The wine industry has been one of the slowest industries to adopt internet-based technologies. There is a big opportunity for wine brands to engage directly with those who drink the wine. Relationships sell wine!

1. +
Social Media Marketing
for the Wine Industry
Presented for the Silicon Valley Business
Journal in San Jose, CA| July 17th, 2013

2. +
About the
Presenter
Founder and Principal at
Earthsite, a digital media
agency for sustainable
brands.
Learn more at
JoeyShepp.com

3. +
Road Map
! Social Media Overview
! Wine Marketing Strategies
! Wine Industry Case Studies
and Resources
! Specific Social Network
Strategies
(Time Permitting)
Ask Questions Anytime!

4. +What is Social Media
Marketing?

5. +
Social Media Marketing, Defined
! Social media marketing is
building a social network of fans,
followers and connections using
relevant and interesting content
that allows businesses to reach
and engage more people and
drive more sales.

6. +
Social Media Marketing is Story
Telling
! Consumers expect
more than just a
product or service,
they want a story to
engage with.
! What is your brand’s
story? How can you
make storytelling a
practice?
49% of American wineries have a
dedicated marketing manager
who creates and publishes content
on social networks.

7. +
Social Media Marketing is Getting
People to Talk about your Brand
! The number one
reason people buy
wine is based on
recommendation.
! Professional critics
no longer rule
wine popularity

8. +
The New Media Model

9. +Wine Marketing
Strategies

10. +
Wine Industry Slow to Adopt
Social Media
! The wine industry has
been one of the slowest
industries to adopt
internet-based
technologies
! Big opportunity for Wine
brands to engage
directly with those who
drink the wine
! Relationships sell wine

11. +
Wine is a Fragmented Market
! 130,000 domestic &
imported wines
introduced each
year!
! A market that is
incredibly
fragmented
! Difficult to develop
brand loyalty

12. +
Building Buzz for your Wine Brand
Your
Wine
Brand
Power Groups
• Wine Spectator
• Wines and Vines
• Wine Enthusiast
Magazine
New Media
Influencers
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Robert Parker
• 1 Wine Dude
Owned Media
• Website/Blog
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Etc.
Wine-Specific
Social
Networks
• Snooth
• Wine 2.0
Viral Content
• Humor
• Stories
• Photos/Videos
Onsite Visitors
• Wine Tourism
• Social Media
Subscribers
• Incentives to Join

13. +
Develop a Content Strategy
! Predefine Topics
! Content Schedule
! Designate Content
Producers
! Cross-Network Posting
! Get comfortable with
transparency

14. +
Develop a Social Media Policy
! Define your Brand tone
and voice
! What to talk about
! What not to talk about
! What to do when negative
comments arise
! Who to alert when certain
issues come up
! Ultimately, a training guide
for new managers to ensure
the brand voice stays
consistent

15. +
Wine Industry Specific Strategies
! Winery Tourism
! Relive/share the experience
on social media
! Ongoing brand relationship
! Experiential Content
! Content that reminds people
of a positive memory
! Video/photo
! Encourage story sharing
! Virtual Experience
! Webcast tastings, Q/A
! Video reuse in Social Media

16. +
Common Questions
! What should you measure?
! Community: Fans/Followers/Subscribers
! Engagement: Likes/Retweets/Shares
! What is the right ratio of activity to fans?
! Depends on specific social network:Twitter more frequent, Facebook
more quality.
! Generally, the more the better, so long as they are quality
! See competitors for baseline

17. +
Social Media Return on Investment
! Expect 6-12 months to see an
impact on sales
! Allow time to grow your
network… like growing a
vineyard, you must allow the
the vines to grow before you
can expect to get fruit.
! Think of building “Social
Currency” … the more good
will you generate with fan, the
more likely they will share
your product.

18. +
Measuring Social Media ROI
! Online Purchases
! Relatively easy to track
marketing sources to
purchases and correlate
which efforts are selling the
most wine.
! Offline Purchases
! Retail is much harder to track
! Use a “baseline” method
where you check sales before
and after social media
campaigns
! Use VinTank to compare your
social media stats with
compeditors
! Use physical coupons that can
be tracked offline

19. +
Common Concerns
! Negative Feedback /
Complaints
! Respond quickly
! Respond privately for
charged issues
! Seek to satisfy and
delight, not defend
! Time to Manage Social
Media
! 15 minutes a day after
setup
! …But must stay consistent

20. +
Social Media Don’ts
! Don’t pitch, overtly
self-promote or offer
incentives to get
reviews or sharing
! Avoid sharing
personal information
about politics, religion
or other heated
subjects

21. +
Wine Industry
Social Media Case Studies
and Resources

22. +
WineLibrary.tv – Changing the
Wine World
! Gary Vaynerchuk, author and
public speaker drives social
media.
! Launched February of 2006
! Regular video series, 1000+
episodes
! 135,000 Fans on Facebook
! 991,000 Followers on Twitter

23. +
WineLibrary.com
! Super wine shopping website
! Delivered to your door
! Extensive selection, lots of
“deals”
! Known for excellent customer
service
! Uses WineLibrary.TV as a
marketing vehicle

24. +
Cork’d: Social Network for Wine
Lovers and Wineries, Acquired
! Launched in February 2006
! Acquired by
WineLibrary.TV in May of
2007
! User generated content
! Ad revenue model
! 2,000+ new users per
month
! 2,000+ reviews per month

25. +
Vintank – Powering Social
Intelligence for the Wine Industry
! The Wine Industry’s best tool
for connecting your customers
within the social ecosphere
! 1 million wine-related
conversations tracked per day
! Brand mentions, customer
profiles, top customers
! Context to commerce, timing/
customer match, waiting for
the right signal, then taking
action
! $35-$150/month

26. +
Winery Social Index – Top 50

27. +
Sample: Bonny Doon Vineyard

28. +
Klout – Top Wine Influencers

29. +
Snooth.com – Drink Better Wines
! Focused on the shopping
experience, allowing users to
compare prices across
merchants.
! Facebook integration in 2012
allows wine tasking review to
be posted on personal
timelines
! 28,000 Facebook Likes
! 12,000 Followers on Twitter
! 328 on Google+

30. +
Wine-Searcher.com – Price
Comparison
! The Wine-Searcher search
engine lists 5,468,814 wines
and prices from 37,883
merchants around the world
! Wine retailers can include
their price lists for free
! Pro Version
! Access to complete, current
and historical data
! $39/year

31. +
CellarTracker.com – Inventory
Management Gone Social
! Focused on inventory
management, with integrated
professional wine reviews with
personal inventory and
premium service offering
automatic inventory valuation.
! Launched 2004
! Popular Wines
! Tasting Notes by Users

32. +
VinCellar (Powered by VinFolio)
! Online wine cellar
management system
! An active online community
! Tasting notes and reviews
! Seamless integration with
Vinfolio, online store and
marketplace
! Mobile App for Price
Checking

33. +
Adegga – Social Wine Discovery
! Track your favorite wines and
get recommendations from
people you know.
! Organize your wines – track
the wines you taste, make a
wish list or organize your
home cellar.
! International focus
! 4,100 Likes on Facebook
! 2,840 Follows on Twitter

34. +
BottleNotes – Good People. Great
Wine.
! Bottlenotes is the premier online
wine community, where wine
enthusiasts come to learn about
wine, share wine tasting notes, and
buy great boutique and estate
wines from around the world.
! Wine Clubs, Gifts and Registries
! Track Wine in “My Wine Cellar”
! The Daily Sip Email Newsletter
! 167,000 Fans on Facebook
! 11,600 Followers on Twitter

35. +
Using Social Media to Promote an
Underdog Wine
! Pacific Rim decided to buck traditional wine
industry marketing tactics and go after that group,
investing nearly $10,000 in a social media
campaign to establish its niche.
! “We wanted to turn passive wine drinkers into
riesling zealots”
! Campaign components
! Custom website:
http://www.rieslingrules.com/
! Created and published the “Riesling Rules
Book,” gave away 65,000 e-book copies
! Facebook Page Pacific Rim Riesling Rules
! Catchy videos and calendar cube
giveaways for liking page, 11k fans in first
two weeks
! $1,000 Contest, 15k fans in 10 weeks
! Results
! 30,000 Facebook Fans today
! Selling 200,000 cases of wine a year
! Total Campaign Budget: $10,000
CASE STUDY:
Pacific Rim in Portland, Oregon

36. +
Specialized Marketing Firms for
Wine and Food
Able Social - NY Grow Creative - Portland

37. +
SF Bay Area Wine Marketing Firms
! Jean Arnold / Founder, Jean Arnold Group, President, Hanzell
Vineyards, 103 E. Napa St., Ste. C, Sonoma 95476; 707-935-7020;
www.jeanarnoldgroup.com
! Veronica Barclay / Owner, Barclay & Company, P.O. Box 71, St.
Helena 94574; 707-963-3185; www.barclayandco.com
! Jeremy Benson / President, Benson Marketing Group, 2700 Napa
Valley Corporate Drive, Ste. H, Napa 94558; 707-254-9292;
www.bensonmarketing.com
! David Biggar / Managing Director,Vintage Point, 564 Broadway,
Sonoma 95476; 707-939-6766; www.vintagepoint.com
! Barbara Bowman and Jan Mettler / Partners, Boss Dog
Marketing, P.O. Box 1494, Healdsburg 95448; 707-433-8484
! Elizabeth Candelario / Director of Consumer Sales & Marketing,
Chateau Montelena, 1429 Tubbs Lane, Calistoga 94515;
707-942-5105; www.montelena.com
! John Gillespie / Partner,Wine Colleagues, P.O. Box 536, St. Helena
94574; 707-963-9009; www.winecolleagues.com
! Mark Feinberg / Vice President of Marketing,White Rocket Wine
Co., 455 Devlin Road, Ste. 210, Napa 94558; 707-254-4811
! Dan Leese / President and partner, 585 Wine Partners, 585 W. First
St., Sonoma 95476; 707-933-2640; www.585winepartners.com
! Christopher Lynch / Chief Marketing Officer, Beam Wine Estates,
375 Healdsburg Ave., Second Floor, Healdsburg 95448;
707-433-8268; www.beamwineestates.com
! Mike Lynch and Jean Jacoté / Partners, Big Bang
Communications, 10 Brookside Drive, San Anselmo 94960;
415-250-2373; www.bigbangcommunications.com
! Christine Martin / Owner, Firefly Creative Co., 432 Center St.,
Ste. A, Healdsburg 95448; 707-433-6044; www.fireflycompany.com
! Michael Merriman / Owner, Paladin Wine Marketing, 2081
Cuttings Wharf Road, Napa 94559; 707-253-9065;
www.paladinwine.net
! Paul Novak / Owner, Novak & Associates, 3448Young Ave., Napa
94558; 707-246-3060;
! Jim Razzino / Weibel Family Wine Group, P.O. Box 87,
Woodbridge 95258; 800-932-9463; www.weibel.com
! Gib Rockwood / Senior Vice President of Marketing,Wilson
Daniels Ltd., 1201 Dowdell Lane, St. Helena 94574; 707-963-9661;
www.wilsondaniels.com
! Craig Root / Owner, Craig Root & Associates, 10 Upland Road, St.
Helena, CA 94574; 707-963-7589; www.craigroot.com
! Don Sebastiani Jr. / Director of Marketing, Don Sebastiani & Sons,
P.O. Box 1248, Sonoma 95476; 707-933-1704; www.donandsons.com
! Jay Schuppert / President, Director of Marketing & Sales,
Cuvaison Estate Wines, 4550 Silverado Trail North, Calistoga
94515; 707-942-6266; www.cuvaison.com
! Elaine Smith / Wine marketing consultant and owner,Wine Savvy,
2924 Marty Way, Sacramento 95818; 916-444-1909;
www.winesavvyconsulting.com
! John Stallcup / Principal, Stallcup & Associates, 3513 Foxridge
Court, Napa 94558; 707-252-7340
! Neil Tallantire / Senior Vice President of Marketing, Diageo
Chateau & Estates Wines, 240 Gateway Road West, Napa 94558;
707-299-2600; www.diageowines.com
! Paul and Jennifer Tincknell / Partners,Tincknell & Tincknell, P.O.
Box 1879, Healdsburg, CA 95448; 707-433-3671;
www.marketingwine.com
! DanWildermuth / Vice President of Marketing, Rodney Strong
Vineyards, 11455 Old Redwood Highway, Healdsburg 95448;
707-433-6521; www.rodneystrong.com

38. +
Social Media Jobs in Wine
! 14 Jobs Listed Currently on
WineJobs.com relating to
“Social Media”

39. +
Social Media
Recommended Tools & Tips

40. +
Facebook Stats 2012
! Over 1 billion users
! 71% of US Population is
using Facebook
! 40% of Facebook users are
age 35 and older
! Wineries on Facebook
! 94% of U.S.Wineries Are On
Facebook (73% on Twitter)
! 47% of US wineries said that
Facebook helps them
generate sales (72% sell
wine on their website)

41. +
Facebook Page Strategy
! A “Page” is different than a
personal profile
! Graphic Setup
! Content Production
! Apps (i.e. Contests)
! Wildfire
! Social Candy
! Insights (Stats)

42. +
Facebook Content Examples
! Questions: Polls and surveys
! Event homepages and
registration pages
! Archived email marketing
newsletters
! Links to Blogs (yours and
others’)
! Links to Websites (yours, and
others in your area of expertise)
! Relevant videos, photos and
podcasts

43. +
Twitter – Pulse of the Planet
! Short Format Blogging
! 140 character limit
! Totally public forum
! Focus on headlines/links
! Content
! Listen/Respond
! Frequent updates
! Gaining Followers
! Monitor keywords related to your
brand and competitors
! Follow others, hope for follow-
back
! Recommended Tools
! Hootsuite
! TweetBot for iOS and Mac
! TweetDeck

44. +
Facebook vs.Twitter
! Facebook is the
superior social media
platform for
generating sales (48%
for Facebook vs. 28%
for Twitter).
! But Twitter is seen as
better at capturing
media attention (53%
for Twitter vs. 32% for
Facebook).

45. +
YouTube – The New TV
! Get comfortable with video
! People love video
! Reveals transparency
! Demonstrate Lifestyle
! Single Cut Videos avoid
editing!
! SetupYouTube Channel
! Graphics and branding
! Regular video uploads
! Build playlists of other
favorite videos
! Respond to comments

46. +
Pinterest – A Social Scrapbook
! What is Pinterest?
! Pinterest is a visually-
beautiful, digital bulletin
board that takes your
magazine cutting and
scrapbooking habit online,
and makes it searchable for
others with similar interests.
! Visual Lovers Paradise
! Pinterest is perfect for
wineries and wine regions
looking to engage potential
customers online with cool
visual (image + video)
elements of their winery and
wines, pairings and recipes,
new label ideas, etc.

47. +
Instagram – Photo Blogging
! Mobile-Based Platform
! iPhone/Android Smartphone
Cameras
! Filters for the Romantic
! Easy to apply filters allow
for artistic photos
! Photographer on Staff
! Define Instragram
photographers who can take
photos of the everyday
work, events, behind the
scenes and lifestyle shots.

48. +
LinkedIn – B-to-B Networking
! Setup Complete Profiles
! Employee Profiles
! Company Profile
! Participate
! Join Groups
! Read News
! Post Links/Info
! Input Contacts
! CardMunch Mobile App

49. +
Email Marketing
! Email StillVital
! People Check Email First
! Setup Mechanics
! Email Template
! Subscription Forms
! Import Subscribers
! Recommended Services
! MailChimp
! Constant Contact
! Vertical Response

50. +
Questions?

51. +
References & Sources
! http://www.slideshare.net/pierrickbouquet/social-
media-marketing-in-the-american-and-french-wine-
industry-in-2012
! http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?
section=news&content=104433
! http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?
section=news&content=104433
! http://readwrite.com/2012/05/28/94-of-us-wineries-
are-on-facebook-73-on-twitter
! http://www.slideshare.net/pierrickbouquet/social-
media-marketing-in-the-american-and-french-wine-
industry-in-2012
! http://www.winebusiness.com/classifieds/winejobs/?
go=search&q=social
+media&s1=&country=&region=&state=
! http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/15200/
who-who-in-wine-marketing/
! http://ablesocial.com/
! http://grow-creative.com/
! http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/using-
social-media-to-promote-an-underdog-wine/
! http://www.rieslingrules.com/
! https://www.facebook.com/pacificrimwine
! http://vincellar.vinfolio.com/do/vincellar/home
! http://www.cellartracker.com/
! http://cruvee.com/brand-index/score
! http://www.slideshare.net/jonjoseph1/corkd-case-
study
! https://winelibrary.com/
! http://tv.winelibrary.com/
! https://winelibrary.com/
! http://garyvaynerchuk.com/
! http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?
section=news&content=104433
! http://www.vinography.com/archives/2012/02/
social_media_and_the_wine_indu.html
! http://www.1winedude.com/where-can-wineries-
really-innovate-in-engaging-the-people-who-actually-
drink-the-stuff/
! http://readwrite.com/2012/05/28/94-of-us-wineries-
are-on-facebook-73-on-twitter
! http://www.vinography.com/archives/2012/02/
social_media_and_the_wine_indu.html
! http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?
section=news&content=104433

52. +
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