We Go Wednesday (On A Monday) - DRY Soda Blogger Meetup

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a blogger meetup at the DRY Soda headquarters, here in Seattle. What is DRY Soda? They only use four, all natural ingredients and keep the pure cane sugar to a minimum. Each twelve-ounce bottle of DRY contains just 45 - 70 calories and 11 - 19 grams of sugar. Is that crazy or what?  With distinctive flavors like Lavender and Rhubarb, (I personally love the Blood Orange), each has a unique flavor profile that makes it refreshing to sip on its own, pair with a great meal or mix into the perfect drink.

To add to their awesomeness, they use water from a local watershed, gluten-free, certified Kosher by the Orthodox Union, made in recyclable bottles with as many local (sustainable) ingredients as possible.

We were able to learn a few trade tips from DRY Soda (and drink all the DRY we could handle) and I'm sharing some of the highlights with you that can be applied to our blogger lifestyles...

1. DRY Soda uses experiential marketing and social media with little to no direct advertising like magazine ads and billboards.  They prefer to interact closely with their consumers like annoucing dates and locations through their Facebook page, interacting with followers at events through Twitter, etc. It's a  great idea for us bloggers as well, to interact with our audience as a strategy for building loyal followers.

Keep an eye on those people who leave comments on your different outlets, they are the ones who are going to keep you relevant by sharing your ideas with their followers.  Reach out to them, say hi, give a shout-out, etc.  I like to send #FF (when I remember) on Twitter to people who have left great comments, inspired me that week, etc.

2.  The 80 / 20 rule -- across all their social media platforms, they share 20% business (shameless promotion, events, etc.) and 80% interesting features they feel represents their brand's industry.  No one wants to follow anything/anyone that's just trying to sell their stuff.  Clearly, we know DRY Soda is a product they are trying to sell, but the way they make themselves relevant by sharing ideas like food tips and pairings, and other industry related items. In fact, a recent tweet shared Emily Guelpa’s Pantone Tarts (ha, I already had shared that on Pinterest) and their Tumblr account shares cute puppies and re-imagined juice boxes.  OK, puppies are just cute.

I feel good that I actually have been doing this all along, sharing lots of interesting things I find, and not talking constantly about myself, so yeah!

3. They strongly believe in having people discover their product and give honest opinions about them which is why they don't have mass marketing strategies. They want DRY Soda to grow organically, and not beat people over the head with it. You won't see them doing product giveaways on media outlets (boo...) or oversaturate the market with fancy songs and dance moves.  We bloggers need to step back sometimes and have people come to us.  If you have good content, you'll create a strong core of followers who are more likely to return, and share with their readers.

Speaking of stalking people, the great Amy of Modge Podge Rocks! has moved back here, and I got to meet her! Well, I hope I didn't come off stalky...sorry, I didn't get a better photo, the night was a blur of busyness and I snapped these before we got started.  But that's her, so I'm hoping to get to chat her up more next time, and also get photos of other people.