrels in 2014. The craft beer segment now has a double-digit share of the beer market, the Brewery Association reported.

Smaller brewers that manufacture craft brews saw a 17.6 percent uptick in their sales in 2014, making the craft beer market worth $19.6 billion. Some states are relaxing their laws to take advantage of this boom and hope to entice small brewers to do business in their states, Bloomberg reported.

Getting recognized
It’s not all good news for small brewers, however. With an even more crowded field, how do you get your brews noticed by the buying public? Word of mouth can help your enterprise gain a good reputation, but sometimes a more diverse strategy is needed

A variety of promotional items can excite customers both new and old and attract them to your brewery.

More than just glassware
Not only do craft brewers need to think about what goes into every India Pale Ale or stout they come up with, they must also consider how to market their libations. If they cannot find the right market, they’ll go unnoticed – and then they’re just making beer for themselves.

This is where branded products come in handy. According to the Advertising Specialty Institute, small breweries not only put branded drinkware such as pint glasses to use but also coasters, tap handles, promotional T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts as well. Branded key chains that feature a bottle opener on one end are items that both brewery workers and customers can use and want.

There’s a plethora of promotional items available to small-scale brewers that can pull double duty at the bar such as glasses, bar mats and bottle openers. However, to gain even more impressions for a craft brewery, the business must also offer branded apparel such as T-shirts, jackets and hats that both staff and customers can wear to market the brand.

One perennially-acclaimed craft brewer said it doesn’t even have a marketing department, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a force to be reckoned with in the beer scene. Three Floyds, an Indiana-based craft brewery, has a near cult following for all of its offerings. Its brews rack up awards and its business grew by up to 40 percent annually over the past five years, USA Today reported. The brewery sells branded T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts and pint glasses featuring heavy metal-influenced artwork both online and in-person to its rabid fan base.

Promotional materials can be a one-two punch, giving breweries a chance to get the word out about their beers and the brand’s patrons another way to display their love of the brews.

Branding is a great marketing avenue. It combines both a wearable marketing campaign with word of mouth, since your fans are your best advertisers. Craft beer drinkers are enthusiastic about the brands and brews they love and giving them an added outlet through branded products can only help boost a brewery’s brand and give it more impressions.

“We take a lot of pride in the branding,” Luis Gallardo, head of sales and marketing for Rhinegeist Brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio, told the ASI. “We just wanted a way for people that want to showcase their fanship for the brand besides just drinking it.”

Gallardo’s brewery sells T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts and other promotional apparel on top of their liquid offerings.

So far, brewers told the ASI they regularly see people walking down the street or even at beer tastings and conventions wearing one of their brewery’s promotional T-shirts, helping to spread the word about their favorite beer.