How people discover new brands has changed dramatically in recent years. According to an NP Digital post-purchase survey of customers across 85 businesses, social media led brand discovery at 29%. The figure highlights the lasting power of visual and short-form content to introduce products before potential customers even type a search query.
The result makes a deliberate brewery social media strategy more than a marketing add-on. A business without a clear plan risks becoming invisible to potential customers long before they visit a taproom, browse a beer menu, or ask where to find their next favourite brew.
Social media gives businesses in the craft beer sector a direct way to showcase products, build recognition, start conversations, and stay connected with their audience.
This article serves as a quick guide on how to create a robust social media plan for 2027 and turn online visibility into meaningful engagement.
What Is a Craft Beer Social Media Marketing Strategy?
A social media marketing strategy outlines how a business uses social platforms to reach specific audiences, promote its offerings, and achieve measurable marketing goals.
For a craft brewery, the plan can guide content around new releases, taproom events, brewing stories, seasonal beers, and customer experiences.
Effective social media marketing for breweries defines:
- Target audiences
- Posting schedules
- Content formats
- Promotional tactics
- Performance metrics
These essential elements give a clear direction for building online presence.
Leading Social Media Platforms for Brewery Marketing
An effective brewery social media strategy uses each platform according to its audience, content style, and strengths:
Instagram remains a natural home for craft breweries because its visual format suits beer photography, taproom aesthetics, and can art.
Reels can showcase brewing processes and event highlights, while Stories can feature daily tap lists and the atmosphere inside the taproom.
A cohesive grid also helps communicate the brewery’s personality. This makes brewery Instagram marketing particularly useful for building a recognisable consumer brand.
Facebook is valuable for event listings and local community engagement. Groups, Events, and community posts help breweries maintain connections with nearby customers and regulars.
Tiktok
TikTok can introduce a brewery to viewers beyond its existing community, as its recommendation system surfaces content based on user interests.
Brewing clips, tasting videos, and behind-the-scenes taproom moments can fit the platform naturally. In fact, Digital Applied reports an average TikTok engagement rate of 5.53%, compared with 2.35% for Instagram Reels and 1.98% for YouTube Shorts.
Lastly, LinkedIn suits breweries pursuing B2B relationships. Posts can highlight wholesale opportunities, distributor partnerships, production capabilities, and supply chain connections rather than focusing solely on consumer-facing content.
Brewery Social Media Strategy: Why Online Visibility Matters So Much
Social media marketing for breweries at present greatly influences a brewery’s growth through the following:
It’s Where Customers Are Actually Discovering New Breweries
Salesforce reports that 53% of shoppers now discover products through social platforms, up from 46% in 2023. Discovery can influence the decision to visit for the first time, especially when customers encounter beer recommendations, venue content, events, or local posts.
Engagement Rates Outperform Other Industries
Authentic content gives breweries a stronger foundation for meaningful customer relationships. Marketing Brew has highlighted research showing that 85% of customers say they remain loyal to brands that feel genuine across digital and social channels.
This reinforces the value of showing real people, brewing stories, customer moments, and the character behind a brand.
It Directly Supports Online and On-Premise Revenue Together
Social media can support multiple revenue paths at once. As part of a brewery social media strategy, breweries can promote online beer sales while also showcasing taproom experiences, new releases, events, and food pairings.
Strong social habits can keep digital sales visible even as on-premise consumption returns to stronger levels.
Social media isn’t a supplementary marketing channel anymore. In most cases now, it is the very first interaction a future regular customer has with the business.
How to Set Up a Brewery Social Media Strategy for 2027
A brewery’s social presence works best when it reflects how the business actually operates (i.e., locally rooted, event-driven, and built around people who enjoy good beer). Here’s a quick step-by-step for a practical brewery social media plan for 2027:
Define What Success Looks Like
A brewery should decide what the strategy needs to achieve before creating content. The priority might be:
- More taproom visits
- Online sales
- Event attendance
- Broader brand awareness
Each goal needs a specific, measurable target (e.g., increasing event registrations by 20% or generating 100 website purchases per month). Target goals give a brewery social media strategy a clear direction and make performance easier to evaluate.
Choose the Right Platforms for Your Audience
Not every brewery needs the same platform mix.
- Instagram remains a strong fit for craft breweries because beer photography, taproom aesthetics, and can art naturally suit its visual format.
- TikTok can introduce brewing-process and taproom-culture content to interested viewers beyond an existing community.
- Facebook remains useful for events and local engagement.
A brewery serving young families and millennials may prioritise Instagram, while a college-town brewery targeting Gen Z may invest more heavily in TikTok.
Build Content Pillars Around What Actually Performs
As mentioned, manageable content can include brewing footage, new-release announcements, taproom atmosphere, and behind-the-scenes staff moments.
Instagram Reels can turn brewing processes and event highlights into short videos, while Stories can communicate daily tap lists and real-time updates. These pillars give a brewery enough variety to keep its feed interesting without constantly inventing new content categories.
Create a Realistic Posting Calendar for 2027
A useful calendar should start with the brewery’s real-world schedule. Seasonal releases, festivals, collaborations, holidays, and taproom events can form the backbone of the year.
The marketing team can then build regular posts around those dates instead of scrambling for ideas at the last minute. A sustainable cadence generally matters more than posting constantly. Consistency also gives followers a reliable reason to return.
Prioritise Genuine Community Interaction Over Broadcasting
Social media should feel like a conversation. Breweries can encourage patrons to tag them in their posts, use relevant local hashtags and geotags, and respond thoughtfully to comments and questions. Customer photos can also provide authentic content while giving visitors a reason to participate.
Two-way interaction helps turn occasional visitors into familiar faces and, eventually, regular customers.
Support Search Visibility Alongside Social
Social media should complement search marketing rather than replace it. ACCESS Newswire reports that organic search drives roughly 53% of website traffic, highlighting its central role in digital marketing.
A brewery needs to give its website and Google Business Profile the same attention it gives its Instagram grid. Accurate opening hours, location details, menus, events, product information, and locally relevant pages can help customers find the business when they move from social discovery to active search.
Measure, Adjust, and Extend Reach Beyond Owned Channels
Regular measurement helps a brewery see which content deserves more attention. Engagement, click-throughs, website activity, event registrations, and conversions can reveal what resonates with the audience.
Quarterly reviews give the team enough data to refine its approach without waiting until the end of the year. Useful brewery marketing benchmarks can also provide context when evaluating results.
You Need a Robust Brewery Social Media Strategy for 2027
A brewery can expand its reach further through industry platforms, newsletters, partnerships, and specialist beer publications like The Beer Post. These channels can introduce the business to audiences beyond its existing followers and local customer base.
A strong brewery social media strategy is the foundation. Pairing it with visibility through established industry platforms can extend a local following into broader industry recognition.
Building social media presence takes real work, and extending that visibility to a wider, already-engaged industry audience is where The Beer Post comes in.
Breweries, pubs, and bars can be featured in The Beer Post’s newsletter, reaching subscribers across the global beer industry who are already looking for exactly this kind of content.
Get in touch with The Beer Post today to find out how to get featured, advertise, or run a dedicated campaign through our platform!