The majority of wineries are making these social media marketing mistakes. Are you one of them?
If you haven’t noticed the importance of social media marketing at this point, then I’m just not quite sure what to say. You’ve seen the stats, read the articles, and heard it from your peers – I don’t need to spit the numbers at you. It’s time to adapt and listen to your customers – as you can no longer fully depend on tasting room walk-ins to move cases. Those who say social media doesn’t generate actual revenue have just been doing it wrong.
Top Three Mistakes Wineries are Making in their Social Media Marketing
Wasting Ad Dollars with Sloppy, Non-Targeted Ad Strategies
The top mistake wineries are making in their social media marketing is in their advertising strategy. Simply clicking “boost post” is a sloppy, and quite frankly, lazy, ad strategy and will not help you generate revenue. Yes, it will get more eyeballs on your content, but are they the right eyeballs? Are they the eyeballs that will buy your wine? Setting up segmented, targeted advertising strategies to audiences that have been a/b tested is the best way to invest your money and see actual results.
Completely Ignoring Your Customers
Almost every winery Instagram account I look at completely disregards customers that are posting about their wine. THIS IS FREE PROMOTION FOR YOU – the least you can do is engage with them. You should respond to every single comment and message you receive as a business, as it’s an opportunity to a.) nurture your relationship with that customer and b.) open up another opportunity to sell. Think you’re in the clear because you’re responding to every comment you get on your winery Instagram or Facebook page? Think again – most people that are talking about you (both positive and negative) never tag your actual account. Do you know where to find these other conversations?
Focusing on Followers and Likes and Not on Data Collection and Revenue
Sure, a hefty follower count and posts that have a high number of likes are impressive….on the surface. But are they adding to your bottom line? Social media is such a great tool to tell your brand story, stay connected with your customers and attract new ones. But how do you go beyond the app? Provide an opportunity to collect data! So many wineries try to only drive sales from social media, but we often forget the buying process isn’t always that linear. Try collecting their data (email address via a landing page) so that you can work them through the sales funnel in your email marketing – this is where you will start to see conversions. AND once you have their data you can offer more personalized ad campaigns directly to them based on their buying behavior. Customers expect everything to be personalized now. You can thank Amazon and Netflix for that!
Hopefully this has been eye opening and a valuable resource for you! If this made you even more confused and you’re now questioning everything you’ve been doing in your social media marketing strategy, let’s chat!
Who am I to climb up on the soapbox? As someone who has personally grown my fan base to over 24,000 followers completely organically, I’ve also managed social media strategy for more than 20 wine brands, ranging from premium to super luxury, for companies such as Trinchero Family Estates and Clos Du Val Winery.