Your breweries marketing is too big for it’s boots

Your Brewery May Be Aiming Too Wide
And that’s the problem you need to fix first.

Here’s something I’m seeing again and again when I talk to breweries.

They tell me they’re “doing marketing”.

They’re posting constantly on social.
They’re optimising their website.
They’re chasing SEO terms like best IPA or best stout.
They’re hoping something will go viral.

And on the surface, that all sounds very sensible.

But dig one layer deeper and there’s a big flaw in the thinking.

If you go viral, great.
But most of the people who see that content will never, ever be able to buy your beer.

If you rank nationally for best IPA, brilliant.
But that doesn’t help if the person searching is 200 miles away and can’t get their hands on it.

For smaller, independent breweries especially, wide marketing rarely equals useful marketing.

What actually matters far more is this:

Can the people who can buy your beer actually find you?

Time and time again, I hear the same line from drinkers:

“I didn’t even know there was a brewery here.”

That is the real problem to solve first.

Before viral hits.
Before national SEO dreams.
Before chasing eyeballs for the sake of it.

If your goal is to own your postcode, town, or region, then your marketing needs to reflect that.

That means:

• Clear local awareness
• Strong local SEO, not generic beer terms
• Print where it still makes sense
• Real world networking
• Local digital ads aimed at people who can physically visit or buy
• Showing up where tourists, walkers, and weekend explorers are actually looking

Build demand close to home first.
Turn locals into regulars.
Turn visitors into advocates.
Then widen the net when it makes commercial sense to do so.

Chasing viral success without a local foundation is like shouting your name into the wind and hoping it pays the bills.