Fifty-three percent of adults aged 18-29 say they use the Instagram app. Meaning, if your target wine consumer is a Millennial, you need to be on Instagram. (Not sure of your wine consumer, check out this post –> The 6 different wine consumers.) Around 80 million strong, Millennials have now surpassed Baby Boomers as the largest group of customers EVER. (Some reports suggest that they will represent 50% of the wine- and spirit-buying population by 2025!)

So, what does this mean to you and your winery? If you are targeting Millennials, you need to focus on Instagram. Today’s young wine drinkers have been shaped by the rapid rise of technology and often interact with their favorite brands on Instagram.

Re-post photos from your fans

One great way to increase engagement is to ask your followers to take photos with your wine and tag you with a hashtag. Then, once you have their permission, repost the Instagram photo and credit them in the text. For example, under a photo it could say “Show us what you’ve got by tagging your #wine with #mywineryname and you might just get #regrammed.” Here is an example of a re-post by Uproot Wines:

Show your employees & owners

If you have frequent visitors, they probably have a favorite staff member. Show off photos of different employees and what their favorite wine and food pairing is. Plus, show us the owners! Winery owners are like the celebrities of the winery – people love to be able to spot the owner while at your winery. Here is an example from Starview Vineyards in southern Illinois. The owners posted this instagram shot with wine industry friends at a Shawnee Hills wine trail event.

Get artistic

Instagram is a visual platform and one of the highest type of posts are photos that are product centric and artistic. The wine brand Chandon, a sparkling wine, does this especially well. Chandon, a Moet Hennessy USA company, says “Instagram is our No. 1 form of social media, over Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter” – read more about it in this article on Chandon.

Build an Instagram menu

Ask your visitors to get involved. This Vancouver restaurant has a table tent on each table with a sign that says “Help us build an Instagram Menu. Tag your photos @Catch122 #catch22menu”

Want more tips on navigating Instagram? See more tips 5 tips to help wineries use Instagram.