You are an entrepreneur. You are a leader. Unlike the big brands, like Amazon, you can be wildly creative with your marketing and pivot easily. You can try many different tactics and see which works best. Here are a few marketing ideas to get you started.
With new outbreaks in cities across the country every single day, the Coronavirus does not seem to have a clear end in sight.
How can your winery still sell wine without a tasting room?
Remember your customers love your wine brand. They want to support you, but they may not know how.
Every winery has a different business model – but one thing I want to emphasize: think virtual. People are working from home and many have kids at home, too.
How can you create engagement online?
What marketing promotions can you come up with that your customers will love? Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Create a curbside pickup program
Many states have already closed restaurants and tasting rooms, and according to the latest government update, there might be a nationwide shutdown in the near future. Now is the perfect time to implement new creative strategies. Yes, change is hard, but you can do this.
I’ve seen many wineries on Instagram start curbside pick up programs. Have you added one to your program? Wineries are getting orders both online and by phone.
Make sure to update your network by sharing the pickup program to social media, sending an email blast, and even calling a few of your most loyal customers.
Create a virtual tasting
Another way for you to stay in touch with your customers is by offering a virtual tasting using Zoom, Facebook Live, or Instagram Live. This is a unique way to continue to engage with your biggest fans and generate income to help your business through this difficult economic time.
Plus, it can be used in conjunction with the curbside pickup program. Give them a specific reason – your really fun promotion – to come get wine, not just come get our wine.
You can organize one of these live tastings in a variety of ways. Start by picking a date and the wine you are going to sample during the tasting. Create a nicely staged area for the tasting, with quality lighting so viewers can clearly see the wine you are showcasing.
Write a script for the tasting but make sure to also leave some time at the end of the tasting for a Q&A, as your viewers will probably have some questions. Remember engagement is key = ask people where they live, how they are, and you can even ask them for marketing ideas.
At the end offer discount code or add-on (food, promo items, etc) if they order more wine today.
Lastly, promote the event on your social media, website, and through your email list. Make sure to also test your platform of choice before going live, so you know how everything works.
Reach out to your wine club
Consider reaching out to your best wine club members directly, via telephone or handwritten messages, checking in on them and seeing how they are doing. Show that it isn’t just your business that you care about, but that your community and your best guests are in your thoughts.
This is also a great way to keep tasting room employees busy at home, as handwritten messages and phone calls can go a long way in keeping your brand at the forefront of your customers thoughts.
If you don’t have a wine club, now is the time to build one.
You have many options on setting up a wine club. Many smaller wineries go with Vinoshipper. Others go with wine software like TrueCommerce or VineSpring. The third option is to create a custom shopping cart. All have pro’s and con’s, so if you need to talk this through please reach out here.
Special TP & Wine promotion
Create a special shipment or curbside promotion for your members and customers. People are home and would love something to unite them or make them laugh: In each box add a roll of toilet paper with each shipment, instructions for a virtual wine tasting, a game, a scavenger hunt, or something to do!
You could even run a contest where you are asking customers to post photos of them, their pets, sunsets, or even a gnome with your wine. Turn the Elf on the Shelf idea into a grown up game.
Offer Gift Cards
Remember how I said your customers love you? Many restaurants are promoting gift cards right now and wineries can do the same thing. People want to do the right thing and support local businesses. Give them the opportunity to support you and they will.
Increase communication outside the tasting room
Last but not least, make sure to keep consistent communication with your customers. Your posts do not have to be all about the novel Coronavirus. Engage with your customers just like you would in the tasting room and ask on social media how they are doing, how their family is, and what they looking forward to doing when it’s over.
There is no better time to shoot video and photo content of your winery than during a period of social distancing. Some content ideas include photographing and videotaping your vineyards, winemaking process, virtual tasting room tours, and your brand story. According to Wordstream, 45% of people watch over an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week. If you’ve been thinking about creating video content for your business, now is a perfect time to do so and gives you content to share on your website, social media, and with email.
You could even create a set of videos on how to make wine or if you offer food to your customers, you could share the video of how you create a favorite meal.
Trapped inside, customers are wanting to be uplifted with a message of hope and dreaming of sitting at your winery with a glass of wine. Give the customers something to dream about!
Be wildly creative!
Need more marketing ideas? Set up a free discovery call with our founder Becca Ritz.
Technology is changing so fast that websites get outdated in 2-5 years. When was your website last updated?
Established in 1909, Yamaguchi Aburaya Fukutaro began as a cooking oil merchant and grew into a general food manufacturer and wholesaler that specializes in spicy cod roe and other mentaiko-related foods.
