SOCIAL MEDIA & YOUR WINERY: 3 EASY STEPS (+ ONE MORE)

First…. a caveat

The first step in any marketing campaign is to understand the strategic goals of the organization.

These are ideas, only ideas. A lot depends on your specific needs and goals.

Questions to consider:

How does social media marketing fit with goals of organization?

Who are the current customers? Who are the potential customers? What has worked and not worked in the past? The players – who does what? How does social media convert to sales?

Social media is how people engage, participate, and share

online the experiences they leave behind. It is fundamentally

changing the way we communicate.

Power of Social Media

Fosters intimacy Maintains a larger circle of “friendships” Green Voyeuristic Addictive

Social media applied to marketing can…

Build relationships that translate to sales Create opportunities for future face-to-

face interactions Bypass traditional media Provide customers service/ solve problems Encourage participation from

guests/customers/club members Monitor and manage reputation

First things first: What makes us special?

Story Vineyards/ Estate Style Sustainability History

This will lead to that the talking points social media conversations.

Steps

1. Create a presence2. Listen and engage3. Indentify and influence the

“Influentials” 4. Measure and adapt

WEBSITE/

BRAND

WEBSITE/

BRAND

Step 1: Create a Presence

What are the most relevant social media tools for our business goals?

Echo current brand colors, style and imagery in social media channels

Cross promote with social media channels and with website, print collateral, business cards, articles, email signature etc.

Why Facebook?

Over 68 million users Most popular social

networking site Powerful for building

relationships Inherently “sticky” with

photos, videos, pokes, etc.

Facebook

Weekly +

updates Consider a

fan page instead of group

Leverage multimedia opportunitieshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/88526923@N00/2114874155/

Leverage FB multimedia

Text Photos Video Links Apps?

Why Twitter?

“Noisy” but relevant Estimated 6 million users Solve problems in real time “Listen” with Monitter, Twitter

Hawk, Tweet Deck etc. New apps coming all the time

Twitter Presence

Lock up a “handle” even if you’re not ready to use it

Frequency? – start with daily? Add images/ avatar/bio to

Twitter page Only tweet if it is useful,

funny or related to an event “Retweet” Balance

commenting/broadcasting Use “#” to define tweet

categories Consider Tweet Deck to

manage your Twitter (it’s free)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7son75/2573812829/

Twitter identity

Why Flick’r?

Presence on Flick’r

Nail down branded URL Upload photos and use popular keywords

to improve SEO Include web address in every description Photograph guests and invite them to

download to their personal collections Include Flickr “badge” on blog & FB

Flick’r Tools

Key words in tags, “join our group,” badge

Why Blog?

Easy web updates in real time Improves SEO Drives traffic to site, shopping carts Cultivates relationships with other bloggers Discovers potential evangelists through

comments

Blog Presence

Weekly (or more often) posts from team Authenticity is key, but use marketing know-how

to help edit and pitch ideas for posts Include photos, mini videos, recipes Encourage readers to use RSS to post to Digg,

Stumbleupon, Facebook, etc. and to forward via email

Comment on other wine blogs Connect to website at every opportunity

Step 2: Listen then Engage.

Participate in social media, by having conversations

Encourage interactions (polls, questions, retweets, commenting)

Monitor Yelp, Chowhound, Twitter, TripAdvisor, etc.

Explore “Long Tail” of niche buyers Encourage users to review your wine on cellar

sites and wine social media sites

from winelibrary.com

Invite friends and cross promote at every opportunity: tasting room, wine club, tours, events, website, blog, etc.

Step 3 – Influence the “Influentials” Mavens – experts others turn to

for recommendations Connectors- “masters of the weak

tie” Ambassadors – provide

introductions to new or hard to reach groups

Salespeople – charismatic personalities

Adapted from Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point

Step 4 – Measure and Adapt

Blog and Google analytics for traffic Measure friends, follows and comments – quality over quantity Create editorial calendar for social media marketing – what are we

going to talk about and when Explore new tools and technologies and dump those that don’t

work*Remember, building relationships is not something that is easily

measured

"People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel."      —

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