Posts tagged as:

wine marketing

Roadblocks to Internet Marketing

by Cheryl Wolhar - MyVineSpace on May 7, 2009

A major roadblock to internet marketing for wineries is a lack of understanding of all the new and effective, social media tools that are available.

The wineries that I talk to are so busy doing their day-to-day jobs that they just don’t have the time to learn about or keep up with all the new developments in internet marketing.

Many feel they just don’t have the time to fully educate themselves on the many applications and tools available that make Internet marketing easy and affordable.

Then there is fear caused from a lack of comfort level with web topics and technology and a fear that they might make a mistake, which they feel could be a disaster in such a public forum.

And then there’s denial, “if I don’t know about it, it doesn’t matter. “

In an earlier post I explained the importance of building a yearly marketing plan with specific strategies and tactics to use as a road map. Having a detailed plan, and doing regular, systematic analysis, will help you reach your goals. If you didn’t create a marketing plan at the beginning of 2009, now is a great time to do it. And it is critical to include a some aspects of internet marketing.

It’s important to assess your current internet presence. There are many tools available such as HubSpot’s Website Grader. While this is a great way to get started, it is a good idea to work with a professional that can help you get a full assessment and build an internet marketing plan that makes sense for you.

Here’s a great post from HubSpot on roadblocks to inbound marketing directed at Small Medium Business (SMB). Many wineries fall into this category and it is a relief to hear that they are not the only ones that have delayed entry into the Web Sales Channel. Interestingly enough it is for similar reasons:

Trying to do everything at once can overwhelm wineries; so I agree with HubSpot that it is best to crawl before you run. Find a professional to help you select those options that will provide the biggest bang for your buck and then add in more internet approaches as you go along.

Tagged as: @MyVineSpace, internet marketing, social media, social networking, Web 2.0, wine, wine brand loyalty, wine marketing

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The Importance of Marketing Experiments

by Cheryl Wolhar - MyVineSpace on May 1, 2009

One of the most important aspects of marketing is the analysis of your results. This is real mathematical analysis, not your gut feelings on whether a particular program or campaign worked or not. If you have been doing this for awhile you know there are no silver bullets on marketing programs, or programs that work every time. What worked well last year/quarter/month might not work this time.
Marketing is a continuous process of testing. That’s right testing! When you develop your yearly marketing plan, you build your best plan based on tried and true campaigns (based on results) from last year and then add in some new programs based on new technology or new marketing developments like social media. For instance, you might include a Twitter campaign. Then you execute as closely as possible to that plan, all the while testing to see which programs are working and which are not. I recommend a monthly marketing meeting with your team to review the results and to tweak your marketing plan for the next few months, tossing out those programs/campaigns that are not working and duplicating programs/campaigns that are working.
Here is a great article from Hubspot that provides a list of the Math [...]

Tagged as: @MyVineSpace, cheryl wolhar, internet marketing, SEO, web marketing, wine marketing

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Why you should start a branded online community for your Winery

by Cheryl Wolhar - MyVineSpace on February 18, 2009

Web 2.0 is a technology trend for information sharing and social networking that is an emerging innovation within the wine industry.
Many winery’s have started blogging but others are not sure where to begin. MyVineSpace recommends starting a simple branded community where you can manage your blog and online discussions, but most importantly you can build a social community where you can interact directly with your customers and wine club members.
Creating an online Social Networking Community allows you to attract and interact with your customers in a fashion that was not possible before.

Community Benefits for the Winery:
* Build an active, vibrant online community
* Cultivate and strengthen lifetime customer relationships
* Create a channel of trust through word of mouth interactions
* Build brand loyalty by communicating WITH customers instead of AT them
* Publish and manage effective winery blogs and forum discussions
* Augment your marketing efforts with targeted campaigns to your community
Community Benefits for your Consumers :
* Learn and enjoy wine within a like-minded community
* Interact directly with winery staff and wine making teams
* Customize your personal space and socialize with your friends
* Receive insider information on special offers, events and breaking news
* Participate in exciting on-line events such as video-casts and on-line wine [...]

Tagged as: @MyVineSpace, attract customers, branded community, community, enjoy wine, interact with customers, learn about wine, online, social media, social networking, Web 2.0, Wine Blog, wine brand loyalty, wine forum discussions, wine industry, wine marketing, winery, winery blogs, WineSpace

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WANTED: Wineries – Early Adopters Need Only Apply!

by Cheryl Wolhar - MyVineSpace on February 2, 2009

Jo Diaz’s blog “Some truths behind the wine Industry and Social Media” is generating some interesting discussion.
I was most interested in the gap she describes between the winery decision makers (owners and principles) and the social media technologists (us). Jo does a great job explaining her view of the current mindset of some in the wine industry in regards to social media and discusses the huge distance she sees between the two.
Based on the discussions I have had recently with some small wineries I would have to agree. If they are not comfortable with technology they seem to be extremely reluctant to take this on. They feel that they don’t have the time or the experience necessary to do it correctly and that they do not have the money to staff for it during this economic down turn. The truth is that they can’t afford not to. I firmly believe that those wineries that make an effort now to utilize some aspect of social media will be way ahead of those that don’t when the economic turn around comes along. They will also, most likely, experience less of a downturn.
Jo says, “I’ve got grape growers who own their own businesses, [...]

Tagged as: @MyVineSpace, attract customers, branded community, buy wine not stocks, buying wine, down turn, economy, enjoy wine, interact with customers, social media, social networking, wine brand loyalty, wine marketing, winery blogs, WineSpace

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Wineries, don’t start a blog… start a Community!

by Cheryl Wolhar - MyVineSpace on November 14, 2008

I read this post today where Paul Boutin says that blogs are dead and I agree, sort of…
<pIf you are considering starting a new blog now, the wrong thing to do would be to create one of those static boring blogs that everyone else has.
<pHe mentions sites like Flickr, Facebook and Twitter as better options. I say, YES use Flickr, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter by all means, but use them to drive people to the new community that you build on a Web 2.0 platform around your brand.
<pHere are two example of wineries <a href=”http://www.eaglesnestwinery.ning.com”>”Eagles Nest Winery”</a> and <a href=”http://winespace.donatifamilyvineyard.com”>Donati Family Vineyard”</a> that have taken up this community concept, truly internalized it and really made it their own. You can see each “natural voice” shines through.
<pHere are two example of wineries “Eagles Nest Winery” and “Donati Family Vineyard” that have taken up this community concept, truly internalized it and really made it their own. You can see that each “natural voice” shines through.
<pSome of the benefits are:

Build an active, vibrant online community
Cultivate and strengthen lifetime customer relationships
Create a channel of trust through word of mouth interactions
Expand your online digital brand
Build brand loyalty by communicating WITH customers instead of AT them
Publish [...]

Tagged as: @MyVineSpace, attract customers, branded community, cheryl wolhar, enjoy wine, interact with customers, learn about wine, social media, social networking, Web 2.0, Wine Blog, wine brand loyalty, wine industry, wine marketing, winery blogs