You have 3-5 seconds to grab your customer and tell your brand story online. What does your wine brand say about your company?
Working with winery clients on their websites I often have clients start by asking to “put a photo of my vineyard on the home page.” This leads to a discussion of yes, vineyard photos are beautiful – but does that photo show how you are different from other wineries you are competing against?
In order to be an unforgettable brand, I guide wineries through this thought process: Only (your winery) delivers (unique differentiating benefit) to (target audience). How are you unique? Is it your stunning location? Is it your award winning Pinot Noir? Is it your charismatic winemaker?
For example, Pomona Winery, a non-grape winery in Southern Illinois, came to us to re-do their outdated website. We worked with Pomona on their website design, photo selection, website development and website eCommerce. Their winery is unique because they are first and foremost producing non-grape wine. Secondly, their tasting room does not advertise, serve food, have live events or host weddings. They are a part of the Shawnee Hills Wine trail and are located on a beautiful tree lined road in the Shawnee Hills National Forest. When visiting you can see their love of nature at every turn.
How did we communicate this brand’s personality? To show immediately that they are not a typical winery, we lead with an image of strawberries and a headline.
Right below the image slider on the home page, we included text on how Pomona Winery is different from other wineries:
To show how their winery is immersed in nature on the Shawnee Hills wine trail and to let potential customers know what tasting room building to look for, we used the below images:
Part of branding a luxury company, like a winery, you do need to lead with photographs to create the ambiance of your brand. But equally important is to provide information that the customer is looking for. This is why we included in the header and footer their hours and location. This way, no matter the page of your website a customer lands on, they will have access to it.
One other important step for this winery, was adding eCommerce to their website. We created a custom shopping cart and promoted it on their website home page. I see many wineries that sell online, but don’t mention it on the home page. If you want online sales, don’t be afraid to promote “Shop our wines.”
eCommerce
With any winery website, age verification is essential. We added an age pop-up to the shop page. To see it in action go here: http://pomonawinery.com/shop/
Does your website show off it’s brand online?
Bauerhaus Design provides full branding services including identity design, packaging and support collateral for small to mid-sized wineries. We also offer a host of marketing services to help your winery fill the gaps from strategic marketing plans to social media management!
For a free estimate customized for your needs, please contact us.