Why spirits brands like Bacardi shouldn’t give up on Twitter

Despite new research revealing that some household brands are neglecting their Twitter accounts, the social network’s marketing deals are thriving.

Twitter has hit back at claims that major spirits labels such as Bacardi and Beefeater are abandoning the site, and said it’s striking more marketing deals with “first-time” brands than ever.

Earlier this week a study published by market researcher YesMore found that, out of 111 Twitter accounts belonging to 83 spirits and liqueur brands owned by the likes of Pernod Ricard and Bacardi, more than 40 per cent (42.3%) had not posted at all on the site in the last month. More than 32 per cent (32.4%) had not posted within the past three months. And just over 20 per cent (20.7%) had not posted in a year or more.

But contrary to the analysis, Twitter’s marketing sales are stronger than ever.

This research only looks at a small sample of organic Tweets, which is not reflective of a brand’s investment on Twitter,” a spokesperson told the drinks business.

“Spend is up 30% for some of our top advertisers and there are more first time brands active than ever.”

According to Marketing Interactive, Twitter’s international overall ad revenue increased 52% last year, led in particular by ad-growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

Nonetheless, some brands are still struggling to make an impact on the network.

Bacardi, which has a follower count of just over 100,000, last posted on Twitter in December 2017. Beefeater’s US account, meanwhile, hasn’t tweeted to its 3,000-strong audience since March 2017.

Responding to Twitter’s statement, a spokesperson for YesMore told db that the analysts were “as surprised and disappointed by the results as anyone.”

“We don’t think spirits brands – or any brands – should be leaving Twitter – it’s a hugely important channel for brand communications, as we highlight in our report and in how we construct campaigns for our clients.”

“If some brands are struggling to maintain organic communications across multiple channels, it’s not about leaving those channels, but about coming up with relevant strategies to manage them effectively.”

Best practice

The study claims that some brands are missing a trick simply because they are creating too many profiles.

Bacardi, for example, has at least five separate Twitter profiles, all of which are verifies, yet the last post by any of these accounts came from Bacardi NH7 Weekender — an account dedicated to a music festival in India the company sponsors — on 1 March.

Bacardi Canada, Bacardi UK, Bacardi Mixers and Bacardi’s global Twitter accounts haven’t been active since December 2017.

“While some brands have migrated to other platforms, or focussed efforts elsewhere, many have simply gone, without any notice or suggestion to followers
that they might like to find the brand elsewhere,” said YesMore’s client director Tom Harvey.

the drinks business has reached out to Bacardi for comment, but hasn’t received an official statement from the drinks firm yet.

Meanwhile many spirits brands are performing well on Twitter, according to the research. Maker’s Mark, Bombay Sapphire, Sipsmith, Absolut and Jameson were singled out as having healthy social media presences.

Harvey claims that part of the reason for these brands’ success is their streamlined approach to social media management.

Marker’s Mark, for example, stopped posting from its UK-focused account more than a year ago in favour of posting from a single, verified account, and according to YesMore’s original report, “the efforts are paying off.”

“The brand’s resources are focused” it said, “and collaboratively feeding one clear presence on Twitter that’s manageable and effective.”

According to the report, “consolidating” profiles is essential in order for a brand to have a strong presence on social media.

Rather than having a separate profile for every demographic, pooling resources from around the world and internally feeding one social account is “easily the most productive method.”