When it comes to digital, many wineries are falling behind other industries. Nowadays, it’s vital to stay on top of marketing trends and new technologies in order to thrive in the digital ecosystem — and keep your brand top of mind.

Image credit: Christin Hume of Unsplash

Growing Your Digital Footprint in the Wine Industry

For decades, wineries have continued to market to consumers using the same methods. But things are changing at a rapid pace. Especially with the digital shock of the pandemic, many brands are realizing that customers aren’t just entering tasting rooms or joining wine clubs. Consumers are online, scouring social media, and craving innovative, exciting brands. To reach people these days, you have to go digital. So, what digital marketing tactics can you leverage to ensure your brand doesn’t become obsolete?

Understanding Your Buyer and Following Their Journey

You can’t effectively market to your target customer if you don’t know who they are or what they want to see. This is where data collection comes into play, but the alcohol beverage industry is known to have a difficult time collecting data and tracking all the way to purchase. This is why Bryan Monteleone and Kyle Groth started Drinkubator: to help beverage brands implement technology that takes a deep dive into data and gives them a clear vision of their consumer.

There are many different points in a customer’s journey where you can collect data. Some of the main data collection points are on-platform, including social media channels, on-site pop-ups, or post-purchase questions. But the Drinkubator team has also found a way to collect winery data information, which includes who’s going to your winery, where they’re coming from, what time of day they’re booking, and what day of the week they’re visiting. This type of data can help you make educated decisions on when and where to spend your money to get the most ROI.

“Being smart means being in the now. Don’t continue to do things the way wineries have done things for generations…even decades, because it’s a different place. The world is a different place. And to reach people these days, you’ve got to think digital.”

Putting Digital Strategies to the Test: Paid Social and Email Campaigns

Once you’ve collected your data, it’s time to turn to cutting-edge digital marketing tactics like paid social and email campaigns. So what are these?

Paid social is all about a full-funnel approach. Here, you shouldn’t focus all of your advertising dollars on driving purchases only, but target all the markets that you’re distributing to. From there, decide on the areas that you really want to prioritize so you can drive consumer awareness at a hyper-targeted level.

When it comes to email campaigns, most wineries are leaving money on the table. You may be creating email blasts and newsletters, but guess what: these tactics won’t bring you the most ROI. Not only do you want to use email for promotional content, but you also want to set up automation and flows to capture email, follow up with a customer, and get to know what they’re looking for. And of course, your data collection will help you do this effectively and successfully.

Innovative Digital Strategies: Search Engine Marketing and Geofencing

Leveraging Google is a big task, especially when there’s a lot of competition. With search engine marketing, there are two key pieces that can help you out: branded and non-branded search.

Branded means that a customer is familiar with your brand, and they’re trying to find out more about your story or where they can purchase your product. Non-branded means they may not know your brand yet, but they know what they like, so they’re searching for terms that are similar to your brand. When you keep these two search standpoints in line with your marketing strategies, you’ll see great success.

Another handy strategy is called geofencing. Geofencing is the ability to identify an area, circle it, and then identify any devices that enter the area. Next, you can take those devices and match them to actual people anonymously. You don’t know exactly who it is, but you can match them across platforms, show different ads, or even track them elsewhere. You can utilize live geofencing within an event, conference, or festival. Or, you can look at your top accounts, geofence inside those premises, and identify consumers that are regular shoppers there.

Bryan Monteleone and Kyle Groth, Co-founders of Drinkubator

Image credit: Kelsey Chance, Unsplash

Creating a Digital Experience

Many wineries can’t imagine just how much of an experience you can create through digital marketing. With digital strategies, you can get creative, reach a vast audience, and bring your winery’s story directly to consumers.

When customers enter the tasting room, you want to make sure they have an incredible experience. But that shouldn’t end once they leave. Taking a digital approach can help you boost return customer rates. Additionally, there are different buyers online. An online shopper is very different from someone who goes to the local liquor store, looks at labels, and chooses what they want to drink that weekend.

Creating a digital experience can help you cater to customers both on-site and online. Who doesn’t want that?

Check out the full episode with Bryan Monteleone & Kyle Groth here.

Scout Driscoll

Founder and CEO

Celebrating her 20th year at the helm, our fearless leader Scout believes in bringing her studio’s pan-industry acumen to an industry seeking to connect with broader audiences. She was honored to judge BTI’s International Packaging Design Awards as well as the 2020 and 2021 Restaurant Development + Design Magazine Awards. Get to know Scout on our Podcast, VINTed or on her feature on Wine Women Radio.

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Digital Marketing 101: The Strategies Every Winery Needs To Leverage