Advice From The Trail: Alex Sage on Video Content Marketing
Alex Sage of City Star Brewing shares advice for breweries on video content marketing.
Photos of and courtesy Alex Sage
Each volume of Craft Marketing showcases a Featured RadCrafter – a craft marketing professional who is crafting content, telling stories, and curating resources about the beer industry. RadCrafters are helping to shape and share the culture that is craft beer.
This go-around, meet Alex Sage who manages marketing and graphic design for City Star Brewing. We’re unabashed about declaring that City Star runs some of our favorite social media feeds, in particular because of their trendy and hilarious videos.
Tell us about your background before City Star, and your evolution into your current role.
My job title at City Star is Marketing/Graphic Design. I have been in the craft beer industry for 13 years and have done everything from beer tending to brand ambassador to taproom manager. I started out at City Star beer-tending and moved into social media and marketing.
Seems like several years back at this point y'all got into the groove of creating engaging, trending, and on-brand video content on TikTok/IG and haven't stopped since.
We started experimenting with videos in 2021. City Star owner Whitney Way and I try to stay on top of researching what is pushed out most through social media algorithms, and at that time everything was telling us videos, videos, videos. Instagram was beginning to ramp up using reels, and I had done a deep dive into TikTok watching people learn fun dances, laughing at funny skits and saw how audios would trend. I wanted to bring that same spirit to City Star so we threw our hat in the game!
It seems like your audience loves it, and is growing!
Videos have been huge in growing our audience. With the algorithm prioritizing pushing videos, we were able to gain access and engage with new people who our pages did not previously reach. Berthoud is a small town which surprisingly some people have never even heard of and some don't know there is a brewery. Doing videos has put our brewery AND Berthoud on the map for a [destination] place to come stop in for a beer. We constantly have people coming into the taproom telling us they love our videos and asking when the next one will be. It's helped us be able to further engage with our audience both though the internet and in person.
Do you notice any engagement trends for your audience?
Figuring out the algorithm is half the battle and the other half is knowing your audience and what your goals are for using videos. When we first started out on TikTok we were getting tons of new followers but when we looked at the data, these followers were from other states and even other countries. We had to hone in our goals for what we wanted to be using videos for. Yeah it's cool that someone in England watched our little brewery video...but did anyone in Loveland see it and come visit us? This is where our "let's just show em' a good time" spirit for videos began. Our fun, comedic, silly videos create brand awareness near and far while also encouraging our local neighbors to pop in. We try to make content that if you're a craft beer drinker you can relate and if you're close by you'll want to come see us.
How do you choose which trends to participate in while still staying true to the City Star brand?
When it comes to videos I try to take the Red Bull marketing approach which is to show the experience rather than the product. Sell the experience not the beer. Yes, we could list what beers are on tap, we could talk about the hops and geek out over craft beer, we could feature our new beers that come out every Friday...but I want someone to watch our videos and think "They're having so much fun at City Star, let's go to THAT brewery!"
City Star strives to produce delicious craft beer that brings our community together so the goal is for people to see our videos and then call up a friend to come visit us for a beer. Our brewery's audience is aged 21-60 with the majority resting in the 25-45 age range. We want to use audios that are going to be most relatable to this age range as well as pop culture references. (It's no fun if someone misses the joke!) If it makes us laugh at ourselves, then we post it!
Is using both TikTok and Instagram more time consuming?
Doing videos in general is a bit time consuming. We try to be mindful of which platform we use for which audience. Our TikTok audience is mostly people from out of state so we make TikTok videos about relatable craft beer things for all. For Instagram, our audience is more local and more probable to come in and visit us— so we do those videos that are more geared towards that. Unfortunately synching them up can be a pain for matching audio and platform guidelines, I have yet to find a great app for that.
If anyone reading has a suggested app, please jump into the comments or slide into our DMs!
What video equipment and apps do you use and recommend, especially for tight budgets?
Keep it cheap and easy! I just use my iPhone to record through TikTok, Instagram or Capcut. Luckily these free apps are pretty user friendly for filming and editing your videos. We step our game up with a ring light every once in a while but mostly we just try to show off our space in its authentic state - no cinematics here!
Any last pieces of advice on using video as a brewery marketing tactic?
It can be intimidating making videos but there are lots of ways to have fun and show off your business without using your face if you're camera shy. Don't get discouraged. We have spent an hour creating a video that got 200 views and 15 seconds on a video that got 660,000 views - you just never know! It's a great tool to bring together your staff and guests. JUST HAVE FUN!
Root Shoot Malting Spearheads Craft Malt Seal in Colorado
Root Shoot Malting is excited to announce Colorado’s twelve new craft malt certified breweries.
Photo at Woods Boss Brewing Company
LOVELAND, CO— As an advocate and Member Malthouse for the Craft Maltsters Guild’s Craft Malt Certified Seal program, Root Shoot Malting is excited to announce Colorado’s twelve new craft malt certified breweries.
City Star Brewing, Comrade Brewing, Grist Brewing, Iron Mule Brewery, Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery, Joyride Brewing, Launch Pad Brewery, Mockery Brewing, Station 26 Brewing Co., Timnath Beerwerks, Woods Boss Brewing Company, and Guanella Pass Brewing Co. are the newest Member Breweries in the Craft Malt Certified Seal program, which allows brewers and distillers to communicate their use of and support for distinctive, locally produced raw materials.
These breweries have demonstrated their commitment to locally grown and roasted barley by joining this membership program, and they’re proud to do so. “We joined because we buy malt from Root Shoot Malting. It's important to support our local economy and a fellow manufacturer like ourselves,” says David Lin, Chairman & Founder at Comrade Brewing in Denver. “We were impressed with their dedication to quality, along with their malting facility. Root Shoot helps differentiate our beer while meeting the customers’ desire for local products.”
Photo at Comrade Brewing
Jordan Fink, Co-Founder and Head Brewer of another Denver brewery, Woods Boss Brewing, is another advocate for the Craft Malt Seal. “We have a deep and abiding commitment to sustainability, community, education, personal relationships and of course, making amazing beer,” he says. “To that effect, we developed a partnership with Root Shoot Malting pretty much right out of the gate and at this point, almost all of our base malt is supplied by them. Given the opportunity to join the Craft Maltsters Guild and be able to showcase our participation through the use of the Seal was a no-brainer for us. It allows us to promote the folks who supply our grain, what they do, and showcase our beer all at the same time.”
Another of the country’s leading maltsters and craft malt membership crusaders, Riverbend Malt in Asheville, North Carolina, has also encouraged 12 breweries to join the Craft Malt Seal. Learn more about the Seal at craftmalting.com.
Contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com with media inquiries about Root Shoot Malting.
ABOUT ROOT SHOOT MALTING
Root Shoot Malting’s family of farmers grow, harvest and malt the finest grains to give brewers and distillers high-quality taste in every glass. Opened in 2016 on 1,500 acres of Olander Farms’ irrigated land in Loveland, Colorado, Root Shoot harvests alfalfa, wheat, corn, rye, and barley. Root Shoot gives breweries and distilleries the ability to procure local, consistent and high quality craft products. Find this craft maltster online at rootshootmalting.com.
Root Shoot Malting Welcomes Craft Malt Conference to Colorado with Collaboration Beers
Root Shoot Malting welcomes craft brewers and maltsters to Colorado for the 2020 Craft Malt Conference.
FORT COLLINS, CO— Root Shoot Malting is excited to welcome craft brewers and maltsters to Colorado for the 2020 Craft Malt Conference to be held in Fort Collins beginning February 7. The Loveland-based maltster has crafted 10 collaboration beers with local breweries and malting companies to celebrate this third annual industry conference, located in Colorado for the first time.
Available both at the conference and at the respective brewing companies, Root Shoot has crafted collaborations with Gilded Goat Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing, Horse & Dragon Brewing, TRVE Brewing, Intersect Brewing, CB & Potts Restaurant & Brewery, Timnath Beerwerks, City Star Brewing, Purpose Brewing & Cellars, and the CSU Ramskeller brewery. These beers were crafted with malt from Root Shoot, Troubadour Maltings, Grouse Malt House, Colorado Malting Company, Riverbend Malthouse, Sugar Creek Malt, Epiphany Malthouse, Red Shed Malting, Gallatin Valley Malt, Admiral Maltings, Maltwerks, and Mecca Grande Estate Malt. Each of these beers was crafted with malt from at least two craft maltsters.
"Our Colorado craft brewers are a large part of the local community, and we found it fitting to involve malthouses from across the country in celebrating another year of craft malt evolution,” says Todd Olander of Root Shoot Malting. “Our Root Shoot Malting team makes a large effort to build relationships and engage with brewers. We wanted to integrate and pass along the collaborative efforts to the craft malting industry."
Learn more about the Craft Malt Conference put on by the Craft Maltsters Guild at craftmalting.com. For more details about each of these collaboration beers, or with media inquiries about Root Shoot Malting, contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT ROOT SHOOT MALTING
Root Shoot Malting’s family of farmers grow, harvest and malt the finest grains to give brewers and distillers high-quality taste in every glass. Opened in 2016 on 1,500 acres of Olander Farms’ irrigated land in Loveland, Colorado, Root Shoot harvests alfalfa, wheat, corn, rye, and barley. Root Shoot gives breweries and distilleries the ability to procure local, consistent and high quality craft products. Find this craft maltster online at rootshootmalting.com.