The Ultimate Pairing: How to Leverage Social Media to Increase (Wine) Sales

THE BOOZE BIN

By Pia Mara Finkell (@piamara)

Let’s face it. Wine can be pretty darn stuffy. That is inherently strange for what is at base, a fermented grape juice that offers up a nice buzz. But as anyone who has attended a traditional wine seminar can attest, there are a million and one ways to intimidate with this particular tipple.

Now imagine how the average wine drinking Joe feels. He just wants a nice spicy red to go with his hanger steak, and everywhere he turns, there is a different piece of advice, and in every wine shop, a thousand bottles to choose from. What’s a vino lover to do? In walks social media.

From #winewednesday to TasteLive! to Wine Library TV, wine lovers have taken all things social by storm. While getting advice in your local wine shop might feel overwhelming or intimidating, going online to chat about wine suggestions and pairings feels a little safer and perhaps inviting. Wine is a social beverage, best shared with friends. Forums like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, Tumblr, LinkedIn and others have empowered wine lovers to interact, ask questions and generally socialize around a common interest without feeling unworthy or unsophisticated. It simply feels like getting advice from a friend.

Wine Enthusiast magazine reports:

“According to a new study from Lift9, 700,000 people watch wine-related videos each month. There are over 7,000 wine tweets per day, and over 1,300 bloggers focusing on wine. And the wine experience has become portable, with more than 300 iPhone apps.”

With so much demand for wine knowledge and interaction within the social networking sphere, there is tremendous potential for any winery or wine region willing to take the leap and join the conversation.

As evidenced by another interesting statistic from Lift9, a brand analytics company focused on social media marketing data:

“The top 20 wine bloggers in aggregate have a larger audience than the Wine Spectator online.  34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands. 54% blog or tweet daily.”

Your customers are definitely out there, and they’re probably already talking about your product.

Don’t expect to sign up for a Facebook account, however, and see sales soar overnight. Think more like the turtle and less like the hare. Dipping one’s toe in social media, or better yet, developing an integrated strategy as a complimentary part of a winery’s overall marketing plan is a savvy way to increase the number of cases going out the door. Doing one without the other simply won’t work, so don’t forget about the simple things like sales promotion and communications.

Here are the first 5 steps to get you started:

1. Know your audience

Are your current and potential customers foodies or fashionistas? Soccer moms or stock brokers?  Collectors or casual drinkers? Understand who your customer is (or could be) and reflect on where and how they socialize online.

2. Jump in and listen

The best way to figure out where your customer spends their virtual time, in addition to simply asking them, is to jump in and put your ear to the computer.  If you want some more ways to find out where your customer is hanging out and what they’re saying about your brand, give this article by Jay Baer on Social Media Examiner a read.

3. Choose your stage

There are countless places to engage with your brand online, which can feel overwhelming.  If social media is anything, it is time consuming. The best approach is to start with a few, say Facebook and Twitter, and try to master those. Like learning to play the piano, this is something you will need to do multiple times each day.

4. Engage your audience and key influencers

Be proactive in reaching out to your audience base. Grow your network of friends, followers, fans, etc., but remember to focus on quality over quantity. Not only should you interact with existing and potential customers online, but also with influentials who have earned the respect with that base, be it top local sommeliers or prominent wine bloggers.

5. Get creative and integrate

From contests and rewards for your best customers, to hosting tweetups and live tastings, the sky is the limit on the cool and effective ways you can reach your customer online and convert it into sales. A good rule of thumb is to integrate your social channels to get the best bang for your buck. If you host a tweetup, link it to your Facebook page, tweet about it and then post a tagged video of the live tasting back to Facebook and publish it on YouTube.

If you’ve graduated from the basics and are ready for the master’s program, here’s some required reading for anyone interested in wine marketing. My amigos at Vintank have put out a free downloadable report on wine social media, attempting to understand the crazy world of wine (especially online wine sales) and how to get on the ride.

http://vimeo.com/12119514