Have you noticed? Everything is getting a little greener right now. Not really. This time it’s not about environmental protection. The St. Patrick’s Day is near.
We took the chance and created a brief industry analysis for Beer on Facebook, our contribution for the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day. But before we go into detail, there are a few hints. Facebook marketing isn’t easy for alcohol brands. Next to cigarettes, alcohol is one of the most regulated topics in the world and the strict regulations also apply to the Facebook pages of alcohol brands. Since the age restrictions are depending on the country, it is a lot of work for these brands to set the right country and age restrictions.
But enough of that. It’s time for Beer on Facebook – St. Patrick’s Day Edition.
Beer on Facebook – The Selected Breweries
In selecting the following breweries we were inspired by several blog articles about the best beers for St.Patrick’s Day. But perhaps we also tossed the dice, maybe we were drunk too. Therefore a first ranking based on the People Talking About This and on the total fan numbers of the selected pages.
| Pos. | Page | PTAT | Total Fans |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Bud Light | 246,493 | 5,594,363 |
| 2. | Budweiser | 194,420 | 3,985,479 |
| 3. | Dos Equis | 61,165 | 2,283,811 |
| 4. | Samuel Adams | 39,520 | 678,527 |
| 5. | Corona | 30,577 | 1,321,134 |
| 6. | Guinness | 20,569 | 390,299 |
| 7. | Harpoon Brewery | 1,820 | 49,962 |
| 8. | Schlafly Beer | 1,573 | 22,188 |
| 9. | Starr Hill Brewing Company | 458 | 10,969 |
| 10. | Miller Coors | 290 | 5,500 |
Because of the above mentioned restrictions we can’t show you the profile images of the beer brands via open graph. As you can see, the more fans the brands have the more people are talking about the beer. There is only one exception, made by Samuel Adams. Although the brand has only half as many fans like Corona, more people are talking about Samuel Adams.
Are The Brands Already Up For St. Patrick’s Day?
When browsing the pages of the beer brands, it’s obvious that only a few are preparing for St. Patrick’s Day or thinking that this day is important for them.
Miller Coors offers free rides especially for ‘St. Paddy’s Day,’ Harpoon created a St. Patrick’s Festival 2013 album, Dos Equis created a post regarding the special irish day with their ad character. Totally in the mood are only Guinness and the Starr Hill Brewing Company. They even changed their cover image due to the upcoming holiday. Corona, Samuel Adams, Bud Light, Budweiser and Schlafly keep a low profile.
Let’s Get To The Point – Beer On Facebook KPI Radar
If you are already asking yourself which brand is the strongest for which metric, our Facebook Key Metrics Radar chart will give you the answer.
A familiar picture. The brand with the most fans, Bud Light, is also the strongest in case of total interactions. This is facilitated by the fact that they are also posting more content than the other brands. In case of the relative numbers, maybe the most important metrics for professional social media people, Samuel Adams is the strongest beer on Facebook. They are leading the group for the Interaction-Rate, Response-Rate and Fan-Growth-Rate. Only Schlafly Beer has the higher Average PTAT-Rate for the chosen time period.
So: Beannachtam na Femle Padraig! You don’t understand? This is Gaelic and it means ‘Happy St. Patrick’s Day!’ 
May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.
~Irish Blessing
