Making Your Brand Pop with Social Media: What We Can Learn from Poppi
Credit: Getty Images for CLD PR
In the ever-growing age of health-conscious consumers, the old ways of fountain soda and the constant battle of Coke vs. Pepsi aren’t speaking to a mass group of consumers any longer. There we see Poppi, a healthy alternative to soda that utilizes beneficial probiotic attributes of apple cider vinegar to help its customer’s gut health while making the drink a fun experience by using natural sweeteners and fresh fruit to hide the strong ACV taste.
So, how has Poppi managed to become a household name? And what can you learn from their marketing strategies that could benefit your business the same way? To learn this, we have to first look at our favorite part of any brand; the story.
Mother’s Beverage and Shark Tank
When Poppi owners Allison and Stephen first showcased their health drink on Shark Tank it was presented as the original brand: Mother’s Beverage. Coming down to the last Shark after all the others had backed out, Rohan Oza took the leap and invested in the husband and wife duo’s product. After a massive rebrand to make it easier to trademark, and far more rememberable, Poppi has now grown well beyond the initial investment by Oza.
This experience on Shark Tank is still a part of their social strategy as of today, showcasing their early beginnings and speaking to those loyal followers of the brand while allowing new customers to be continuously inspired by the lengths the couple went through to produce a product they are proud of. Along with this story element, Allison talks about why she started the creation of the product in the first place, allowing the customer to understand the benefits of the soda, through the brand’s storytelling.
Trending on TikTok
Poppi has also been successful in building a community of loyal customers on social media. The brand engages with its followers regularly, responds to their comments and queries, and shares user-generated content. When it comes to utilizing trends and popular sounds, Poppi’s team is imaginative and able to feed into what the algorithm wants while also creating something entirely new for their followers. One example of this is the creation of cocktails featuring their sodas. As more people play around with beautifully crafted alcohol-free options, Poppi was able to offer that audience a delicious additive to their evening bar carts by creating original recipes and sharing them across the platform. Prompting people to, of course, follow suit and give these recipes a whirl!
Credit: @drinkpoppi
Pop behind the scenes
On a recent influencer event in the Hamptons, Poppi took their followers along for the journey. Their staff showcased the energetic night by first showing us the prep that went into it. A carload full of branded merch for each of their guests as well as exclusive photos from the party happening allowed us to get excited about the event with the group.
Credit: @drinkpoppi
This didn’t end at the Hamptons though. Back at the office, Poppi shows us what their staff is doing on a day-to-day basis whether that is simply showcasing their staff’s fun personalities or the founder visiting retailer headquarters such as Target.
Influencer Strategy
Poppi has partnered with several popular TikTok and Instagram influencers who have helped to promote the brand to their followers. These influencers create engaging content that showcases the benefits of drinking Poppi and encourage their followers to try the brand's products. Names like Emilie Kiser, Avery Woods, and Mada Graviet attended the event at the Hamptons as well as have had Poppi featured on their accounts. Using influencers that Poppi’s target audience already resonates with allows them to tap into that influencer’s following and potentially drive sales to customers who might not have already known about Poppi or simply enjoy purchasing from a social media personality that they have grown to know and trust. This is a tactic that can be utilized on a micro, medium, or macro-sized influencer campaign across different industries.
One thing that they often give these influencers is branded merch, which is now available on their website for everyday consumers to purchase as well. What better advertising is there than someone who enjoys your brand enough to purchase a trendy t-shirt with the logo on it, walk around their city, and show your brand off? Poppi does this well by creating designs that their followers will love to wear and then making them easily accessible through social media and their website. This also feeds into the concept of a community following and that the followers who are rocking the outfits are a part of the same niche group as some of the influencers that they follow.
Accessibility
They have hooked the buyer, they are ready to dive in. Now what? Where do they find their new favorite soda? Poppy has a strategy for this too. Their founder and social media team makes frequent visits to the large retailers that carry Poppi to show their customers exactly where to find it. From announcing that they were going to now be carried in Costco stores, to making sure their following knew that they were going to be running an Amazon Prime Day deal, Poppi was letting their followers know exactly where they could be found. And if all else failed, they could always be ordered off of the site itself.
Credit: @drinkpoppi
In recent years, social media has emerged as a powerful tool for businesses to grow and expand their reach. One brand that has successfully leveraged the power of social media, particularly TikTok, is Poppi, a soda brand that offers healthy and refreshing drinks made from prebiotics, apple cider vinegar, and fruit juices.
In conclusion, Poppi's success on social media, particularly on TikTok, can be attributed to its engaging and creative content, influencer marketing, authenticity, transparency, and building a community. With more than 20,000 followers and 2 million likes, the brand has become a household name on the platform. By leveraging the power of social media, Poppi has been able to grow its business and reach a wider audience, all while staying true to its values and commitment to providing healthy and refreshing drinks.
