Creating Marketing Initiatives, Building a Customer Base, Discovering Grant Opportunities, and Optimizing the Search Engine
This for-profit brewery strives to provide a unique beer drinking experience. They prefer to sell their products in-house, allowing them to maintain a small, community-oriented business model. The brewery hosts many events for local charities and commits 100% of its marketing money toward charitable donations. Furthermore, the brewery aims to be a family friendly destination that fosters a supportive environment.
Situation:
When Rem joined the brewery, we identified that there were a few untapped opportunities that could really help the company reach their goals. The main opportunities we identified were creating a better marketing initiative, improving their customer base, bolstering their cash on hand through grant opportunities, and improving their search engine optimization. One of their major concerns was a stagnant customer base. The brewery believed they could benefit from a younger audience as this could improve their options for hosting themed nights like Karaoke and live music. Understanding the importance of keeping a friendly and lighthearted atmosphere, our team developed a marketing regiment that aimed to increase their contact with younger folks.
Challenge:
While the brewery had many strengths, it also encountered several challenges that needed to be addressed. One of the major challenges was the inefficient online marketing campaign. The campaign was run by a brewer that had little to no experience with marketing and the optimal strategies. Additionally, their instagram campaign was slowly losing traction overtime, hindering their ability to contact the younger generation of beer enthusiasts that they strived to reach. Another challenge was their misuse of themed nights in order to bring people into the brewery. Many of their prior nights had been busts and did not bring in the number of people that they needed to hit. Lastly, with ambitions of opening another location, the brewery lacked the necessary capital to do so, which kept them growing at a slower pace than anticipated.
Approach:
Our Rem team recognized the importance of addressing the key priorities outlined by our client. To improve the marketing initiatives, we developed a posting schedule and gave recommendations for what their posts should look like. Along the same lines, we created a sensitivity table that identified the optimal times to post based on their target demographic. Additionally, we looked at the best social media platforms to get their word out as effectively and efficiently as possible.
To bolster our client’s cash on hand, we researched and identified possible grant opportunities for their small business. Furthermore, we helped our clients understand grants and a macro-scale so that they could identify future opportunities. Additionally, we identified multiple websites and services that match companies with grant opportunities. This included three groups, the target minority and women-owned businesses specifically. Lastly, we built out a chart with recommendations on how to improve their applications in order to maximize their ability to receive grant funding.
Recognizing the importance of Google and their search engine, we researched and gave recommendations as to the best way to get their website and name at the top of those search pages. We identified short-term and long-term opportunities for improving their SEO. Some of these suggestions included website alterations, backlinking, and metatags.
Impact:
Our Rem team played a pivotal role in helping our client gain a deeper understanding of their user personas and implementing effective strategies to enhance their marketing initiatives, customer base, grant research, and SEO. Through the proposed themed nights and new artist collaborations, we helped identify key ways to increase their marketing abilities. Next, the new recommendations for using TikTok to reach a younger audience will hopefully increase their target customer base. By giving possible grant recommendations and giving the brewery a guide to applying to grants more effectively, we improved their ability to have excess money, which will enable them to open a new location in the future. Lastly, our advice on how to reach the top on search engines will enable the company to reach a larger audience and bring in as much exposure as possible.
Rem and Company Team:
Chapter President - Jeffrey Petersen
Chapter President - Maya McDonald
Team Lead - Jack Pryma
Strategist - Navya Solkhan
Strategist- Jack Meyer
Jr. Strategist - Julia Hall
Jr. Strategist - Mario Saenz
At Rem and Company, we're on a mission to keep doors open and dreams alive. Rem and Company started as a social impact initiative offering free consulting services to small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Rem and Company has become an information hub and digital community platform for small businesses in need. At Rem and Company, small businesses stay up to date on trends in their industries, learn new approaches from peers, build a network, and develop the capacity to adapt as the world around them changes. Our consulting teams provide small businesses with the opportunity to identify and prioritize issues facing their business, propose innovative strategies and facilitate execution. If you are a small business owner and want to learn more about how we can help, request a free consultation.