Many of our winery customers do some of the coolest email marketing. I’ve seen gorgeous wine tasting event invitations, the funniest wine cartoons, wine paring suggestions I could practically taste and award announcements that made me want to celebrate with them.

Now is the time for the wine industry to really capitalize on social media. If you are a winery there are three places I think are a must to help grow your business, a blog, Facebook and YouTube.

Wine Blogs

On your newly created blog, tell your story. I know that every winery that I have visited has had a story. One of the best I have ever heard is about how the owner started the winery after stealing some grapes from his next-door neighbor and then out of apology he named his now famous winery after his neighbor. I’ve also heard stories about how each batch of grapes are the inspiration for naming each wine. Consumers love to hear these tales, it helps us connect and feel like we understand. The above story has reached out to my emotions and I am now a life long customer of because I feel like a part of it.

Facebook

On your winery’s Facebook Fan page you need to be social, since that’s what wine is all about right? Talk about things that are happening at the winery, new events, post pictures of Friday night’s wine tasting, and celebrate every award or recognition that you receive. But don’t forget to interact with your customers, get them involved and give them a reason to keep coming back to your Fan page for more. Ask them questions and post customer stories and don’t be shy about commenting on your fans own posts.

Videos

Wine Library TV is a great example of how someone in the wine industry can make an interesting video.  Like Gary, every winery owner has to have an opinion of the wine produced or types of wines or their vision for where this wine will be shared. Try sharing a video of him/her with your audience. I have also seen quite a few winery videos from people who are trying to reach out to the newest wine drinkers, educating about wine and the wine making process.The overall goal is to give them a reason to recognize your bottle in the sea that makes up the wine aisle. So make them pick yours over the next one!

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