Hello
I'm new(ish) to the blog/vlogosphere, and I've got some observations for you based upon my short active time as a blogger and a long-standing fan of beer. They relate particularly to how social media can open up doors for you and conversely how it can backfire.
To give you some background as to my expertise in this area, I work in education. I've been lucky enough to work on some interesting social media related developments and had some exposure to consultants in the area. The university sector is starting to catch up with Social Media as a concept, but for most people it's kind of a blind area and although I don't blame you for not being up to speed (after all, for most of you, social media is not your main field of expertise, brewing beer is), I think some of you could do with some help.
So, below are some propositions and ripostes for you to consider:
1) Social Media is where it's at - I must do whatever I can to gain exposure via it or I will fall behind the competition
In part this is true. Social media does look to be the dominant area for exposure in the future and finding a way to get yourself exposed through it probably is quite important. However, it is up to you to do your research. If you are contacted by a blogger or a vlogger tapping you up for some free beer, work out what the value of their goods and services are to you. It's the same as paying for an advert. Do your research.
Would you pay anything for an advert that was full of poor grammar, ill informed or that came from a less than reputable company (possibly with a history of stealing underwear from washing lines)?
Check out the person on the internet, read their work, watch their videos. Check out their viewing figures. Look at what other people in the beer community make of them, either by studying Twitter, Facebook or Youtube (or get someone conversant with social media to do it for you if you aren't). You can tell a lot from what is available in the public domain and very easily and quickly too.
2) If I send this guy some beer, it'll get me a good review on the internet
All publicity is not good publicity. The men (and women) of beer world know their stuff, they are very often geeks. This is not a crowd that will be impressed by a disingenuous reviewer, particularly one that is talking complete nonsense. If they suddenly see a beer that they know is not great being proclaimed as the greatest thing in the world since, err, the last beer that person did, the penny is very quickly going to drop.
You are better off with a genuine reviewer who will, if your beer is not awful, (and why do you make it if it is?), do their best to pull out the style, flavours etc that will mean that their rating, whilst personal to them, may be irrelevant to the person watching who may still go out and buy it because of what has been described.
3) Wow, this guy is writing a book (probably the oldest form of social media), I've got to be in that
Seriously, are you really going to fall for this one? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a book deal? See also my comments about literacy above. If someone says this to you, ask to see confirmation from their publisher that this is true. Ask to see some of their writing. If they can't produce both of these...tell them to cock off.
Here endeth the rant. I just don't want to see you guys taken advantage of.
Now, I'm not going to pretend that I haven't been slipped the odd free beer (5 at the last count). I am grateful for each one and do my best to do them justice. For me though, I'm new. I wouldn't ever expect to receive anything for free unless I had something genuine to exchange. If someone checks me out and decides I'm worth a punt, well, that's pleasing.
Thanks for reading
Good points and i'd be interested to hear from Brewers as to how much of a problems this is. I've never accepted free beer nor have I asked. It's been offered a few times but for one reason or another it's not something I felt comfortable with. Often down to who was offering.
ReplyDeleteFrom my side of the fence i'd say it's often bloggers and tweeters who are approached and spammed and it's they who should be wary. Those offering - PR comnpanies being the worst offenders do not understand most bloggers motivation.
On the publishing letter point there may be people writing books for Kindle and other self publishing platforms and increasingly these are quality content which wouldn't get past a submissions pile at a publishing house or agents. We are after all in the world of social media and the digital age where a writer can go from conception of an idea to publishing in a direct route.
Interested what comes out of this stream. Oh, and if Kernel, Mikkeller, Magic Rock, Camden and such ilk are reading don't take that point about me not accepting beer too literally!!
@Pub Diaries
DeleteYes, I'd like to know if the breweries think it is a problem, times are hard, everyone should be looking to get the biggest bang for their buck.
You are quite right about the publishing side, maybe an e-book might work in the days of the iPad, but it would still have to be written well.
Yes, absolutely, I hope they don't get the wrong idea! I'd also add the Marble Brewery and Thornbridge to that list!
Cheers
To keep everyone happy, i wont contact anymore breweries whilst doing this project but this project is a real and i will prove this when the book gets published. People may not believe in the concept of it but everyone has their own opinion which i respect.
ReplyDeleteJust to make one other thing VERY CLEAR, its not just brewers who send beer that are going to be included in the book, i also buy beer on a weekly basis and this to is being added. I want to feature as many brewerys as possible.
ReplyDeleteI never said you were only writing about freebies?
DeleteI never said you did. I just making it clear to everyone who reads it
Delete@ Kevin Black
ReplyDeleteI believe in the concept, but the traditional beer book market is rather flooded.
Also, good and engaging writing is a skill I've yet to see you demonstrate, you can see why people might be dubious. Good luck with it though.
I understand what your saying but thats for the book. The book is not going to be published if it is written badly and i tweek everything i write for the book.I have two other people reading what im writing and when it goes to a publisher they will do the same. I know what i am doing but please do stop the negative comments as its not doing anyone any favours. Lets promote real ale and be happy.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Kevin - you stick a sample chapter on your website after it's been read your other people - and if it's good, I will send you a bottle of beer.
DeleteCheers
Bugger, forgot to write 'by' after 'read'. Bugger it. Living by the sword is tough.
DeleteIt is but its an easy mistake when your typing online
DeleteI love the way your point about spelling and grammar is so beautifully reinforced by the comments section. ;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, you're right in saying it's an important thing to be aware of on both sides. The major difference in using social as opposed to traditional media is an appreciation that there is a two way process involved, and as Phil from Beersay commented the other day:
"If that's too much to ask, don't bother having a social media presence..."
(See http://beeradvice.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/decisions-decisions.html for the article if you're interested.)
Quite!
DeleteIt is entirely two way, and nobody should be scared of engaging in any form of media. Books and libraries provided a big explosion in the democratisation of thought and knowledge, social media is just evolution.
Will read that blog.
Cheers
Most brewers I know are well-tuned into the pros and cons of social media exposure. Some embrace it, others actively shun it. It comes down to their business model; niche beer for a niche market works well with SM promotion such as blogs/Twitter; mass beer for a mass market works well with ongoing campaigns on Facebook / Youtube.
ReplyDeleteSome brewers have no need to develop the brand or source sales further than their locale. They engage socially by talking to publicans and gathering feedback that way.
I (occasionally) review beer on my site and (more often) receive hospitality from brewers and publicans. I don't actively seek it. I'm always transparent about it.
Would I, as a brewer, give beer to bloggers who ask? No. Would I give away samples to generate discussion about the beer and the brand? Possibly.
Would I as a beery book reader buy yet another one about different beers? Well, it'd have to fight for space between similar books by Michaal Jackson, Adrian Tierney-Jones and Zak Avery. So, I'm guessing... probably not.
The problem with preaching to the digitally-converted is the signal/noise ratio has never been great and it's getting worse.
Good point Simon.
DeleteI'm not saying don't embrace it - I'm saying that people should be wary of whom they embrace it with and that they shouldn't feel they must embrace it at all costs.
I'm not saying there won't ever be room for another book, but it's going to have to be pretty special and more importantly different enough to be able to generate that ever elusive buzz.
Cheers
It must be a difference in culture between the UK and the US. I see Simon receiving boxes of free beer all the time (or at least he used to, he hasn't done an unboxing video in a while). I almost never get offered free beer to review except by Dundee (a psuedo craft beer brand made by macro brewery Genesee).
ReplyDeleteIf a brewery offers to send me beer to review I always reply with "okay, but there's no guarantee I'm going to like it." And then if I dont like it I never hear from them again. A good example of that would be the beers Adnams sent last year. They were ok, but a couple were pretty lousy. I never heard from them again. Although I think they may have embedded the reviews on their website.
I do think it's a question of ethics in both directions. When bloggers/vloggers ask breweries for free beer they sound like cheapskates and also publicity whores. "I'll review anything you send me!" When brewers send reviewers beer it's also a gray area. If they think the reviewer knows their stuff then they probably want to get their take on it. But the personality of a reviewer may not reflect the personality of their average customer. Me, you, Simon and other beer vloggers take our beer pretty seriously - but is that true of the majority of their customers? Probably not.
I disagree that it's free advertising. Advertising you have to pay for, publicity is free. And there's only an elite handful of beer bloggers/vloggers whose reviewers are going to be seen or read by a LOT of people. To me, a review of mine getting 400 hits is a lot. In the grand scheme of things it's not. A billboard downtown probably gets seen by 400 people in 30 minutes. I can't compete with that.
The only way beer reviews get a lot of traffic is when they're picked up by someplace else. I know a lot of breweries, especially craft breweries, have mailing lists. I know a lot of video beer reviews that essentially went viral because the brewery emailed the link out to their customers and embedded it on their website and social network pages. And then those are only positive reviews anyway, because who wants to say "hey look at this scathing review we got." (unless it to mock said reviewer).
Chad
DeleteI think this probably comes down to the culture difference as you say. Having been exposed to advertising in the US (and it's becoming increasingly so here), they don't seem to be advertising with candour or a knowing look with a tongue firmly in cheek in the way that people here are used to.
Ethics do play a massive part, really though I'd imagine nobody wants to look like a whore and nobody wants a whore pushing their wares.
The scene here for beer drinkers is buried in our collective need to be boffins, geeks, nerds, experts, hobbyists even enthusiastic amateurs. It's the culture of the pub where a man goes to espouse his view of the world and where his views are likely to receive the respect of his fellow pub goers (or equally derision if they aren't backing it up with knowledge).
Maybe it's also a question of geography - if social media here flings a tweet out to my twitter feed, it's getting spread across the whole country, with a couple of retweets it goes to every city. Here, we all have access to pretty much the same stuff without 'state lines' and such to hold us back. So the effect of a good recommendation is maybe stronger than it would be your side of the pond?
Thanks for commenting, a pleasure as always.
Cheers