Wineries & Social Media: The perfect pairing!

How does Social Media help the wine industry?

Small wineries are among the first people in the industry that I think of when it comes to Social Media and Wine. They need to utilise every available tool in order to promote their winery, and let the locals know about potential events that are being planned. Not only that, using media outlets such as Twitter and Pinterest help give the wineries feedback on their product, and allow guests to comment on their good or bad experiences at that winery.

Social Media also allows the smaller wineries to compete against the larger wineries. Wineries that already have their name well established within their market, or even internationally, may not care for the use of media outlets. This gives small scale wineries the chance to advertise online, creating more sales, and eventually that same “small winery” may become a large scale competitor.

It is quite important that you remain active online if you are using any form of Social Media. The last thing you want is to have people noticing your online neglect, and commenting on it for the world to see. Even the negative comments should be addressed, and if you are professional about it, these complaints can be dealt with, and can result in a positive experience for both parties.

If you don’t have the budget to hire a professional to handle your online media, don’t sweat it! Odds are if you have younger people working at your winery, they’re involved in some form of Social Media. They may love the opportunity to help out their winery, and put a fresh spin on the way media and wine work with each other.

Just be careful to monitor any posting on the companies behalf, make sure that the posts are appropriate and positive, and that any comments are being replied to. If they’re doing a great job, giving them an extra bottle of wine at the end of the month won’t hurt!

Blogging is another fantastic way to promote your winery and wines! Blogs allow you to go into greater detail as to how your winery operates. These can create a more personal experience for visitors at your winery. If they read your blog before going on a tour, or even just before visiting the winery, they will have a better appreciation for your wines.

These are great for giving visitors a little more insight as to how wine is made, and what steps must be taken in order to provide them with high quality wine, with reasonable prices.

You can also help people with food and wine pairings via blog posts! This can be an excellent marketing tool, offering food & wine pairings with your wine, or even hosting events at your winery. Just make sure that your blogs under this topic aren’t too pretentious!

I have a website for my winery, is that enough?

Websites are crucial to the sales and advertisement of your winery. However, they aren’t typically a place where people gather online. Your website probably won’t be a “hang out”, it will be a destination. Through careful advertising via Twitter/Pinterest/Facebook, you can help your website grow in popularity.

Online wine sales are becoming increasingly popular. Make sure that your website allows your customers to make purchases. Making your wine more accessible is essential to upping your sales. If people are hearing about how great your wine is, but aren’t able to purchase it at their local LCBO or liquor store, and you don’t provide online purchases, you’re not making money!

Posting pictures of your winery and having an in depth description of your techniques, your staff, and a list of awards you have received are all great additions to your website! From what I’ve seen, almost every winery website allows you to book tours and tastings online as well!

Make sure that you post a link to your website whenever, and wherever possible!

Pinterest is taking off in popularity amongst wineries! This site allows you to post pictures and links relating to your wines and winery, and is an excellent way of advertising your winery. The website is very well laid out and organized, making it quite easy to navigate.

You can also advertise upcoming events, and provide pictures to help attract customers who may be on the fence as to whether or not they want to go or not. Additionally, you can post a link to your website on the material that you pin! Pinterest seems to be one of the best media outlets to advertise, especially if you’re just starting out.

Live streaming has made its way into the world of wine as well. Professional tasters, winemakers and wine enthusiasts alike have started streaming their tastings, allowing them to instantly express their opinions of that particular wine with the world! This can be a great way of advertising your wines!

Live streamers try to create an authentic wine tasting experience, and can come in handy if you have loyal consumers that love your wines, or new customers that are very interested in what you are producing that live in regions where your wines may not be as accessible. I feel like live streaming and website advertisement go hand in hand, they complement each other quite nicely. Advertising your website on your live stream is a great way to attract eager consumers to your website to order your product online!

Having a YouTube channel can give you the ability to show potential customers what your winery looks like, and provide them with some reviews of your wines. If your winemaker has won any awards, you could also post those ceremonial videos to help back the quality of your wine. Having a virtual tour posted online could be a hit or miss. If you are going to have a tour posted, perhaps only provide a preview of what the winery has to offer.

There are numerous YouTubers who review wine and upload their tasting experience to their channel. Sending them a bottle of your best wine and prompting them to review it could assist in the sales of your wine. The most popular wine review channel that I have found seems to be WineLibraryTV.

Facebook is incredibly useful to both big and small wineries. By creating a profile and adding pictures, bits of information about the staff and contact information for the winery, you’re doing a lot of work in one place! People can also “like” your page, which gives them the ability to get back to your page with the click of a button! The more people that “like” your page, the more popular and relevant you become.

Setting up events is incredibly easy through Facebook. The people who have subscribed to your page, and who have your posts on their news feed are able to see exactly when these events are taking place. It also gives you the ability to post about positive reviews, or awards that you have won.

Wine & Social Media: Moving Forward

With the assistance of Social Media, wineries across the world are able to quickly reach out the all their fans throughout the world. As Social Media progresses and becomes even more popular, wineries and wine writers alike will have an even easier time reaching out to people and attracting new customers!

Next time you have an extraordinary bottle of wine, consider posting on that wineries Facebook or Twitter page and congratulate them on their success! It will make both parties feel good, and work wonders for that winery!

Cheers!

ReferencesMickey Butts (2005), Seven Best Wine BlogsRetrieved from: http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/seven-best-wine-blogs

Tom Wark (2013), Top 10 Winery Promotional ToolsRetrieved from: http://fermentationwineblog.com/2013/02/the-top-10-winery-promotional-tools/

Leslie Poston (2012), 10 Ways to Be a Social Media Savvy WineryRetrieved from: http://www.salesforcemarketingcloud.com/blog/2012/08/10-ways-to-be-a-social-media-savvy-winery/

Julie (2013), 4 Ways for Wineries to Uncork Social MediaRetrieved from: http://synthesio.com/corporate/en/2013/uncategorized/4-ways-to-uncork-social-media-for-wineries/

Natalie MacLean [Natalie MacLean] (Sept. 19, 2013), Wine and Social Media: Do Wineries Need Social Media?Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddBnZjdGZ28