We crafted this informative blog post about winery marketing as we found there to be a lack of information regarding effective strategies and marketing tactics for this niche industry. One thing that became clear through our research was that a lot of wineries are not using social media to its full potential to reach their target audience.
Winemaking has an extensive history and while the wine industry has changed over the years, thankfully there has always been a fairly consistent production of great quality wines! A major aspect of the industry that has changed is the interest of a new generation. We’ve seen that millennials are drawn to wines and winery tours, but in comparison to the previous generation, millennials are not spending as much of their money on wine as their elders.
Why do we think that this could be happening?
We believe that due to the lack of brand awareness within this industry, millennials aren’t being targeted as an audience and as a result have not gained as much exposure to the wine-making industry overall.
Due to the pandemic, it has been especially challenging for wineries to stay afloat. They have been forced to adapt and have begun providing virtual touring experiences that can be enjoyed from the comfort of the viewers’ home, instead of people being able to experience wineries in person. Providing the audience what can a consumer expect with the tangible experience? Social media also allows wineries to be able to set themselves apart from other producers in the industry; the experience now becomes about more than just “bottle porn” and pictures of dogs on Instagram. With social media, you’ll be able to clearly promote your product as well as use it to influence potential buyers’ perception of the product.
Social media is very much a lifestyle platform, so when utilizing it wineries need to focus on selling a specific lifestyle and building a positive brand-based connection to their targeted audience. We know that the millennial audience is consistently drawn to businesses that incorporate storytelling, develop personal connections, and provide a strong social stance - in short, they want to see your brand’s “personality” shine through!
Here are some ideas you could incorporate into your social media to increase its effectiveness:
Develop a posting schedule.
Post with a purpose and focus on showcasing your brands’ personality, storytelling, or educating your audience.
Engaging with your audience and other social media accounts to provide exposure to your brand.
Make sure to include video content across your social media platforms, such as Reels and IGTV.
We know that while wineries typically depend heavily on tourism, so it’s crucial to keep content engaging during low seasons and focus on tactics to attract locals through creating great promotions, building strong relationships, and using “word of mouth” advertising generated by the area’s residents. We also encourage wineries to utilize their email list so customers are able to stay up to date regarding promotions or deals.
Please reach out to us if you have questions or looking to have us manage your marketing.