The Winery Web Site Report

Luxury Wine and Social Media

From Luxury Wine Market Reels from Downturn in the Wall Street Journal:

Some of the newer operations are using new marketing techniques to cope. Alpha Omega, a boutique winery in Rutherford, Calif., has begun using online services Facebook and Twitter to reach out to its customers. The winery three years ago began targeting consumers directly, and the strategy is now paying off; revenue is up 40% so far this year, compared with a year ago, in part because it doesn't have to share many revenues with a distributor, says co-owner Robin Baggett.

For small wineries (where margin is critical), direct sales are enhanced by social media interaction (blogs, Twitter, Facebook.  For large wineries (where you don't have much direct interaction with customers), social media is a way to keep tabs on what people actually think of your product.

Want To Sell More Wine?

Remember the You Factor:

The most fascinating topic in the word, at least to you, is you.

Sure, we'd all like to believe that people buy what we're selling simply because it's a great product.  Wine makers have a lot invested in believing that their wines are terrific.  And some fermented grape juice is better than others.

But regardless of how good your wine is, you'll sell more of it when you understand the You Factor and apply it to marketing and selling your wine.

"Which Acme Wine are you?  Answer these three questions and we'll tell you the Acme wine that matches your personality."  This, or some variation of it, is perfect for a Facebook page, where people will cheerfully take "Which X are you?" quizzes without a second thought.

But enough about what I think.  What do you think of what I think?  Leave a comment!

Why Visitors Abandon Their Shopping Carts

The number one reason?  High shipping costs, which seems a reasonable concern for winery e-commerce.  It's always good to let people know right up front where you can ship, and how much it will cost.  

You can find the other eight reasons people considered "very important" here.  Comparison shopping may come into play if your winery is available through other channels.

Question for winery owners:  how do you decide what to charge for shipping?  Leave a comment (anonymous if you'd like).

Question for shoppers: how do you feel about shipping charges?  What's fair?  What ticks you off?

Lazy Sunday: There Can Be Only One!

Here's something fun to do while you have a cup of coffee: WhichTestWon.com

The game is to see if you can tell which of two Web pages did the better job of converting visitors.  For example, one test offers two pages, each with the same three pricing options (expensive, less expensive, cheapest) for a virtual PBX service .  Does it make a difference to people when you order them expensive to cheapest, or vice-versa?  Of course it does!  But which order?  That's what you must answer.

As with M&Ms, there can be only one.

(bonus points if you get the Highlander reference)

Secrets Of The Twitter Master

You think you know how to use Twitter for your winery?  Take a look at Guy Kawasaki's explanation of how he uses Twitter.  Highly instructive.

Now, Winery Lifestreams!

Evidently, blogging has become passé.

Now you need a lifestream, like PR maven Steve Rubel.

While I'm poking a little bit of fun at the idea, I think Rubel's workflow is worth a look if you're interested in the idea of creating a lifestream for your winery, a central feed of everything that you want to communicate to your fans.

As always, one needs to evaluate new developments with this in mind: it's always about selling more of your wine, whether it's a Web site, a blog, Twitter, Facebook, or a lifestream.

Lazy Sunday: Freakonomics on Wine

For those of you who enjoyed Freakonomics, there's a New York Times blog written by the same fellows, along with guest writers.

A newly-added guest economist, Robin Goldstein, writes about wine and the wine industry.

On The Internet, No One Can See Your Tongue

On June 8^th, I wrote about what I felt was a missed customer service opportunity by Chateau Julien.  After they received some "negative comments" on what they had intended to be a "tongue in cheek" post, they've asked their readers to "make the call" as to whether to remove the original post altogether.

(you can read the comments on their original post here)

On the one hand, I feel badly for having called attention to Ch. Julien's gaffe.  They made a common beginning blogger's mistake and experienced the wrath of anonymous commenters.

On ther other hand, it's instructive to others who write winery blogs (and blogs in general) that written humor is sometimes elusive.

I guess my bottom line is that there was probably a better way to have written the original post.  For example, here's one from El Jefe.

If you have comments, please leave them here, and give Ch. Julien a pass this time.

Thinking as a winery owner, would you remove the comment?

Facebook For Wineries (the blog)

"JD in Napa" has started an interesting blog on winery marketing through social media, which deserves your attention: Facebook for Wineries

And I would say that even if he hadn't been nice enough to mention this blog in a couple of hist posts.

Joe Bob says, "Check it out!"

Thinking About Making A Commercial?

Instead of hiring an agency, consider hiring your users.