This week I attended the Family Winemakers of California trade tasting in San Francisco. There were hundreds of family-owned wineries pouring their wines. They ranged in production from very small to quite large. The concept behind the organization that puts on this tasting each year is to offer a support organization for the hundreds of the mom-and-pop wineries in the Golden State.
As I wandered around the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason, I noticed that there were many wineries present that I had never heard of. This isn’t all that surprising, considering the thousands of wineries in the state, but it got me thinking. What is a small winery with MAYBE a few employees to do to promote their wines in today’s market? Afterall, as I said there are thousands of competitors in California alone. That doesn’t even factor in the wines from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and elsewhere in the country. On top of that, wineries have fewer choices in distributors to chose from with the rash of consolidations that have taken place over the past ten years. How are these folks really going to get the attention of a distributor who has thousands of SKUs and bigger fish to fry? They won’t. Period.
This has led many of these wineries to focus on consumer-direct sales through their websites, tasting rooms, and wine clubs. They are left with very few other options. Ok, fine. But, how do consumers find said websites, etc.? In most cases, the smallest of these wineries just doesn’t have the capital to advertise, employ a PR firm, produce sales materials, or any of the other traditional ways of marketing. So what does that leave? Social Media.
Since most social media activities are cost free, they are ideal for the cash-strapped wine operation. What they do require is time. That is one of the challenges to mom-and-pop who are probably busy making wine, bottling it, and trying to sell it all by themselves. But, as I’ve said in the past, spending an hour or two a day on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yelp, Snooth, etc. is all it really takes to build a modest online community. Better yet, if you can find the time (BIG if), a blog could be beneficial.
I believe that the biggest challenge that these wineries face is brand recognition. Only a select few really know they are out there. By building an online community of supporters and advocates, the wineries will go a long way in building that recognition. So here are a few pointers to the family winemaker out there who needs social media:
- Get on Facebook – This is the simplest and quickest way to start building your community. Build a fan page and send out invitations to everyone on you customer list and ask them to pass it on. It will build slowly at first, but will take off soon enough.
- Get on Twitter – I constantly hear “I don’t get Twitter” from people I speak with. Most people think it is just one huge stream of consciousness without any focus. Perhaps in some areas, but there is an active and thriving wine community on Twitter with thousands of wine enthusiasts, bloggers, wine writers, etc. There is so much potential. Family wineries can use to it make connections with customers, promote special offers, communicate with media, ask for advice, and so much more. It is a powerful tool if you know how to use it. I tell people all the time, “you need to do it, to get it.” DO IT!
- Reach out to Bloggers – There are perhaps 200 or so influential bloggers out in the blogosphere. Read some blogs, see if they would be a good fit for writing about your wines. Find out what they like and what they don’t. Establish contact with them. See if they accept wine samples. Pick 2 dozen or so and send them samples. Potentially, you could reach thousands of eyeballs for the cost of two cases of wine.
- Get creative – Come up with some idea that is unique to you. Use the above tools to promote it. Really into cats? Run a cat contest. Have a particular skill with a video camera? Film a serial drama centered around your winery and post it to YouTube. Have Peregrine Falcons roosting in or near your winery? Put up a Falcon Cam. Wait, that one’s been done already. Well, you get the idea. Make it unique and something about YOU.
Ok, there are a few ideas. Go out and do it. Make a commitment to spend a little time each day on it and you will start to see the rewards in short order. Still having trouble wrapping your mind around it? Feel free to tweet me at @mwangbickler or email me at mike@cavemanwines.com and I’ll help you get started. Or if you’ve already made it this far and are wondering what to do next, I’d be happy to help with that also.
Tags: blogger, blogging, Blogs, Family Winemakers, The Talking Stick, wine marketing, wine publice relations
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August 27th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Michael
Excellent post, as always.
I think most would agree with you.. but the reality that I’m finding is that they just don’t have the time to deal with any of it. Getting it started and understanding it is the daunting part. Most are their own winemaker, pr department, marketing department, compliance officer and the list goes on. Having someone set it all up for them so they just have to work it into their daily routine is one solution, but I even have clients that send me 10 or so subjects or such to tweet or FB about and I manage it all for them. Any pressing questions that come about in the social media conversations, I run by them, but just having a daily presence out there is something most just don’t have time for.
I’m trying not to shamelessly promote what I do, but me, or someone like me, could help these wineries get on track, for not much of an expense.. Lets face it.. they have mechanics to fix their cars, accountants for the numbers, probably a webmaster…these days, a little to social media consultation, even to just explain it and get it up and running, will go a long way.
JMB
August 28th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Hi James,
I do the same for a few of my clients as well. If the winery has a little extra to spend on this kind of help, great. But I suspect that many don’t. They need to find a way to make it happen, whether that is hiring someone like us, getting their son or daughter to do it for them, or doing it themselves. In the end, I believe that it may be one of the biggest factors that could determine success or failure of a small wine venture.
Mike
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:58 pm
An excellent post. But JMB’s point is well-taken – on a long list of things to do, social media marketing is probably dead last.
Paul Mabray says that wineries need to get the basics (customer service, e-commerce, site design, and content strategy) down before messing about with blogs, twitter, or facebook. I’d like to see you two discuss that.
If you take as a given that direct sales (to consumers, restaurants, retailers) is the best answer for (small) wineries, what kind of social-media-aware marketing program would you create for a startup winery?
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Hi Mike,
I absolutely agree that getting down the basics first is essential. But, I’m just saying that social media tools are a low/no-cost marketing solution for small wineries on tight budgets. I make a point in this post that after you have your e-commerce site up and running, how are people to find it? It isn’t a Field of Dreams. If you build it, they will come? No. You need to market it. How to do that? There are many different tools in the toolbox, and social media is just one of those. At the moment, it is also one of the most cost-effective.
As to what kind of social media marketing program to build for a startup winery, it all depends. I would first have to evaluate who their target market is, what other programs they have, distribution model, etc. Each program would be unique depending on the winery.