Kombucha on Facebook

Recent posts listed the Top 20 kombucha companies on Twitter and Instagram.

Facebook is easily the most active social media network, particularly when you consider it owns WhatsApp and Instagram. It’s a channel that appeals to a wide range people, drawn to the idea of connecting with their family, keeping tabs on friends and making sure that they have access to updates about their favorite brand of kombucha! With over 2.2 billion monthly active users it’s the world’s largest social network.

 

32 Top Facebook Accounts

 

Here’s a look at how all of the companies who made our Twitter and Instagram lists stack up on Facebook. We’ve reported on the number of Likes and omitted Followers, since these are usually very close.

 

Winners and Losers

It’s interesting to see how KeVita — the category leader with over a quarter of a million Facebook likes — jumped from a third place listing on Instagram where it had 43,000 followers. GTs has a more balanced number on both platforms (136k on Instagram and 117k on Facebook). Health-Ade clocked 116k on Instagram but slipped to 10th place on Facebook with a mere 13.5k likes. Conversely,  Live Soda only lists 15.6k  Instagram followers but  enjoys 110k Likes here. (I missed Live Soda when compiling the Twitter report — with 3,330 Followers it would be in 7th place on that list.)

For the rest of the table, the numbers drop precipitously. There’s a huge gulf of over 75k between the top three accounts with six-figures and the rest. However, there’s a gradual, progressive ramp from the sub-1,000 accounts to the 27k level.

What separates the winners and the losers? Market share is clearly one factor. Frequency of posting might be another.

Whatever else we can say about Social Media, popularity on one platform is no guarantee of success on another. Rather than there being a “best” platform for kombucha companies to focus on, it would appear that different brands invest their energies in different areas, and are rewarded accordingly.

 

Opaque Data

Unless we’ve missed something, there’s no easy way to extract and download data from Facebook in the same way we were able to on the others. Instagram and Twitter reveal the number of posts by a given account. Not so on Facebook. We can only see when the last post was made. (Capital Kombucha, High Country, Komvida and The Kombucha Company all seem have let their accounts lapse.)

 

This is opaqueness understandable, since Facebook is still rebuilding its reputation following the Cambridge Analytica scandal and won’t want nosy parkers like me poking around a bunch of accounts and selling the data to Russian trolls! (Where they’ve know about kombucha for decades.)

 

That said, there’s a lot of options for a brand to monitor the performance of their owm page. Facebook Analytics are well worth becoming familiar with.

 

Building a Great Page

Everyone who has launched a Facebook company page is tutored by Facebook with guidelines on how to improve the page. These range from the suggestion to add a call to action ‘Button’ to filling out your ‘About’ section with basic information.

 

One of my pet peeves, in doing this research, is how few kombucha companies say where they are located. To find this I have to go to Twitter where a location in a Profile is more common. Why is this? One tip for all companies would be to say where in the world you are to help build a loyal local following.

 

If you are just launching (or re-launching) a kombucha Facebook page, start by inviting current customers or other interested people to like your Page. They can support you by interacting with your posts and sharing your content. This initial audience helps to establish credibility, build your reputation and spread the word about your business from the get-go.

 

A successful post should encourage Likes, Shares and Comments to help build your community of fans. It should have a clear call to action.

 

People who like your page will receive notifications when you publish updates.

 

There’s loads of resources to help manage and promote pages. Google relevant topics.

 

Good Posts

Take a look at this Veterans Day post  from GTs  that gathered 10k Likes, 200+ Comments and over 1,200 Shares.

 

 

Kevita created an engaging post that gathered 864 Likes, 58 Comments and 42 Shares. They play on the trope epitomized by John Cleese who, smitten by Jamie Lee Curtis in A Fish called Wanda, drives off with his briefcase on the roof of his car.

 

 

All this took was a couple of pictures of a VW camper and a bottle of KeVita. Add a dash of creativity and Facebook lights up!

 

Live Soda juiced their Facebook post with an open-ended question. Click on the photo and review the comments — you’ll see how they jump in to direct people to their store locator and answer questions about the nutritional content.

 

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Bad Posts

I won’t embarrass any company by featuring Facebook posts with zero engagement. All the companies (including the top three) post far too many “pretty pix” of bottles in hands, stacked on shelves, or millennials sipping in the woods.. Imagine if other consumer companies did this. Why, you’d almost expect product images so mundane they’d someday become art, wouldn’t you?

 

 

Posts with a Conscience

Facebook, more than the other platforms, gives brands a great opportunity to support local and national causes. Click on the images below to read the details.

 

 

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Posts with a Sense of Humor

After scrolling through endless pages I eventually found some quirky posts with a sense of humor. Again, click on the thumbnails to read the details.

 

 

 

 

 

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My current favorite comes from the folks at Humm Kombucha. It’s no surprise it has attracted 60 comments and 32 shares. They tagged it “Did you know that sprinkling kombucha in your sock protects from bee stings?“.

This is an amusing  source of Fake Health News. How about:

 

• “Putting kombucha up your nose relives constipation.” (probably true!)
• “Visualizing Kommbucha on your third eye reveals how many past lives you’ve had.” (also true?)
• “Sprinkling Kombucha in your underwear will help you find love.” (absolutely!)
• “Sleeping with Kombucha in your hair boosts your serotonin.’ (don’t discount it…)
• “Rubbing Kombucha on your face cures acne.” (why not?)

 

The scary thing is how close some of these random phrases are to what you can find on the Internet (where, hey, it must be true, right?)

Production Process Posts

Surprisingly few companies post pictures of their production process.This might be due to concerns about trade secrets, who knows? In contrast many wineries, beer brewers and natural food producers share images and stories from the vineyard or down on the farm. Precious few ‘booch brewers do. Here’s a few I found.

 

 

 

 

 

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Advertising

One topic I omitted when reviewing kombucha brands on Twitter and Instagram was an evaluation of the ease and effectiveness of advertising.

 

One of the biggest benefits of Facebook Advertising is that it reaches targeted subsets of customers. You can narrow-cast your message to reach people most likely to purchase your product, in a given region, or with particular interests. Take advantage of the option to do A/B tests of different messages.

 

Use ads to drive people to your website, announce special offers, retail availability or new flavors.

 

Instagram has better engagement numbers than Facebook and reaches a younger audience. It’s more likely to be accessed on mobile phones. However, I don’t believe Twitter is as effective as an advertising and lead generation platform. But it’s great for customer service interactions.

 

However, your mileage might vary. I don’t claim to be a social media marketing expert. I’d be interested to hear from kombucha companies as to what’s been their experience with the three platforms. And if I’ve missed any super-creative, humorous, or otherwise engaging posts please send them along. Either email me or leave a comment below.

Oh, and feel free to Like the Booch News Facebook page!