Dynamic marketing is essential for scaling most businesses as we get closer to 2023, especially for new and current wineries. Developing a winery marketing strategy no longer involves taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

The article below covers a range of vineyard marketing methods and tips to expand your customer base, increase sales, outperform your competition, boost profits, and do much more.

Share your story.

Storytelling is a highly effective strategy, but it is one that is much too frequently overlooked.  Make it a priority to engage with your customers in a memorable and personal way if you have unique selling points. Before buying a product, many consumers express interest in untold and hidden stories. After hearing your story, how did you establish your winery? What made you decide to start a winery? Their degree of trust in your business or products rises as a result. New marketing trends, however, encourage the use of videos, so wineries should produce high-quality videos showcasing their equipment, vineyard, the winemaking process, etc.

Know what makes your winery unique from others and what special services you offer your customers that nobody else provides. Consider asking yourself the following questions. 

- Are you located in a unique location?

- Is your building distinctive?

- Is there historical importance to the winery?

Know your customers and provide excellent customer service.

-It's critical to comprehend your customers in order to appeal to them successfully. Determine their preferences, behavior, and perceptions of your company.

- What are the characteristics of your clientele?

- How and where do customers find your company?

- What are the most typical client complaints or concerns?

- What products or services are the most in-demand from you, and why?

- Are there any inquiries from customers who want to book the winery for social events like birthday parties, bachelor and bachelorette parties, or weddings?

- Are you primarily recognized as a winery, a winery, and a restaurant, or as a complete event location?

Any company, even a vineyard, must give excellent customer service to be successful. You need to establish a solid rapport with your clients. Create a Q/A section on your website where visitors can freely ask any question they may have about your vineyard for this reason. You should offer customer service around-the-clock. You can also create a database of devoted consumers that includes their preferences, frequency of purchases, and personal data like birthdays and anniversaries. On special days, give discounts and unique offers to devoted clients. This strategy will undoubtedly take your vineyard marketing to the next level.

Promote your winery as a venue for events.

Don't just promote your property as a winery; but promote it as a location for retreats, getaways, events, and weddings. Give your customers more than they already have. Provide them with the best ambiance, wines, and services at your property.

A good example is South Coast Winery Resort & Spa. It is a family-owned 63-acre winery, resort, restaurant, and spa located in Southern California, a gorgeous refuge for wine tours, romantic getaways, and stunning parties. It is situated on 38 acres of undulating vineyards. The hotel is both a full-service resort and spa as well as a renowned functioning winery.

Build a solid social media presence.

Create a top-notch website that emphasizes the salient attributes, offerings, and glowing testimonials of your winery. If you haven't already, include social media advertising on your list of things to do for vineyard marketing. For low-cost marketing, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are excellent promotional platforms. Along with a large array of user-friendly digital marketing tools, they provide a number of free and paid advertising options.

Take into account the following to enhance your online presence and increase the reach of your digital marketing:

- Post new, original content frequently.

- Ensure that all channels are using accurate information.

- Read customer reviews and give feedback.

- Engage the audience in conversation.

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Post and share relevant content.

Successful winery marketing relies heavily on personalization. You must create marketing content that your target audience finds relevant if you want to connect with them. As suitable material varies depending on the audience sub-group, develop unique vineyard marketing campaigns. For instance, Millennial wine drinkers might react differently to winery marketing than Gen Xers do.

Do you make wine that is organic? Is that a key component of your mission and the appeal of your product to customers? If yes, develop marketing materials for your winery that emphasize the value of organic farming and sustainability. Offer materials that are connected to mission-driven pursuits like organic farming and sustainable winemaking, such as videos, classes, downloadable templates, and other materials.

Hire influencers for promotions.

One of the best marketing strategies for wineries is to employ someone with more than 1 million followers on social media platforms. They highlight your winery, wines, and other services in a presentable manner while tagging your company name on their social media pages. Your winery will get showcased in front of a wider audience with this approach. Small wineries can use influencers with comparatively few followers, if not the popular ones with large masses. However, they can deliver to various groups and have high engaging standards.

Start, and promote a wine club.

Creating a wine club will help a winery make more money and attract more clients. Offer your target market a reasonable membership cost to join your wine club. Offer awards, special discounts on purchases, discounted event entrance, exclusive samples, and other loyalty advantages.

Wine clubs give vineyard marketers a means to increase direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales, increase revenues, and create a customer-based company foundation. Wineries that decide against providing a club or membership opportunity may be losing out given the increase in DTC wine sales.

Host virtual gatherings.

Winery owners, operators, and marketing managers now have exciting new chances to connect with customers, thanks to virtual and augmented reality developments. Take into account your audience and create engaging virtual events based on their routines, tastes, and hobbies. You can use the metaverse, virtual meeting rooms, video conferencing programs, and other fascinating tools that link you with customers.

A few examples of virtual winery events are: 

- Virtual Wine tastings event

- Q&As with Sommeliers 

- Wine and food pairing classes 

Provide sample packages or tastings.

Free tastings are an important part of most winery operations, despite the fact that it may seem paradoxical to provide free products in an effort to increase revenue. Wineries can use these occasions to generate more cash and market to potential consumers while still providing free wine to visiting tasters.

Plan and market sampling events carefully. To entice new customers and draw a crowd, provide a brief, first taste of 4-5 wines at no cost. then charge for extra sampling. If visitors like the complimentary sampling they receive at first, they can choose to pay for a second tasting, a charcuterie platter, a wine glass with a branded logo, or a bottle to take home. A lovely facility, competent personnel, and an exciting wine expert-led tasting event will dazzle visitors.

Use cross-promotional tactics.

Partner with local small businesses, artists, and other craftspeople to leverage cross-promotional opportunities. Ask partners to do the same with yours as you display a range of regional goods for sale. Give local pamphlets, bulletins, mini-ads, and other promotional materials a spot of their own at your vineyard.

Give winery promotional materials to collaborating companies for display. In order to build a trustworthy network of partners, clients, and friends, you should always offer cross-promotional services. Keep an eye out for public advertising options, such as on park noticeboards, in the windows of downtown businesses (with permission), and in other places with high pedestrian traffic.

Article by Aakriti Rawat, Beverage Trade Network

Header Image Source: South Coast Winery Resort