I spoke with the communications team at Blue Point Brewery. It all started with a Saturday jog.
This is when the communications team of Blue Point Brewery stepped in and where any company or brand can learn valuable lessons.
Within just 24 hours following the publication of Neistat’s video, the small communications team of three went out of their way to capture this unique opportunity. They brainstormed on Sunday and, on Monday, shot a short video in the same funny and irreverent style as Neistat’s. They even managed to tweet a picture of him crossing the finish line and awarded him boxes of their beers for the “Fastest Unregistered Runner”.
A large part of this success is due to the fact that the tweets were written so that Casey Neistat played along by retweeting and commenting on the Brewery’s content for his 1 million Twitter followers.
Despite no budget for the promotion of the video, tweets and posts, the company achieved astounding results:
- The brewery’s Twitter impressions grew by 41.4% during that month
- The 3 tweets about Casey Neistat earned a combined engagement of 154.700
- The total change in followers was 150% higher than during the previous month
- The engagement for tweets mentioning Casey Neistat was 206% higher compared to the average engagement of other tweets
- Casey Neistat’s answers to the tweets alone generated more than 550 retweets and 10.000 likes on his own Twitter page
But the communications team saw more impressive results: “This action temporarily tripled our share of voice in the small market of craft beer on social media. Not only did we gain increased awareness but, more importantly, we gained positive sentiment and showed our followers that we’re listening,” says Yoon.
- Be focused – Systematically and regularly monitor the topics that matter to you and your audiences, on the right channels. Without this first step, the brewery would have never spotted Neistat’s video in the first place.
- Be timely – When you see an opportunity, think and act quickly. The Blue Point Brewery put all their content together and online in less than 24 hours.
- Be relevant – Make sure the influencer’s audiences and tone are a good fit with what you want to achieve. The brewery managed to cast a wider net of young people who now believe and know the brand.
- Be willing to go the extra mile – Go out of your way to make it happen when it’s worth it. The communications team worked on a Sunday to make sure the opportunity wouldn’t slip before them or be hijacked by someone else.
- Be open – if you have the possibility, co-create and dialogue with the influencer to produce together what works best for you and the influencer’s audiences.
This success did not emerge from nothing, the brewery already had a very good presence online and a large base of followers. And while this will also increase your chances for success, it is not the only ingredient. Any brand and companies can increase their possibility of tapping into influencers’ audiences by following these few steps.