Earlier in the year I spent some time reading the 2009 – 2010 State of the Wine Industry Report from Silicon Valley Bank. According to them this recession is the time for wineries to finally embrace a robust direct-to-consumer digital sales strategy.
I was entertained by the references to Jerry Maguire… basically [they] had me at hello… And I liked their analogy comparing wine purchases to dating. With our current online dating culture, this is one that many can relate to. Like dating, people that have money to spend on wine will want to go with sure thing, one that has been recommended by a trusted source.
They pointed to the failing economy and distributors continuing to drop small brands from their books in favor of higher volume lower price point wineries, as key indicators that will finally push the wine industry to fully embrace the digital channel.
Their research reinforces what many of us have suspected for awhile… that they have yet to find a single wine company that has implemented a fully integrated, successful digital sales strategy. It’s hard for technical people with application development backgrounds to understand the reasons winery management teams are not flocking to these solutions.
Wineries seem to avoid change, they like to stick with what they know, like clubs, tasting rooms, direct-to-trade and traditional distribution. They feel most comfortable with what worked last year or what got them through the last downturn. After all, it has worked pretty well for them in the past and who can blame them? Most people working at wineries already have too much work to get done in a day. They barely have time to get through everything they need to do to keep the winery running, that they have very little time to spend on learning new technologies. There are so many new technologies and it is time consuming and at times confusing for non-technical staff.
Ok, so we all agree that now is the time to invest in a digital presence, so the question is: “What should I do?”
Find someone you can trust to advise you on social media and to help you build a social media marketing plan. Look for a multi-discipline organization that can provide marketing and web development skills.
The report mentions a few vendors that can provide this service although I recommend that you also search for some of the many smaller providers that will be a more cost effective option for many wineries.
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