For many wineries, 2020 has quickly transformed our industry from a tourism-driven enterprise to a direct marketing business. And instead of being an afterthought, digital inbound and outbound marketing has emerged as the primary bridge to the future.
Now, if you’re a winery owner, a wine marketer, or sales manager in the wine industry, your future success directly depends on how quickly you can master direct marketing.
Here’s a pro-tip:
Any form of direct marketing is only as good as your marketing list.
And since wine country tourism isn’t expected to rebound soon, the game in 2021 is to preserve the lists you have and extend your customer relationships with relevant direct marketing.
Time is of the essence. Your marketing lists will self-destruct quickly without proper care and feeding. And your marketing efforts don’t happen in a vacuum. Any luxury retailer who’s ever sold anything to your customers is competing with you for their limited attention.
So, now’s a great time to reconsider your relationship with your marketing lists.
Sadly, most DTC wineries are abusing their marketing lists by sending messages that don’t get delivered, messages that aren’t relevant, or messages delivered so infrequently they’re ignored.
If you’ve ever had a customer complain that your marketing messages aren’t being delivered, chances are your list needs authentication. This one-time process is essential so that the Gmails and Verizons of the world don’t automatically banish your messages to spam.
If your marketing campaigns target every name on your list, chances are you’re actively driving your customers away with irrelevant messaging. Not only do individual customers tune you out, but the fact that you keep messaging them causes ISPs to treat you more like a spammer than a winery.
And if you’re like most wineries that message their customers once a month or less, you’re practically conceding defeat in the face of growing competition. In today’s mostly-digital landscape, savvy wine marketers rely on frequency, targeted segmentation, and personalization to earn customer loyalty.
The good news is that the keys to success with direct marketing are accessible to any winery as long as you have a list, a story to tell, and wine that you can sell.
In future posts, we’ll focus on the best direct wine marketing campaigns we’ve seen.
But for now, ask yourself, are you abusing your most valuable marketing asset? If so, think about the first rule of holes. If you find yourself in one, first stop digging.
Happy Selling!
Bryan St. Amant
VinterActive LLC