What drinking beer taught me!!

A bottle of beer on a store shelf has one second to capture a buyer's eye and communicate. Why? Its better than the dozens of competing brands on the same shelf. A night with friends can bring surprises and you need to know how to roll with it. Falling when drunk, and relaxed, will result in fewer injuries than falling down sober.

Want to learn about typography? Study beer, wine and liquor labels. Want to learn what motivates people? Watch them socialize over drinks. Want to learn the value of human kindness and see it repaid? Tip well.

So, with my tongue only half in-cheek I present a few posts about what we can all learn by tipping back a cold one.

Confession: If there’s one thing I love more than social media, it’s beer.

Not everyone loves craft beer or regular beer for that matter, but it’s there and not going away anytime soon. Likewise, social media is constantly evolving. There’s something to be learned or tested every day. I definitely have my favorite beer, but I thoroughly enjoy continuously expanding my taste and knowledge for it. You don’t have to embrace every brand, style, feature or consume so much you feel like you’re going to be sick, but there’s nothing to be afraid of by stepping outside your comfort zone.

I just recently realized my consumption of beer has taught me a lot about the consumption of social media. I’ll go ahead and skip the obvious (the more you drink, the more likely you are to mobile upload a picture of you making awful unattractive faces with your other intoxicated friends), and present to you what I’ve learned from the greatest drink in all of the land: beer.

Drink Too Much, and You’ll Make Other People Uncomfortable

“But it’s just so good. And I’m much more likely to converse freely after having a few drinks.” You’re right, for the most part. You know the guy at the party shoving cold pizza in his face and wearing an empty brown bag on his head as a hat? You don’t want to be THAT guy of social media. Limit yourself to a few drinks, or rather posts, and let the natural buzz kick in. Get a Retweet? Awesome. A few people shared the image you posted on Facebook? Even better.

The More Hops, The Better

I’m a fan of India Pale Ale’s, therefore I like my beer with plenty of hops and a bit heavier than your average light lager. It’s not for everyone, but this advice is. DON’T be dull on social media platforms. There’s nothing worse than scrolling through a Timeline or Twitter feed with super serious posts (and a million pictures of engagement rings and baby announcements). Feel free to share a funny image or viral video that is somehow relatable to your business: a popular meme, a picture of an office prank, or crack a joke in a blog post. I’m just going out on a whim and guessing your company isn’t comprised of robots and neither is your target audience. Be human. Apply humor. It’s okay to experiment. You don’t ALWAYS have to drink cheap, boring beer.

Sacrifice For Better Quality

Something I as a social marketing person hear a lot from clients is wanting to get more followers and fans. Communications job is to make that happen, but it’s important to remember quality over quantity. Of course, you look more reliable when you have 5,000 Facebook fans opposed to 140, or 500 Twitter followers opposed to 212, but if half those fans and followers are Spambots speaking Russian, what’s the point? Make sure your fan base is comprised of your target audience.

Take a few risks, save yourself from content overload and while you’re at it, crack open a cold one and join the party because we’re all here together. CHEERS!!