The wine industry in the US is a growing industry as the general public is becoming less intimidated by wine. Thanks to the Australian wine industry and their unique marketing methods, brands like Yellowtail have brought more exposure to wine to the average American. More affordable, yet good quality and great tasting wines are making their way to the market, and are finding their way to the dinner tables of more Americans each year. So what can US wineries do to expand their reach especially in these economic times?
1) Focus on more exposure in your local market.
Many wineries are completely unknown to their local market. Many of them are tucked away on a side street or in a corner of some shopping mall and very inconspicuous. These wineries hide many great finds just waiting to be discovered. The problem isn't in the wine itself, but in the marketing. One thing that wineries can do is to participate in their growers association (there is at least one in almost every state), and encourage more varied marketing methods, such as online marketing. A winery can get a good amount of online local exposure. Strategic and exclusive partnerships with popular local online sites that are also serving your target market is a good beginning to getting more local exposure.
2) Increase your online advertising efforts
The way to expand your reach is to focus on your offline efforts more regionally and nationally as well as locally. If you are in an area that gets a lot of out of town visitors, then you will certainly see some rewards in this endeavor. When traveling wine lovers know about your winery, they can be sure to put it on their itinerary the next time they are in town. Publishing your award winning wines, tasting hours and other activities your winery hosts should be a standard practice in your online marketing efforts. It is also wise to publish what events your wines will be served at so your can begin to build a loyal following and more importantly create advocates for your wines.
Other ways in which a winery can improve their online exposure is to blog consistently about their wines, and do regular press releases about special events your winery is hosting and new wines that your winery is producing. Press releases get widespread exposure as well as getting more traffic to your website and has search engine benefits as well.
3) Make your website sticky
Sticky means to have something on your website that people will want to come back to over and over again, and/or others will want to link to. What will cause people to come back to your web site consistently are things such as an event calendar, weekly contests where contestants get a free bottle of wine, or a gift card or a recipe of the day with a wine to go with it. When your visitors find things of interest and value on your web site, you will get more traffic and exposure.
The wine industry is no different than any other out there when it comes to needing to get their product in front of their target market. Many methods of doing that are the same as any other industry; it just takes some creativity and a well-planned strategy.
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