Whining about wine marketing? A handy guide for wine producers.

Whining about wine marketing? A handy guide for wine producers.

Take a quick read of the headlines from Harpers Wine & Spirits in December. Can you spot a common thread?

Headlines from Harpers Wine & Spirits December 2014

Spotted it? Yep you got it – the wine industry isn’t great at marketing and even worse when it comes to the online world. We discussed why wine marketing is so rubbish in an earlier blog post.

But let’s give the wine industry a break. We all know it’s easier to find faults and point the finger. It’s harder to come up with solutions and offer helpful guidance.

In the New Year spirit we’re going to be positive and forward looking. It’s our job to help brands better market themselves online so we’ve created a handy guide to wine marketing with a specific focus on social media.

Here are Clarity’s top six tips for wine brands wanting to make better use of social media;

1. Think like your consumer – it might be massive news in your world when you install an open top fermenter but does your customer really want or need to know this? The simple answer is no. Your social media fans want to be seduced by your wines they want to feel part of certain type of lifestyle. Talk about these things and you’ll start to see engagement with your posts rise.
2. Say cheese! Use enticing imagery – it’s not hard. Your smartphone can take images that are perfect for social media. Install the Photoshop app on your phone and you’re images will start to look much more social media friendly. But don’t be tempted to use old marketing imagery – fans will engage with shots that look like something they could have taken with their phone. Polished marketing photography should be kept for advertising, packaging and other wine marketing material.
3. Be inclusive – ask questions, find out what your consumers think, ask their opinion. After all this is what social media is about. Do we really need to tell you that social media is a two way conversation?
4. Nobody likes a smartarse – the wine industry is renowned for talking at their customers rather than with them. Be on a level with your fans. Talk their language. Use your social pages as a place pique the interest of existing and potential customers. Don’t rant in wine speak!
5. Be consistent – we’re tracking all English wine producers social media performances and one of the biggest things we’ve noticed is that social media communications seems to be on a back burner. It’s one of those jobs someone remembers at the end of the day and quickly throws up a post to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. If you’re going to commit to social media update your pages regularly.
6. Don’t run before you can walk – some wineries are spreading themselves too thinly when it comes to social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube. Are you really going to have time to update all these channels regularly and with great content? The general answer seems to be no. Pick the channels where your consumers are most engaging and make them damn good. Less is often more when it comes to social.