DEVILS
RIVER
WHISKEY

Oragnic Social Media Management, Paid Ad Management

Overview

Devils River Whiskey launched in January 2017 as a startup, investor-backed whiskey brand. In just a few short years, the brand has evolved into a nationally recognized name and today is considered a titan in the Texas Whiskey landscape.

In 2017 - 2019, I had the honor of building Devils River's social media from scratch - from literally creating their Facebook and Instagram accounts (when they had zero followers), to growing it into the #3 most followed and #1 most engaged with Texas whiskey brand.

I played a pivotal role in this as the social media manager, shaping the brand's voice, visual aesthetics, and style. In doing so, we disrupted the Texas spirits market and made our mark as the dynamic "new kids in town" by the time I left the agency in mid 2019.

OVERVIEW

Devils River entrusted me with two key objectives: fostering engagement and bolstering page growth.

In the world of spirit startups - where securing distribution channels to bars, liquor stores, and restaurants is so crucial - strong social media engagement and growth metrics are vital. Sales reps need these figures to demonstrate tangible evidence of brand demand in order to persuade establishments to carry Devils River.

By the time I left the marketing agency in 2019, I successfully accomplished those goals, helping Devils River to emerge as new contenders on the Texas Whiskey block, both from an Engagement and Page Growth perspective.

ENGAGEMENT - FACEBOOK

Between June 20th, 2018 through June 20th, 2019, Devils River amassed 112,358 engagements, good for #1 in Facebook engagements among all Texas whiskey brands.

The below table puts into perspective just how much 112,358 compared with the rest of the market during this timeframe:

Since the table above is a little hard to read, here it is all typed out:

Devils River: 112,358 engagements
Firestone & Robertson Distilling (TX Whiskey): 106,025 engagements
Angel's Envy: 42,842 engagements
Pendleton Whiskey: 31,782 engagements
Garrison Brothers Distillery: 24,742 engagements
TINCUP Whiskey: 19,050 engagements
Rebecca Creek Whiskey: 17,837 engagements
WhistlePig Whiskey: 10,973 engagements
Balcones Distillery: 9,142 engagements
High West Distillery: 8,204 engagements
Stillhouse: 3,972
Texas Ranger Whiskey: 3,105

As you can see from above, Devils River out-performed the 2nd-place brand (TX Whiskey) in total engagements by 5.6% and ousted the third-place brand (Angel's Envy) with 162% more total engagements - despite Devils River's status as a far less established and popular brand.

From a per post perspective:

Firestone & Robertson Distilling (TX Whiskey): 505 Engagements Per Post
Devils River: 369 Engagements Per Post
Angel's Envy: 313 Engagements Per Post
TINCUP Whiskey: 250 Engagements Per Post
Pendleton Whiskey: 228 Engagements Per Post
High West Distillery: 147 Engagements Per Post
Garrison Brothers Distillery: 104 Engagements Per Post
Rebecca Creek Whiskey: 87 Engagements Per Post
WhistlePig Whiskey: 65 Engagements Per Post
Balcones Distillery: 37 Engagements Per Post
Stillhouse Whiskey: 28 Engagements Per Post
Texas Ranger Whiskey: 20 Engagments Per Post

Per-post wise, Devils River garnered 369 engagements per post, good for 2nd place behind only TX Whiskey (505 engagements per post), and better than #3 Angel's Envy, with 26% more engagements per post.

GROWTH - FACEBOOK

From a growth perspective during this same timeframe (June 20th, 2018 through June 20th, 2019) Devils River's Facebook page grew by a staggering 39,000 real, actual followers, an increase of 110%. Both of these figures ranked #1 among all competitors.

To put things into perspective, Devils River gained 206% more followers than second-place Rebecca Creek Whiskey, who grew by only 12,871 followers:

GROWTH - INSTAGRAM

On Instagram, the same pattern held true. Devils River ranked #1 in page growth at 129%, with the #3 brand (Stillhouse Whiskey) trailing well behind Devils River with only a 67% follower growth.

PAID ADS

All of this success was anchored by a robust paid social media strategy, attacking multiple key objectives - engagement, website traffic, general brand awareness, and newsletter growth.

Below is what a typical month of paid ads looked like. Take a close look at all of the different types of campaigns we were running - state launch campaigns, video view campaigns, engagement campaigns, reach campaigns, and website click campaigns:

SOCIAL STRATEGY

At the core of Devils River's social media strategy was the concept of "Content Categories."

Content Categories essentially mean the organization of different posts into different content "buckets" based on what a customer's goals are. Cohesively the "buckets" come together to make up the whole of a social media presence.

This intentional categorization and thoughtful mix of content types keeps channels dynamic and prevents over-indexing on any one goal.

It also provides guardrails for me to develop social content proportionally aligned with customers' overarching objectives.

Below is an overview of the different categories we used, with examples of each:

Curated User-Generated Bottle Photos

These are examples of user-generated bottle photos. Contrary to the popular belief that all brand product photos on social media need to look ultra-professional and high-quality, we found that "raw" photos performed better on social media compared to professionally-shot photos.

Not just any user photo worked, though. We carefully and painstakingly searched for only photos that had a certain picturesque, "artistic," Americana feeling to them that fit within the Devils River brand.

Amateur Photographer Shots

In addition to these more raw photos, we mixed in bottle photos that were more polished, yet maintained an essence of authenticity, distinguishing them from strictly professional shots. The images showcased above were taken by an aspiring college photographer I found on Instagram. We would send him bottles, he'd take the photos.

Professional Photos

At the same time, we also posted bottle photos that were professionally photographed. These photos didn't do as well metric wise, but contributed to the overall eye-pleasing aesthetic we were trying to manufacture.

Curated User-Generated Photos - With People

Fan photos of people with a Devils River bottle, at a Devils River event, or wearing Devils River gear, were huge. These were mainly made up by girls, who we found to be massive hits on social media. It turns out women and whiskey mix well!

Through use of smart, strategic Facebook Ad targeting, I was able to really ramp up engagement on these posts. Take a look at the engagement for each of these posts (from the top left to the bottom right):

1.5K Reactions, 22 Comments, 42 Shares
746 Reactions, 21 Comments, 28 Shares
1K Reactions, 14 Comments, 26 Shares
785 Reactions, 9 Comments, 13 Shares

This level of engagement does wonders for brand perception and gives Devils River real credibility to people who have not yet been exposed to the brand.

Curated User-Generated Photos of the Devils River - Without People

In addition, we curated user-generated photos of the actual Devils River itself, diving deep into a decade's worth of geo-tagged photos people took at the actual Devils River State Park. Just like the other User-Generated posts described above, we only selected photos that had a picturesque, American Landscape-art style to them and could pass as standalone pieces of art.

Look at the engagement both of the above photos generated - 100 shares and 59 shares, respectively. This is incredible engagement and proves that you don't need to invest a fortune in professional photoshoots in order to have a winning social media presence.

Curated User-Generated Photos of the Devils River - With People

It was especially juicy when we were able to find User-Generated action-shots of people at the Devils River. As the above photos testify, it's amazing what beautiful shots people take unknowingly - as if intended for a magazine photo shoot!

Like all the other User-Generated photos I've described above, these photos were completely free to use and performed extremely well. For example, with just a few dollars of strategic Facebook advertising, the photo in the top left garnered 1.9K reactions and 124 shares!

Influencer Photos - With People+Bottle

One of the exciting initiatives we did was work with influencers to get us A-grade lifestyle images featuring the Devils River bottle. We would scout for influencers, contact them, ship them bottles, and pay them per post they made with our bottle. Not only would influencers evangelize Devils River to their own followers, we would be able to repurpose their Devils River content as our own.

Influencer Photos - Bottle Only

Some influencers we partnered with were straight-up professional photographers. They would only focus on getting us straightforward bottle shots in outdoor, rugged settings. What they produced for us time after time was amazing.

State Launches

As Devils River entered more markets, we did state-launch campaigns where we would photoshop the Devils River bottle into the new state's landmarks. These posts would then be strategically boosted in those markets.

"Tour of Texas" Campaign

Of course, Texas was Devils River's home-base and we made sure people knew where our true loyalties resided. We achieved this through our hyper Lone Star focused "Tour of Texas" campaign series. In this campaign, we "toured" different unique landmarks across Texas and tied Devils River's brand with that of Texas.

Holidays

For commemorating holidays (4th of July, Memorial Day) and events (eg - the Super Bowl, The Masters) , we mixed it up, sometimes celebrating the day with creative Photoshops associating Devils River with the day (see the bottom two graphics below), and sometimes going the more traditional standard "happy holiday" graphic route (see the top two graphics).

Miscellaenous Campaigns

From photo contests, recipe blogs, new flavor launches, and concert giveaways, we executed several miscellaneous campaigns that didn't fit cleanly within anyone one category, but none the less were a blast to conceive and execute.

More so than any one factor, it was all of this unique, fun, and engaging content that resonated with people and helped Devils River to explode on social media.

Below is a look at every single post I made for Devils River on Instagram in grid format (an Instagram grid refers to the layout of your Instagram feed when viewed from your profile page).

The reason I want to provide this 10,000 foot view is to illustrate the holistic narrative I was trying to weave for Devils River. Each post was intentionally handcrafted to fit a certain vibe and contribute to the greater whole.

No one post did the trick, rather it was the overall tapestry that made the difference:

As you can see, a lot of posts, a lot of content, and a lot of effort.

Devils River was an all-time client and one of my favorites. Seeing what it's grown into today makes me especially proud and grateful for the opportunity I had to help lay its foundation.

Interested in receiving this caliber of marketing support? Schedule a Free Consultation with me where I'll do a deep dive into your business and craft a marketing plan forward for you.