A Cool Brewery Is Not a Talent Attraction Strategy

I’m scrolling through Facebook. Or Instagram. Or Twitter. Or even LinkedIn. Whatever the platform, I see the same thing over and over: cities building their marketing materials around their cool local brewery. Every single relocation website has a picture of a bearded bartender in a denim apron holding a pint of the local brew front and center. 

But here’s the thing about pinning your place marketing strategy on a cool brewery: that rad hipster brewmaster could be anywhere. We know you have a brewery. Why? Because it’s 2021, and EVERYONE has a brewery. 

This man could live literally anywhere.

Don’t get me wrong, I like beer. I like local beer. And I love living in a place that has a great local brewery (what up, Big Grove?!). I mean, who doesn’t? But there has to be more. Here’s how to put a new spin on it.

There’s one word that if you use it correctly — and often — that will outperform all of your posts that tag your local brewpub, and get to the heart of why people really want to move to your city. That word is ACCESS. I know. It’s not as sexy. And it’s tough to photograph, especially compared to the steel tanks that hold a hop-forward-extra-citra-session IPA, but hear me out. 

People don’t need to move to your city or state because you have a cool brewery.

California alone has almost 1,000 craft breweries. Most mid-size cities have a thriving craft beer scene, and these days, even small cities and towns almost always have at least one beloved brewpub. Your Facebook followers have beer wherever they are. They’re interested in your city because you have something a big city in California can’t offer. That’s right: ACCESS.

In big cities across the country, people lack the access that your city can offer them. The idea of access can be used very broadly, but for the purposes of this blog, I’ll keep it to three examples. And they’re all important.

1. Small to mid-sized cities (for reference, think about populations between 75k and a 500k), residents have better access to the amazing stuff their city offers, including the brewery. The difference is that residents are not so worn out or broke from the long commute, or awful traffic, or high rent prices that people in large cities are used to. In a smaller city, people can go to work and actually get home to make a decision on where to go back out to eat. Or catch their kid’s dance recital. Or a minor league ball game. Or whatever they want. Talk about access to a rich, full, life full of activities and community and energy and — yes — craft beer, and you’ll resonate in a deeper way.

2. Talk about the access new residents will have to professional growth. It may be access to a job promotion, or access a non-profit board, or access to city leadership. Smaller cities afford people access to these opportunities in a different way. And we know that the future of the workforce, even if they’re working remote, crave all of these things. They want to make a difference in the place they live, and see success for their community and their own careers. Do they want to celebrate those successes with a group of friends over a pitcher at a cool local brewery? Yes. And they can. 

“Your Facebook followers have beer wherever they are. What they don’t have: access to the kind of lifestyle that gives them the time, energy and money to enjoy it.”

3. Smaller cities have easy access to large cities and the amenities they offer. I live in Iowa City, but I can head to Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and St. Louis for a weekend and not think twice. Then, I can come home and leave the traffic, crowds, and crazy rent prices behind. I got my fix of museums, huge concert venues, or a professional football game. It’s great to brag about your proximity to larger neighbors, but tell prospective residents about them through the lens of access. You don’t have all the amenities of a huge city, but that’s OK, because your residents can probably access those big-city amenities fairly easily, and they’ll have the time, energy and resources to access the amenities you do have every day. 

As people around the world yearn to return to normal life, we want flexibility and fullness in our lives more than ever. In your marketing and in your personal conversations, tell your prospective residents — screeeeam to them —about how easy it is to access their dream life in your city. Be honest. Be authentic. And when you’ve convinced them to move because of the amazing access your city gives them, for goodness sake, buy them a beer.