Owned & Earned Media Analysis

Emerson CollegeMK334 Spring 2014

Objective The objective of this presentation is to provide insight and recommendations regarding Craft Beer Cellar’s owned and earned media presence. The insight was derived by leveraging methodologies and tools studied via MK334 Digital Behavior & Analytics while the recommendations are based on Best Practices and successful executions by other brands in-market.

Our goal is to start a dialogue regarding the current state of CBC’s online presence and enable a ‘launching’ point from which the organization can begin a process of continuous improvement.

Paid, Earned & Owned Defined

Agenda - Website- Facebook- Twitter- Instagram- Other Media- Additional Opportunities

Website

WebSite ObjectivesWe view the website (i.e., owned media) as the central hub of a brand’s online strategy. Therefore, it is essential that it aligns with the organization’s overall objectives.

- Encourage consumers to visit a brick-and-mortar Craft Beer Cellar retail location- Provide interested individuals with information on franchise opportunities

It is based on these objectives that we evaluated the Craft Beer Cellar’s website

StrengthsWe view the following as advantageous aspects of Craftbeercellar.com:

- Consistent color choices & heading font

- “Find a Store” button appears on every page of site

- Each store includes a massive cataloging of beers that can

be viewed when you click on a store location

- A picture of each storefront is the first page to appear after

clicking on each store location link

- Navigation labels are clear and concise

- Mobile device renderability / responsive design

OpportunitiesWe view the following as opportunities for Craftbeercellar.com:

- Enable tracking by implementing Google Analytics

Why?

- You can’t improve what you are not measuring

➢ Which content is most engaging (e.g., blog, franchise info,

events)

➢ How are visitors find your site (e.g., external links from

other websites, desktop or mobile search, social etc.)

- Know your audience

➢ Who is visiting your site (e.g., segmentation)

➢ Where are they located (e.g., geography)

- Integrates with other Google functionality on the site (e.g.,

Calendar,

Maps)

- It’s FREE!

*Google analytics tracking codes on all or most web pages can be extremely beneficial when looking for insights on site visitor behavior and personas of visitors who visit the site… important for Craft Beer

Cellar success. (Source)

OpportunitiesWe view the following as opportunities for Craftbeercellar.com:

- Enable tracking by implementing Google Analytics- Leverage different content types as web pages are text-heavy & to improve SEO performance. Use bold typeface & bullets to improve readability

Best Practices

- On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely. - From the Nielsen Norman Group - A usability study claimed that a 58% increase in usability can be achieved simply by cutting roughly half the words on the webpages being studied. - study conducted by Jakob Nielsen

- Testing how well people understand a link's first 11 characters shows whether sites write for users, who typically scan rather than read lists of items. - From the Nielsen Norman Group

- Long Engagement Times are mostly on bulleted content and bolded text. - Todd Follansbee's article on The Brain's View of a Website

- Because of images, visitors invest more time in written content. - Clicktale Engagement Study

OpportunitiesWe view the following as opportunities for Craftbeercellar.com:

- Enable tracking by implementing Google Analytics- Leverage different content types as web pages are text-heavy & to improve SEO performance. Use bold typeface & bullets to improve readability- Relocate “Find a Store” button to left side of page, where the eye naturally goes first

OpportunitiesWe view the following as opportunities for Craftbeercellar.com:

- Enable tracking by implementing Google Analytics- Leverage different content types as web pages are text-heavy & to improve SEO performance. Use bold typeface & bullets to improve readability- Relocate “Find a Store” button to left side of page, where the eye naturally goes first- Feature social media icons and email sign up list at the top of the page, leveraging branded icons.

The “F-layout” is based on eye-tracking studies & where the eye naturally goes first.

"Find a store" tab could be on the upper left corner due to its prominence.

Email Sign Up, Social Media icons and/or “Find a Beer” tab should be above the fold. With visual hierarchy above the fold, the more attention will be given.

Best Practices

Opportunities (cont’d.)We view the following as opportunities for Craftbeercellar.com:

- Choose typography for the website text that conveys the brand.

Best PracticesSerif fonts are said to

communicate warm, personal, artistic, stately, traditional, conservative, or intellectual qualities (source)

Sans-serif fonts can be used to communicate technical, cool, clean, crisp, youthful, modern, or uncluttered qualities (source)

Best Practices

Handwritten Mix and Match

According to creativemarket.com, the following are the three top trends in typography for web design in 2014: handwritten fonts, flat design fonts, and mix and match typography.

Flat Design

Opportunities (cont’d.)We view the following as opportunities for Craftbeercellar.com:

- Choose typography for the website text that conveys the brand.- Homepage-specific

○ Feature the brand’s mission statement on homepage “To promote education, collaboration, and

innovation in the craft beer industry”○ Better leverage real estate to reflect the brand (e.g., utilize

a hero panel, create linkage to a “Find a Store” page) ○ Leverage headlines that are brief and in the active voice ○ Make sure that logo is visually prominent and creates a

contrast with the background to draw the eye

E.G. Shakeshack.com

Scrolling ‘hero’ panel

Location link in clear sight for viewing

Logo front & center

Food & Drink page with original

photography

We view Shakeshack.com as a good execution of best practices for SMB such as C.B.C.

Facebook

Strengths- Clear & consistent brand voice

- Posts on a regular basis

- Effectively leverages images

- Posts are concise and to-the-point; text-heavy

posting

is minimal

- Good use of Calls-to-Action

- Conversational approach drives audience

engagement

Best Practices

OpportunitiesWe believe that Craft Beer Cellar’s Facebook presence is on ‘solid footing’. There are, however, items to consider:

- Share more news in the craft beer world (i.e., more education-based posts for the beer geeks ties to the brand mission). These posts generally have more comments/likes.

- Tag breweries/affiliated beer companies in posts to get the other brands followers to see the posts. This not only expands CBC’s FB footprint (or reach), it helps maintain posts within followers’ newsfeeds.

- Consider providing incentives to encourage desired behaviors (e.g., Likes, Shares etc.). This will also impact the reach and newsfeed lifespan of posts.

- Encourage video/photo cross-promotion by embedding or sharing content from other brands/breweries they carry their pages to build community among like-minded consumers

Opportunities (cont’d.)

- Leverage short form video content (e.g., Vine), either original of events/appearances or UGC to build engagement and follower base.

- Begin the dialogue regarding the longer-term strategy for Facebook ○ Individual pages for each location has implications for scale○ If strategy is to promote individual location-base pages,

creating a common content calendar can ensure posts of a general nature share the same ‘brand voice’

○ Inversely, by adopting a single ‘official page’ strategy, a content calendar can enable scheduling of location-specific posts that highlight location-specific offerings and events while building brand reach & awareness, beneficial to potential franchisees

Best Practices

- Expands reach.- Encourages mobile interaction

(source)

Best Practices

- Expands footprint- Show up more on newsfeeds

(source)

Best PracticesBy leveraging third party analytic tools, in conjunction with Facebook

Insights, CBC can ‘learn what works’ based on its own strategy as well as by mining competitive activity

- PageLever.com – Dedicated Facebook analytics

- CrowdBooster.com – In-depth Facebook and Twitter analysis

- ZuumSocial.com – Weekly PDF reporting that is easy to read and

understand

(source)

FacebookTwitter

@craftbeercellar

StrengthsTwitter is a platform best suited for ongoing public dialogue, and CBC has effectively leveraged many best practices while driving conversation regarding craft beer:

- Conversational - replies back at people

- Regularly embeds pictures in Tweets

- Content engages followers

- Tweets consistently throughout day & evening hours

- Good & innovative mix of content. Retweets the content

of others

Strengths (cont’d.)

Best Practices

Opportunities- Tweet ‘from the road’. Tweet via local events, in-store tastings etc.

- Start more conversations. More often the brand is replying to others tweets

- Be more proactive in calls-to-action. Ask for the retweet, favorite etc. Consider promotions & giveaways as incentives to retweet to a follower’s followers (e.g., ‘retweet this to enter a contest for CBC t-shirt’)

- Tweet more often about products & upcoming CBC events (e.g., in-store tastings)

- Continue to vary content (e.g., links, images etc.). Leverage original images whenever possible

Opportunities (cont’d.)Monday: Special promotions (M___ Monday)Launch special Twitter-only promotions to your followers. Tweet an offer code that unlocks a promotion or tweet a secret word that customers can mention to get a discount when they visit your business.

Tuesday: Behind-the-scenes (T____ Tuesday)Tweet behind-the-scenes videos or photos that your followers can’t get any other way.

Wednesday: Helpful tips (Helpful Humpday)Create a regular series of Tweets that are informative or surprising. If you’re a chef, tweet recipes or kitchen tips. If you have a fashion boutique, tweet ways to match current trends with vintage items.

Thursday: Media spotlights (T____ Thursday)Highlight positive press stories and news about your company, industry or community that your followers will find interesting. Be sure to mention the @username of the reporter or media outlet when you tweet the story. This provides clear attribution and recognizes the source.

Friday: Focus on your people (Friday Funday)Highlight the people who help run your company by tweeting photos of them hard at work and having fun.

Best PracticesLeverage a tool that will

facilitate usage of a Content Calendar

Opportunities (cont’d.)- Own your hashtag(s)

○ “What's in your glass?” Provides room for the brand to expand its message and to proactively start the conversation. #whatsinyourglass

○ Have a beer of the day (e.g., historical facts, brewing facts, etc.)

- Begin the dialogue regarding the longer-term strategy for Twitter

○ Individual accounts pages for each location has implications for scale as well as consistent voice, message & quality

○ One account>>greater reach, fewer resources; multiple accounts>>less reach, more resources

○ Similar pros & cons as multiple Facebook pages

Best Practices

OpportunitiesWe believe that Craft Beer Cellar’s Instagram presence is effectively working for the brand. There are, however, items to consider:

- Keep balance between ‘fun’ and ‘work’ posts top-of-mind. Variety of posts is essential

- Establish relationships with your followers and CBC familiar faces.

- Build community with other small businesses and brands. Images that convey partnerships or relationships with other small businesses and events appear to be most effective in delivering engagement.

- Leverage more and stronger calls-to-action

Other media

Earned MediaYelp provides impactful off-site SEO benefits (e.g., authority, links, community) while its users are advocates for the brand (e.g., 100% positive ratings). It ranks high in mobile search for the term ‘craft beer’

BeerAdvocate has a similar mission (e.g., ‘Respect Beer) while promoting events that engage a ‘CBC audience’ (e.g., Craft Beer Festival)

Integrate Yelp & other 3rd party social platforms into your strategy as appropriate

Best Practices: Yelp

According to Social Media Examiner, by having a strong profile on Yelp, a strong photo gallery, responding to positive/negative reviews, and possibly tracking and using metrics in the Yelp dashboard, it is one of the most useful social review sites with over 60 million registered users.

*As seen above, Craft Beer Cellar Belmont has a perfect 5 star rating. Linking a Yelp badge to the website or quoting a positive review from a customer can show how successful the business really is. Incentive to write a review can work.*

Best Practices- Claim all of your locations- Create deals and discounts- Post location-specific updates/ pictures- Encourage sharing of check-in on other social platforms (e.g.,Twitter)

As Foursquare moves beyond ‘check ins’ and expands its reviews and recommendations engine, its social signals will be increasingly valued by search engines

Additional Opportunities

OpportunitiesWhile our focus has been on Craft Beer Cellar’s ‘Owned’ (i.e., Website, Facebook, Twitter) and ‘Earned’ media (i.e., Facebook & Twitter engagement, Yelp, BeerAdvocate & foursquare), we believe there are 2 potentially impactful opportunities worth considering:

- SEM/SEO ○ Mobile search is primarily location search. A highly targeted

mobile paid search program can take advantage of consumer interest when searching for craft beer alternatives

○ SEO opportunities can deliver big results (e.g., CBC does not rank on the first page of results for ‘craft beer in Boston’). 60% of all clicks are via organic search results

We believe an opportunity exists to better leverage the Beer Geek Club program as a marketplace differentiator and driver of CBC loyalty

- Expand to all locations- Promote through Facebook & Twitter

Beer Geek Club