Category: Marketing

Keeping it Social: How to Approach Your Online Connections Post-COVID

Cyndi
3 people drinking wine

By: Tracey L. Kelley

Aspects of target marketing are quite fluid right now and are projected to be for some time. As the world continues a slow but seemingly progressive recovery from COVID-19, and as the United States, in particular, addresses other key issues affecting its citizens, how you approach a purposeful social media presence for your brand has a significant impact on your turnaround.

In an article for Scientific American, tech expert David Pogue said, “No longer are you on top of the mountain, blasting your marketing message down to the masses through your megaphone. All of a sudden, the masses are conversing with one another.” These are the conversations and actions you need to engage in on your social platforms to reposition your wines, tasting room, community engagement and other advances of your business.

Community and Locality Matter Now More than Ever

You may have experienced extra support from existing and new customers during the pandemic. This momentum, said Meaghan Webster, is essential to maintain through online channels. “People are sourcing inspiration from social media for how to support local businesses and their employees. There’s been a huge push from consumers to support local restaurants and beverage producers they know are struggling, and wineries should acknowledge this sentiment on social media, emphasizing the local nature of their products.”

Webster is the founder of Meaghan W. Marketing and current marketing manager for First Batch Hospitality, the group behind urban winemaking and events at Brooklyn Winery in New York, District Winery in Washington, D.C., and RiNo Point Winery in Denver. She told The Grapevine Magazine that how you use social media to enhance alliances in the community—both with your charitable partnerships and to celebrate the efforts of employees and customers—matters now. So steep your posts with gratitude. “For example, if a winery is donating a percentage of its sales to recovery for their laid-off employees or a special industry fund, then social posts referencing these efforts should thank followers and customers for contributing to the stated cause,” she said. “People love when you show them the impact that their purchase has made. Therefore, follow up and post about how much ended up being contributed to the cause.”

Chad Richards is vice president of Firebelly, a “social media marketing agency on a mission since 2007” based in Indianapolis. Firebelly has worked with JUSTIN Winery and Landmark Vineyards, as well as breweries and restaurants. Richards also recommended taking a less self-serving approach. “Whatever you do, make sure the hero is the charity or community you’re supporting. Nothing elicits eye rolls faster than ‘Look at us—we’re so charitable!’”

If you shredded your social media plan already, don’t worry. There’s still strong potential for authentic communication. “Humans like stories, and we’re storytellers by nature. It’s how we connect to one another, and right now, people are seeking connection more than ever,” Richards said. “And don’t worry about trying to be creative or clever—just be honest.”

We all appreciate uplifting stories right now, according to the media team at Happy Medium, a full-service digital creative agency in Des Moines, Iowa. Keeping this intent in mind helps you craft social media content that showcases community involvement as a result of the energy of your brand and, by close relation, all your customers.

“Overall, audiences tend to react well to community involvement because it’s inspirational and aspirational. If your team is volunteering, share a photo of employees at the volunteer event. If you made a charitable donation, ask the recipient to share digital assets that align with the cause you’re helping them support,” the Happy Medium media team said. “This demonstrates how your brand builds and supports communities in a way that’s relatable and impactful. Write a brief caption about why the cause you’re supporting is relevant to the brand. Always tag the organization!”

Creating Evocative Content

The critical nuts and bolts of pandemic communication are still necessary. On your website and across all social media channels, points about safety, sanitary practices, operational hours and tasting room traffic allowances, among others, must be continuously updated and with proper sensitivity. But, Webster added, you can also use this time to create a haven of comfort.

“Offering a bit of escape from reality is received very well, according to social media analytics for the wineries I work for,” she said. “People are longing for normal times of the past, which means they enjoy seeing photos of what wineries were like before everything shut down. All businesses should be especially cognizant of the tone they use, and always acknowledge the current state of the world in their captions in some way. But providing the nostalgia and temporary escape that followers are looking for right now is a good way to keep people engaged.”

Webster suggested showing the human side of the business through Instagram stories and static posts to “connect people of the business with people who want to support the business.” What’s going on in the vineyards right now? Who’s putting wine shipments together while the winery is closed? What’s the origin story of the winery and vineyard, how did it evolve pre-COVID and how is it navigating this difficult time?

“While the entire story may be long and not fit into one social media post, a winery should know its full narrative, so when it writes a shorter Instagram caption or creates a few slides of an Instagram story about their business, they can distill the most important parts down into a digestible format, and weave it into posts whenever they can,” Webster said.

Happy Medium advised using interactive content whenever possible, to build confidence and trust. “Customers are more likely to engage with content that entertains, educates and tells an authentic story. Engaging customers with your content makes your brand more memorable and creates a deeper connection,” the media team said. “Try incorporating polls, question and answer stickers, or feature the people who make your brand what it is in Instagram stories or by hosting a live stream. Both of these are growing social trends that bolster higher engagement and should be a staple to any social media strategy.”

Don’t feel you have to do all the heavy lifting of brand awareness and connection alone. Once again, Richards said, think about potential alliances. “Get your bottles into the hands of influencers—allowing people to learn about your product via someone they already trust or admire. And think outside the box. These don’t have to be wine or foodie influencers. A travel, fashion or beauty influencer could easily weave your brand and bottle into their story.”

And if the budget allows, boost your social media ad views. “I realize they may be a luxury in times like these, but ads really are the fastest way to get the right message to the right people in the right places,” he said. “Many brands have cut their ad spends, so the marketplace is less competitive right now. You’ll get more for your money if you’re able to participate.”

As reopening continues, your messaging to various demographics might change slightly. Take time to evaluate your core audiences and cater to how they might be feeling. For example:

• Promote your best practices for safety and cleanliness to reassure and comfort people who want to visit your winery but express concern about contagions.
• Consider how other individuals, including those new to the wine tasting experience, might want to know about both your in-person and virtual interactive opportunities.

• Finally, there are additional people, especially those in younger demographics, who are eager to get out and make new memories. Show them through social media why your establishment is the perfect choice for safe-but-fun gatherings.

Remember the message of online interaction: simply ask your followers what they might be interested in, and listen carefully. Their suggestions might be different than what you’ve tried before, but now is the time to take advantage of fresh ideas.

Social Media Tips for the Next 12-18 Months

“Flexible consistency” is the action plan for your social media efforts now—and the foreseeable future. Maybe your marketing manager is temporarily furloughed. Perhaps your state allowed gradual reopening, but as you approach early harvests, you don’t feel you’ll have time to maintain your online presence like you did last year.

The media team at Happy Medium suggested three areas of focus:

• Post consistently. While so much consumer activity has slowed during this period, it’s especially important for brands to stay top-of-mind with their consumers. Even if operations are currently paused, still send at least a couple of posts per week.

• Stay positive. Audiences have been overloaded with COVID-19 messaging over the past few months and are starting to become jaded to overused marketing verbiage. Send positive messages while still being respectful to the current situation.

• Don’t post content exclusively directed at sales: share photos and stories about your team, industry news or fun facts about your winery and operations.

A 2017 study from the American Express Customer Service Barometer reported that Americans are “more likely to post about good experiences (53%) than poor experiences (35%).” So, in addition to staying realistic and flexible about your content and posting efforts, reaffirming customer service is one of the strongest messages Webster offered.

“For small wineries without dedicated marketing or social media staff, that means digital customer service often gets put on the back burner.” She suggested navigating it this way:

• Respond to comments from followers on your posts—or “like” them at the very least.

• Acknowledge when an excited customer shares a photo of your wine on their Instagram story by at least “liking” it. More preferably, respond to it with thanks, and re-share it to your winery’s story.

• Not only “liking” a photo that a loyal fan tagged your wine in, but also commenting on their post and thanking them for their support.

“This kind of gratitude and engagement is always important for building brand loyalty on social media, but it’s especially crucial during this pandemic when financial difficulty is rampant, and fans are giving your winery free, unprompted promotion,” Webster said.

Also, pay close attention to direct messages and respond promptly, and help customers find links to website pages. “This is an important aspect of social media management that many wineries and small businesses could improve on.”

Finally, be realistic, Richards told The Grapevine Magazine. He provided these tips:

• Be flexible. These are unique times, and we’re not sure what will happen next. That’s okay. Nobody does. Be prepared to update your plan and approach as needed.

• Think short term. Take it month-by-month or maybe even week-by-week. Any really long-term campaign planning will likely be disrupted.

• Show vulnerability. If you’re struggling, say so. It makes you relatable, and people will want to support you and come to your rescue.

“Know that it’s okay to ‘not know,’” said Richards. “Uncertainty is uncomfortable—especially when it comes to business and finances—but we’re all in the same boat right now. A ‘best guess’ is sometimes the best you can do.”

The Media Team at Happy Medium
https://itsahappymedium.com/
Social Media Handles on Instagram/Twitter:
@itsahappymedium

Chad Richards, Vice President, Firebelly
https://www.firebellymarketing.com/
Social Media Handles on Instagram/Twitter:
Chad Richards: @chadrichards
Firebelly Marketing: @wearefirebelly

Meaghan Webster, founder, Meaghan W. Marketing
meaghanwebster.com
Social Media Handle on Instagram:
@meaghanwmarketing

Email Is Not Dead…But You Can Be Deadly With It!

Cyndi
Woman watching online videos on desktop
Woman watching online videos on desktop

By: Susan DeMatei

I actually looked it up; AOL started in 1993, which brought in a revolution of using email for personal and business communication. Because this is not a new marketing channel, people assume it is passé. In fact, if you look at Google searches, “email is dead” as a searched term appears very frequently. But the fact that there are so many of us using a 27-year-old technology shows just how alive it really is.

  But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In 1997, online emails got a 7% response rate because it was new and shiny and relatively few companies were using it to communicate with customers. In 2019, we saw a 48% conversion rate on winery emails because today’s brands understand the value of this channel. As more emails are sent, we compete for attention and the stakes have increased.

  According to Statista, the daily number of emails received and sent today is 306.4 billion– and 55% of them are spam. Templafy tells us the average office worker sends out 40 work-related emails a day – but gets back 90. With so much demanding attention in the inbox, you’ll need each email to exhibit a killer performance.

The Six Drivers of Success

  About once a month I get a call from a client that says, “my emails aren’t performing well, I want to talk to you about redesigning them.” My response is usually to ask them a bunch of questions about their database and collection plan, which confused them. So much work needs to be done before you get to the design to make sure you have a successful campaign. There are six key drivers to the success of any email campaign:

1. The quality and the rate of the list sign up.

  Even if your tasting rooms are closed or limited, you can still grow your list, so don’t panic. Capturing leads digitally is nothing new to online retailers who don’t have a physical location – they’ve been doing this for years. In a study by 250ok.com of the top 500 online retailers:

•    7.7% put email sign up in the header

•    44.4% used pop-ups to collect emails on their sites

•    54.3% added an email sign up below the fold or in the footer 

•    29% of retailers incentivized people to opt-in to their email program

  So, formulate a plan to capture emails on your website, Facebook page, and send-to-a-friend links in emails. There are probably other touchpoints you can capitalize on if you brainstorm with your team. The point is to not just give up on this objective if your physical operation is closed or limited.

2. Once they click to sign up what are they greeted with – what’s the landing page?

  Landing pages are so important. Don’t just drive people to your home page––drive them to a specific landing page on your website. A specific landing page increases your conversion and is a very effective way to capture leads. Get creative with videos, images, stories, or bios––the more personalized you can be the better the conversion.

3. The management and the health of the database

  The health of the database is how engaged or responsive your database is. When you send out an email, do you get sales, or do you hear crickets? Some stats to look for here are not just the total number of your database, but also pull out the bounces and then the un-mailables. Another helpful thing to know is the makeup of your database––how many people are purchasers, and how many people are just sitting there like deadweight on your list. When you pull this data, it will give you an overview of your database and some ideas on where to start.

4. The email touchpoint strategy (the HOW and the WHO)

  So, what is the right frequency? In January 2018, we started recording our clients and tracking the data in aggregate across 3 million emails, over 1,700 campaigns over 21 months. We released the data last winter as a benchmarking study and it shows that, at least for our clients, they are choosing to email between every 2-4 weeks.

  And, please make sure to segment your list. Segmented campaigns see a 14% higher open rate, a 60% higher clickthrough rate, and a 7% less unsubscribe rate. We talked earlier about the send-to-a-friend, well targeted messages and those sent to smaller audiences are 90% more viral than untargeted messages sent to large audiences.

5. The offer (the WHAT)

  I don’t have a silver bullet here. I can’t tell you what your database wants to hear––but your database can. You should know your average open and click-through rates and look for trends in responses to tell you what your database is reacting to and what topics they are silent on.

  The open rate is largely a factor of three things; your sending address, your subject line, and the teaser text that comes up in Outlook and other browsers that gives you a summary of the email. These three things are so important, don’t make them an afterthought.

  If you can, also get a conversion rate, which is what happens after the click and is largely dependent upon the landing page and your eCommerce cart set up.

  If you succeed with your subject line to get them to open your email – what do you say? This is particularly nerve wracking in today’s market but no matter how you position it, there are a few main points that you need to hit with your copy. Those main points are your customer’s pain point, the solution you have to that pain point, how your solution works (features), how your solution will improve their situation (benefits), and verification that it works (social proof).The majority of what you write needs to address how you can help your prospect, not how awesome you are (because that’s implied).

5. And then, finally, the design

  Design is important and there are well tested and universally regarded guidelines to follow here.

  First, is text length. More is not better in this regard. As a matter of fact, the more you write the less likely you are to get a response; but don’t be too brief. The sweet spot appears to be between 50 and 125 words––or at least the length of this paragraph which is 57 words.

  A second best-practice is to break up your text––meaning layout three small paragraphs versus one long one. Also, watch your graphic elements. They should be there to illustrate, not distract. White space is very important when scanning emails so try to keep white areas around your call-to-action buttons.

  In English, we read left to right, so it is easier for us to comprehend that quickly. Left justification also works for calls to action and buttons.

  Emails are still the most popular marketing channel used with the best ROI. The shelter-in-place orders have made us even more a slave to our phones. Hopefully, some of these tips will help your email campaigns create and sustain sales for you even when your tasting rooms have limited guests.

  Susan DeMatei is the President of  WineGlass Marketing, a full-service direct marketing firm working within the wine industry in Napa, California. www.wineglassmarketing.com

Email Segmentation: A Critical Tool in the Digital Marketing Toolbox

Cyndi
Detail of businesspeople hands working on EMail Marketing schem

By: Nathan Chambers, Gaynor Strachan Chun and Susan DeMatei

Research shows that your email success can be significantly improved if you enact a campaign list segmentation strategy – MailChimp reports that segmented emails can increase open rates by +15% and click through rates by up to 100%.

  Segmenting your email list allows you to deliver more personalized and relevant content to specific groups of customers. Not segmenting your list results in higher customer attrition. On average, over half of those who subscribe to email lists end up throwing the email in the trash when it hits their inbox. 

  For your customer, there are many reasons why they will be more likely to open an email from a brand that delivers content that is more relevant to them in a timely manner. One of the most important reasons is it shows them you understand their needs and wants. In other words, it delivers a more personalized experience.

  For you and your brand, the value of email list segmentation is quite simple – increased ROI. Segmenting your email list drives increases in loyalty and lifetime value (LTV).

  Let’s look at it from your customer’s perspective. They were at the winery, they filled out a customer information card, or made a purchase and shipped bottles home; they either asked or were aware they’d be added to the mailing list and are hoping for special offers, events, or other news. This is a transaction of trust. As a payback for their trust in you, customers expect to get something of value back, on a reliable basis, and not so often that it adds to their in-box clutter. If the only thing you offer them is random, or generic, you violate that trust.

  But where do you start? Here are 7 effective ways to segment your email list and leverage other data to increase your email ROI.

#1: Demographics:  The simplest way to segment your list is by demographics. Age, gender, job title, native language, etc. These traits, individually or combined, can help you understand what products or offers they are more likely to be interested in.

#2: Survey Results:  People like being asked what they want and need. Rather than overloading your opt-in function, use your list to conduct surveys. This way you can create a more complete picture of your target audience. Ask about interests, needs, why they chose your brand.

  You can then use your survey results to segment by interest, sending content that is relevant to the different interest groups. Maybe you have a group of customers who love recipes and like to cook. Target them with an email about a new wine and include a food and wine pairing recipe element. This will greatly increase your rate of engagement with this customer segment. The more they engage, the more likely they are to keep an eye out for further emails. Repeating that engagement until it becomes a regular habit.

#3: Sending Frequency:  Nobody likes their email box to be overloaded, even if the emails they are receiving might be relevant to them. Understanding the optimal cadence for your emails can be difficult. Use your email engagement data to understand the best frequency. The ideal frequency may also vary by segment.

#4: Geolocation Segmentation:  The easiest and quickest way to segment your database is through geography. For instance, target people in a certain area for events, or shipping offers based on weather. When they joined the mailing list, they felt a connection. Your customers expect accountability, integrity, and accuracy. Geolocation segmentation offers many benefits beyond email campaigns. “Taking the winery on the road” brings the winery and the wines to those who may not make it back to your tasting room. Your winery can develop relationships with retailers or have Wine Club members host a tasting at their home in a key market.

#5: Page Views:  Where do your website visitors spend most of their time? By analyzing your page views, you can better understand what your visitors are looking for and even segment content to them. Are they looking for the hours your tasting room is open? The send them tasting room information. Are they looking at the gift set page? Send them a vertical package offer. One of the easiest segmented communications in this group is to target a resend to people who opened an email and went to the landing page of the product for sale but didn’t buy. These retargeted communications might be just the reminder they needed to complete the purchase. Whatever messaging you choose to play with, when you tie your email segmentation to website visits, these insights to create more relevant content for your emails.

#6: Purchase Cycle:  Understanding the purchase and repurchase cycle of different groups of customers is invaluable. It allows you to build customer behavior profiles and each profile type will respond to different email approaches. If a customer has just signed up for your mailing list, they will want an introduction to who you are and what you offer. A case or library magnum offer is not for this group who are just getting to know you. What you want to do with customers early in their life cycle with you is reduce barrier to trial, so give them single or double bottle offers with your best-selling wines. Save the big purchases for when they become loyal members (and then segment on their past purchases – see below). With the purchase cycle in mind, you can tailor email content and timing based on customer behavior, increasing your likelihood of conversion. 

#7 Past Purchases:  By analyzing what your different groups of customers are buying, you build an understanding of what products interest them and what products don’t. This allows you to create target segments for each product type and only send information or offers about products you know will interest them, increasingly your likelihood of securing a sale. Additionally, it signals to the customer that you care about their preferences and are not sending them emails about products they would never buy.

  For instance, imagine you decide to send a special offer email on a new vintage of a particular wine. If a group of your loyal repeat customers have never purchased that varietal, why would they care? New members will appreciate the email and may make a purchase because they’re trying new things, but most consumers show you through purchase action what they’re interested in. Send them too many emails that don’t apply and they’ll ignore it or, worse yet, mark it as spam or unsubscribe.

Implementing These Strategies

  Don’t try to tackle all these segmentation strategies at once. It’s more valuable to master one of these strategies before developing the next one than it is to fumble with implementing all of them at once. Baby-steps count. Start with one idea with a goal to try out a new segmentation each month. Then you’ll see what your database responds positively to, and you can play more in the areas that resonate. The single most important thing is to at least try segmentation in all your campaigns. Doing so will undoubtedly increase your success rates and metrics for your ongoing email marketing.

   Susan DeMatei, Nathan Chambers and Gaynor Strachan Chun work for WineGlass Marketing, a full-service direct marketing firm operating within the wine industry in Napa, California.

www.wineglassmarketing.com  

Sustainable Wineries Attract More Consumers

Cyndi
winery at the foot of the mountain

By: Briana Tomkinson

  Concern about threats related to climate change is inspiring more consumers to make lifestyle changes like going vegan, upgrading to electric cars, reducing plastic waste and seeking more environmentally sustainable products. It’s also starting to affect how consumers select their wine.  

  Surveys of wine consumers in Canada, the U.S., Sweden and the UK are indicating a growing interest in purchasing sustainably produced wine, favorable perceptions of sustainable certifi-cation programs and certification logos, and a willingness to pay more for sustainably pro-duced wine—particularly by Millennials and Gen Z.

  For many Canadian winemakers, however, their interest in sustainable winemaking began well before consumers started paying attention.

  According to veteran British Columbia winemaker Gordon Fitzpatrick, adopting environmentally sustainable practices isn’t just the right thing to do—it also makes good business sense. “Often, sustainable choices have economic benefits. It’s not mutually exclusive,” Fitzpatrick said. “Every little bit helps.”

  Fitzpatrick has been in the wine business since 1986 when he founded Cedar Creek Estate Winery. He sold the majority of his vineyards to Mission Hill five years ago, but kept one be-tween Peachland and Summerland. In 2017, he launched a new label, Fitzpatrick Family Win-ery, using those grapes.

  The boutique winery focuses on sparkling wine and has approximately one-fifth of the produc-tion capacity of Cedar Creek, topping out at about 10,000 cases at full production. The shift into sparkling wine was a strategic choice to take advantage of the vineyard’s unique microcli-mate.

  “We lose the sun about two and a half hours earlier than most other vineyards,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s why we specialize in sparkling wine. It creates that natural crisp acidity. I call it shade’s gift.”

  Fitzpatrick Family Winery is located in the Thompson Okanagan region, British Columbia’s pri-mary wine-growing region. The area boasts 84% of the province’s vineyards by acreage and has over 200 wineries. Wine tours are a big draw for visitors to the region. With the local tour-ism association increasingly spotlighting sustainable tourism, wineries like Fitzpatrick’s are get-ting more recognition for their environmentally friendly choices.

  The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association recently developed a sustainability pledge to identify and feature responsible tourism providers in the region, including Fitzpatrick Family Winery. Other wineries who have signed on to the program include Poplar Grove (https://www.poplargrove.ca/), Grizzli Winery (www.grizzliwinery.com) and Meadowvista (www.meadowvista.ca).

  The region was also officially certified as the first destination in the Americas to achieve the Sustainable Tourism Accreditation from Biosphere International and the Responsible Tourism Institute. The certification criteria includes commitments to environmentally sustainable practices, including ensuring access to sustainable energy and adopting measures to mitigate cli-mate change.

  Fitzpatrick Family Winery was a pilot winery for the program last fall, Fitzpatrick said, which included a thorough audit on water, energy and waste management practices.

  “We think of ourselves as good stewards of the land, but you always want to look at how you’re doing things. They came up with some recommendations on how we can do things even better than we currently are [doing them]. It was a very worthwhile process to go through,” he said.

  Recommendations ranged from replacing big-ticket items like a 25-year-old water pump with a newer, more energy-efficient model, to less costly initiatives like installing flow meters to better monitor water usage, and expanding the winery’s compost program to incorporate food waste from the on-site, seasonal restaurant.

  The winery is also now pursuing organic certification, following a recent $40,000 investment in mechanical weeding equipment that will allow Fitzpatrick to stop using herbicides in the spring.

  In the last five years, Fitzpatrick said consumer awareness of sustainable practices has changed significantly. “People are much more aware and want to know what your practices are, and are you being a good steward of the land,” he said. “it’s nice to be able to stand be-hind what we do.”

Do Wine Consumers Care? Researchers Say Yes

  According to market research by Wine Intelligence, it’s not just hippies who are choosing more socially and environmentally conscious purchases. Interest in organic, fair trade and sustaina-bly produced wine is growing and is now considered mainstream, particularly among consum-ers under the age of 45.

  In the U.S., almost three-quarters of consumers surveyed said they would consider buying sus-tainably produced wine in the future. Seventy percent of Canadians agreed.

  Nine out of ten millennial consumers surveyed said they would be willing to pay an average of $3 more for sustainably produced wine. The research found that sustainability certifications for wine improved consumers’ willingness to buy.

  The research was presented at the first U.S. Sustainable Winegrowing Summit in Sonoma last June. In a speech at the event, Wine Intelligence CEO Lulie Halstead outlined five key concepts  to “sell” sustainability to consumers, highlighting how it’s good for people as well as for the environment:

1.   Focus on the small steps producers and consumers can take today.

2.   Frame sustainability as a positive choice: talk about positive benefits.

3.   Use groupthink for good: invite customers to be part of a larger movement to make greener choices.

4.   Appeal to feelings, not facts: logic is not as persuasive as emotion.

5.   Be brief: keep messaging succinct.

  The second edition of the U.S. Sustainable Winegrowing Summit will be held this year on May 5-6 in Long Island, New York. The event will feature tours of sustainable wineries in the area, as well as a full conference program. Tickets are $50. More details are online at https://www.sustainablewinegrowing.org/summit/.

British Columbia to Host Global Sustainable Tourism Conference

  The Thompson-Okanagan region is also hosting the 2020 Global Sustainable Tourism Confer-ence November 19-22—the first time the annual event will be held in Canada—at the Delta Ho-tels by Marriott Grand Okanagan Resort in Kelowna.

  The event will feature expert speakers and panelists from around the world. Over 500 local, national and international delegates are expected to attend, including destination marketing professionals, airlines, travel agents, international media and tourism-oriented business lead-ers.

  According to President and CEO of Tourism Kelowna, Lisanne Ballantyne, industry research indicates that interest in sustainable tourism destinations is growing. She said recent reports have found 87% of consumers want to travel sustainably, and 67% are willing to pay more for travel that has a less negative impact on the environment.

  In 2019, for the second year in a row, TOTA was named the World Responsible Tourism Award Winner at the Annual World Travel Awards.

  According to British Columbia’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Lisa Beare, the prov-ince’s stunning scenery and unspoiled wilderness is a key draw for visitors from around the globe, and the region’s tourism strategy reflects that.

  “Our strategic framework for tourism seeks to responsibly grow the visitor economy by re-specting nature and the environment, and making sure that everyone sees the benefits of this important industry,” Beare said in a press release about TOTA’s award win.

Are More Audits Coming For the Direct-to-Consumer Market?

Cyndi

By Alex Koral, J.D., Senior Regulatory Counsel with Sovos ShipCompliant

Last fall, the state of Texas began the process of auditing all of their direct-to-consumer (DtC) wine shipping licensees, the biggest such audit in the history of this market.

While all states reserve the right to audit their licensees, the scope of this mass audit surprised many. More than 1,600 wineries possess permits to ship directly to Texas customers. Many have already received a notice from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) requesting to review their records. This time-consuming process began in September 2019, when the first round of notices were sent, and will continue as the TABC reviews all permit holders to ensure they are in compliance with the state’s laws.

At the heart of this heightened regulatory scrutiny by Texas is the dramatic rise in popularity of the DtC channel in recent years. Many wine drinkers have come to appreciate the DtC wine shipping market for bringing a direct connection to their favorite brands and greater access to wine clubs and highly-allocated labels, creating a $3 billion national market. 

The beverage alcohol industry has long been one of the most regulated enterprises in the country, so it is little surprise that this increased scrutiny has come to the DtC wine shipping channel. States have a vested interest in making sure they collect the full balance of tax money they are due and that their laws are followed to the letter. As Texas’s audits proceed, they could well represent a harbinger of what’s to come for DtC wine shippers, making it important to understand how and why regulators are examining this market. 

Even the Audits Are Bigger in Texas

In May 2005, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed into law Senate Bill 877, a transformative reform of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Code that smashed open the door for wineries to ship directly to consumers in the state. Since then, wine enthusiasts in Texas have been able to purchase wine directly from out-of-state wineries, provided those wineries obtain the necessary sales tax and Winery Direct Shipper’s permits.

The state’s timing was no coincidence. Just one week after Gov. Perry signed the new bill into law, the Supreme Court held in Granholm v. Heald that the states’ ability to control their internal alcohol markets under the 21st Amendment did not supersede the general prohibition on discriminating against out-of-state interests under the Commerce Clause. 

Under the decision, states could no longer prohibit direct-to-consumer wine shipping if they allowed in-state shipping. In the years following Granholm, a wave of reforms flowed across the country. But Texas was one of the first to update its wine shipping laws. And today, the state lives up to its outsized reputation by being the second-biggest recipient state for direct-to-consumer wine shipping, according to Sovos ShipCompliant data. 

So what are Texas regulators seeking to achieve with this wave of audits? The goal appears to be ensuring wine shippers are properly licensed, paying excise taxes, reporting shipments, and not exceeding limits on how much they can send to individual Texans. The TABC has asked licensees for the sales data used to produce their Texas Excise Tax returns, including requests for copies of certain invoices

In addition to order data and invoice copies, the TABC has requested information regarding licensees’ business structures, including copies of their state and federal permits, and lists of corporate officers and directors. Contracts or other agreements that licensees have made with fulfillment houses and similar service providers have also been sought.

Finally, the TABC is looking into the specific wines that licensees have shipped to Texas consumers. Texas’s DtC statutes prohibit licensees from selling wines that the licensee does not personally produce or bottle. As such, the TABC has requested licensees provide Certificates of Label Approval (COLAs) and production records for wines shipped to Texas consumers.

These past requests, though, are subject to change at any time and any DtC wine shipper that does receive an audit notice should ensure they comply with the specific requests on their notice.

This heightened review by the state of Texas comes at a time when many states are working to ensure that direct-to-consumer shippers are complying with local regulations. For example, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission is stepping up in response to reports by the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association alleging widespread violation of its DtC shipping laws, and the Mississippi Supreme Court recently heard a case regarding stings conducted by the state Alcohol Control Board to catch illegal DtC shippers. 

While Texas is currently the only state to have announced a review of this size, it almost certainly won’t be the last. 

As the Market Grows, So Will Regulator Scrutiny

The Supreme Court’s decision 15 years ago in Granholm v. Heald triggered a wave of wine shipping reforms across the country. Today, 45 states plus the District of Columbia permit DtC shipping, enabling over 90% of Americans to connect directly with their favorite wineries. 

As a result, direct-to-consumer wine shipping has grown from a small, niche market in 2005 into a hugely important channel worth more than $3.2 billion in 2019. According to Sovos ShipCompliant’s annual Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report, the channel grew by  7.4% percent in value and 4.7% in volume last year as more wineries invested in e-commerce, the average price-per-bottle increased, and Oregon and Washington again outpaced the overall channel in shipment growth, among other trends. 

In many cases, DtC shipping succeeds because it allows smaller wineries access to markets they would struggle to enter if they relied solely on the traditional three-tier system due to their relative size. According to the 2020 Direct-to-Consumer Shipping Report, wineries in the small winery category (5,000 to 49,999 annual case production) again dominated the winery shipping channel in 2019, accounting for 42% of the volume of shipments and 45% of the value of the DtC channel. DTC shipping has emerged as one of the best ways for these smaller producers to reach a national audience. 

This growth also reflects consumer demand across the economy for goods delivered directly to their doorsteps. Apps like Instacart and UberEats have democratized delivery, and consumer expectations for quick and convenient delivery have never been higher. This presents a tremendous opportunity for wine sellers to expand their reach, develop their customer base and increase their sales online. 

The marketplace is also likely to get more competitive in the new decade. In 2019, the Supreme Court paved a path for expanded DtC shipping of wine by retailers in its ruling in Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas. While only 15 states currently allow some DtC wine shipping by out-of-state retailers, many see this decision as an opportunity to challenge old laws to expand this market. Litigation is ongoing in several states that seemingly discriminate against out-of-state retailers in regards to their ability to ship wine DtC – notably Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri. Much in the same way that Granholm prompted a wave of statutory reform, observers expect consumers and advocates to push legislative changes across the country. While it may take a number of years for these changes to take effect, expanded retail shipping is something everyone should be watching closely. 

In the meantime, regulators have a vested interest in making sure all sellers—whether package stores, direct wine shippers or otherwise—are in compliance with the law. That means ensuring they are properly licensed, collecting all applicable taxes, not overselling to individuals and preventing sales to minors. So if other states see the Texas audits bring positive results, they are likely to follow suit to uncover gaps in their own systems.

Overall, the DtC wine shipping market is still young and regulators are still figuring out how to manage it. As the market grows, we can expect this trend of closer attention being paid to DtC shipping to continue at the state levels, making now the best time for wine producers to firm up their direct-to-consumer compliance processes and overall channel strategy.

Now Is the Time to Ensure Compliance

The risk of audits like those in Texas underscores the importance of closely adhering to the various laws and reporting requirements imposed by states. That the regulations can vary among states only adds to the complexity, whereas failure to comply may result in fines, loss of home state or federal licenses, and even possible criminal charges.

Wineries have a number of ways to handle this. Some are able to build in-house teams that can manage compliance, though this can be expensive. Others rely on outside consultants to manage their compliance needs. But of course, automating compliance processes is the easiest way to ensure audit success, limit compliance risk and reduce the overall administrative burden on shippers as state-by-state tax rules, rates and forms change. 

Shipping wine can be complicated, and compliance will never be a task that anyone relishes. However, as the direct-to-consumer channel grows in its importance to the industry, it’s vital that producers shore up their compliance strategy now before the next round of state audit notices goes out. 

About the Author: Alex Koral, Senior Regulatory Counsel with Sovos

Alex Koral is senior regulatory counsel for Sovos ShipCompliant. He actively researches beverage alcohol regulations and market developments in order to inform development of Sovos’ ShipCompliant product and help educate the industry on compliance issues. Alex has worked with the company since 2015, after receiving his J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School.

2020 The Year of Personalization

Cyndi
Hand using tablet with application icons flying around
Businessman hand using tablet with flying application icons around

By: Scott Moss and Susan DeMatei

According to Forbes, 2020 is going to be the year of personalized marketing. The current opinion is that we are all so bombarded with advertising and emails that we now tune out anything that isn’t specifically relevant to us. When Ad Age asked executives the one thing anyone could do to impact their marketing in the future, a full third of them answered “personalization.” And Conversant Media noted 94% of customer insights and marketing professionals they surveyed listed personalization as either “important,” “very important,” or “extremely important” for meeting their current marketing objectives.

  Back in the 1990’s when the internet and data tracking was young, there was a public outcry concerning privacy and personalization. Individuals were nervous about the newly formed “cookie” technology and didn’t like being tracked online and were suspicious about loyalty cards being scanned at checkout in stores. But now, we take it for granted that when you leave something in a cart you’re going to see an ad for it the next time you log in to Facebook, and we don’t feel creeped out when we buy kitty litter at the grocery store and we get a coupon for cat food along with our receipt.

Age of Customer

  Personalization is everywhere and we’re used to it and we like it – which makes the blanket, non-personalized communications all the more blatantly lazy and unappealing. According to an online Epsilon survey of 1,000 consumers ages 18-64, the appeal for personalization is high, with 80% of respondents indicating they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences, and 90% indicating that they find personalization appealing.

  And, personalization does work. In multiple studies, personalized ads and emails are perceived as more engaging, educational, time-saving, and memorable than mass advertising or emails. Experian reports personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates. And, with new affordable tools, there really isn’t an excuse for mass marketing anymore.

  What this means is that we can no longer rely on mass, generic email blasts to our customers and expect the returns we did in the past. Our buyers are now empowered, and their expectations are high in the messaging and advertising they receive. In the Age of the Customer, we need to be smarter about how we communicate.

  The good thing is, this doesn’t require us to restructure our entire marketing plan. Here are three simple things we can do today to improve the way we interact with our customers on a more personal level:

EMAIL LIST SEGMENTATION

  List segmentation is the quickest way to personalize messages to customers. It can be as simple as creating an email for recent visitors to your tasting room or website purchasers.  Sending these customers, a thank you email 30-days after their visit or purchase is a great way to personalize and engage with a follow-up offer.  You can add a deeper level of personalization if your email provider gives you the ability to insert the customer’s first name in the body copy.

  Additionally, each email can be more personal by modifying the subject line with the purchase location, “Thank you for visiting our tasting room,” or “Thank you or your online purchase.”  Although this may require two email sends, it refines the touchpoint and serves as a reminder of the customer experience.

  Start Crawling: Set up some automatic emails like “abandon cart” and “thank you for visiting.”

  Learn to walk: Take your email list segmentation beyond Wine Club and Non-Club into purchase history. To do this, divide your list into first-time buyers, repeat buyers, and non-buyers/prospects. Then, for every campaign, tailor the message for each. For first-time purchasers give them easy second purchase options similar to their first, for repeat buyers offer them volume or shipping discounts, and for prospects, tell them a little more about yourself and offer a trial package.

  Learn to run: Combine the two. First, set up ongoing automated campaigns (called “drip” campaigns) that remind people they’ve left items in their cart, or that they haven’t logged in to rate or buy a product, or to thank them for an order. Then, take a look at your campaigns in 2020 and brainstorm how you can segment them by purchase or other behavior.

CUSTOMIZED LANDING PAGES

  Sending personalized communications to customers that include a call to action should take them to a page on your website that corresponds to the offer in your email. Keeping the customer journey with our brands consistent is a key component in lowering attrition and increasing sales.

  This requires creating a page template within your website that can be easily duplicated and modified by changing the title, image, or copy to match your outbound communication. This enforces the personalized offer and brand consistency with your customers, while providing a clear path to purchase.

  Brand consistency is the pattern of expression that affects what people think about your company. The more consistent your messaging, the more consistent your branding — whether via words, design, offerings, or perspective. Your brand should build awareness and develop trust and loyalty with customers.

  Start Crawling: For those emails discussing several wines, rather than dumping the clicks at the top of the store page, set up a customized landing page and only include the wines in the email with a header and the offer.

  Learn to walk: For your social campaigns, try a separate landing page with introductory copy about your winery and why they should sign up for your mailing list or like/follow your winery.

  Learn to run: In addition to emails and social media, consider custom landing pages for most initiatives such as pouring events, coupon redemption, Google Ads, and print.

GET TO KNOW YOUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS

  A loyal customer is one that makes repeat purchases rather than switching to a competitor. A loyal customer will be more likely to purchase additional products and recommend your brand.

  Without digging too deeply into your data, a few key metrics can help identify your most loyal customers.  High average order value, buying frequency, and last purchase date is what you will need to start. These metrics can all be found in the customer purchase history of your database. When vetting your data, don’t assume that your best customers are also wine club members. However, if they are not, you may have a missed opportunity.

  After identifying your most loyal customers be sure to nurture the relationship, they are your best buyers for a reason. Knowing what they purchase, how often they purchase, and how much they spend per order will help guide you on when to reach out and with what offers.

  The communication and touches to these customers should be as a personal friend and offers should be presented as gifts. Offering a specially selected “pre-sale” wine or early event access will build continued loyalty. 

  Start Crawling: A handwritten note of thanks for attending an event or a customer referral is an easy way to start and goes a long way to keep your best customers.

  Learn to walk: Identify your top customers and find them on social media. Set up alerts for their posts and like and comment on them as your brand. They’ll be thrilled you care enough about their lives to get to know them.

  Learn to run: Look at your campaigns and give first dibs to your best buyers. Either offer them a pre-order capability or maybe access to the pick-up part a half hour in advance. Realize that discounts aren’t always what they’re after – they want a relationship and time with you.

  The true end result will look like taking your linear annual campaign calendar and splintering it into multiple, smaller, targeted communications that run simultaneously. It takes more work, but it’s worth it.

  Susan DeMatei is the President and Scott Moss is the Director of Operations of WineGlass Marketing, a full-service direct marketing firm working within the wine industry in Napa, California. www.wineglassmarketing.com 

Profiling Software Used by the Wine Industry

Cyndi
tablet showing Vinnow
Photo Courtesy of: VinNOW

By: Becky Garrison

While one can still find wine producers who rely on paper ledgers, Excel spreadsheets and other pen and paper methods to manage their business, wine producers are increasingly turning to technology to help them perform these tasks. The proliferation of software explicitly geared to the wine industry has streamlined how many wineries operate. This software can help winemakers better manage a range of functions starting with regulating environmental conditions in their vineyards to performing a variety of eCommerce functions, as well as helping to enhance the consumers’ experience in their tasting rooms.

Microworks Wine Software

  Microworks Wine Software was formed in 1991 to address the lack of technology servicing the wine industry. Currently, this software includes a suite of tools that help wineries manage their direct-to-consumer sales. The software takes complex tasks and simplifies them for efficiency and accuracy. With Microworks Wine Software, all details of sales, customers and inventory are tracked and reported to management so they can execute informed decisions.

  These tools include visitor center tracking, wine club and eCommerce sales, customers and in-ventory, as well as helping with accounting, fulfillment and alcohol compliance. This software suite allows wineries to manage their retail operations by tracking sales data and then issuing re-ports. Tasting room managers can track visitors and staff, and wine club managers can oversee the wine club and its members. Inventory staff can track products across multiple warehouses while managing wine shipments and pickups, and accounting can track and reconcile all sales and inventory activity with complete audit trails. Additionally, marketing managers can track all customer activity, including which wines consumers buy, when they buy their products, how fre-quently they purchase wines and the channels through which they make these purchases.

  When a wine producer purchases the software, Microworks performs an initial onboarding pro-cess. Then apps can be downloaded by the user on devices through the Microworks website, Ap-ple’s App Store or Google Play. Users can take advantage of Microworks certified training ser-vice—a one-on-one instruction for winery employees that ensures they’ll get the most out of what the software has to offer. Online documentation and tutorials are also available.

  The latest release of Microworks Wine Software’s iPad mobile POS offers an offline mode, so users can now access this software without having to connect online. When the software gets used offline, transaction data is stored and then uploaded to the server when the device is back online. Currently, they are working on an automated email system to simplify and tailor custom-er communications to drive more sales.

Sensaphone

  Sensaphone software complements the hardware that measures temperatures, humidity and other environmental conditions in the vineyard. Since its founding over thirty years ago, Sensaphone has transitioned from having its software utilize traditional alarm auto dialers hooked to phone lines to a cloud-based platform. 

Using this software allows producers to know the exact temperature in the fields, and to be alarmed if the temperatures sink too low. In the case of ice wine producers, it allows them to pro-tect the grapes during cold temperatures.

  This software allows wine producers to see the temperature values of their vineyards in real-time, set high and low alarms, and datalog those values. These features monitor environmentally sensitive assets and can be programmed to send emails or text messages to users when those as-sets are in danger. Also, it offers real-time visibility and the ability to datalog values for a com-parison over time.  

  Sensaphone products are easy to install and program. It is a one time purchase with upgrades in-cluded with the purchase price. Also, they feature an app that allows producers to view data from any mobile device.

VineSpring

  For the past eight years, VineSpring has offered winery eCommerce, allocations and wine club management software designed for wine producers who sell directly to consumers. Through this software, wineries can easily manage their club and allocation offerings, saving administrators time, and providing wine club members with tools that are easy to access. Online tutorials allow wineries to maintain the software on their own.

  VineSpring can connect to many third party programs, and natively supports integrations with MailChimp, ShipCompliant and Square POS. Also, they have partners like WineGlass Marketing that have built powerful integrations, including automatic sync with Quickbooks desktop. Mov-ing forward, they look to expand the options for wine clubs, especially surrounding automatic recurring billing.

VinNOW

  Created in 1999, VinNOW software was specifically designed for wineries to manage customer data and purchase histories, tasting room sales, wine clubs, multiple location inventory tracking and wine production. Wineries can use this software on a single stand-alone computer, a tablet, or on a network multi-point of sale operation. Also, as this software does not require a good in-ternet connection, it works well for those wineries located in regions that do not have reliable internet access.

  The software includes a customer management system, point of sale, wine club automation, eCommerce, inventory management, reporting and order processing with QuickBooks, compli-ance, email and shipping integrations and EMV credit card processing. Also, bulk wine tracking and custom crush billing module are available. When necessary, features are added that respond to industry changes, such as the new California District Tax.

  For those wineries offering wine clubs, the software’s one-step wine club processing includes shipping labels for UPS and FedEx. Also, GSO shipments can be tracked through VinNOW. In addition, the software has options for easy email and postcard marketing campaigns. It also inte-grates with QuickBooks desktop or online versions, web shopping providers, and ShipCompli-ant.

  VinNOW can be self-installed and maintained and includes a comprehensive help database. New customers are encouraged to go through the free training program, so they understand the full capabilities of the software. Customer service is available seven days a week.

Winetracker.co

  Winetracker.co is a wine tasting app launched in 2017 that’s available for iOS and Android, as well as the web browser.

  Users snap photos of the wine they are drinking and then use the app’s four sliders to give their personal opinion on the aroma, taste, finish and overall impression of the wine. The app then auto-generates a wine expert score (50 to 100 points) based on these four sliders. Optionally, the user can use “TouchTags” to describe the unique elements they detect in the wine. As they continue using the app, they end up with a visual history of the wines they drink, similar to a “Pinterest for wine.”

  The second primary feature of this app is a multi-person, real-time experience called Group Tasting. Anyone hosting a tasting event, whether a winery, event planner or party host, can create a tasting list ahead of time. At the event, attendees can collaboratively taste the wines together through the app. They can see each other’s wine scores and comments popping up on the screen in real-time. Also, there’s an optional Blind Tasting mode for the Group Tasting feature.

  According to Tony Jacobson, Founder of Winetracker.co, wineries who use the Group Tasting feature increase their wine sales. He ascribes this to the fact that when people taste wines with Winetracker.co, it causes a fuller engagement with each wine they sample. “When they are pondering the aroma, taste and finish of a wine, they get a much better sense of how much they like or don’t like it. This creates a deeper connection with the wine they’re drinking.” Winetracker.co is willing to schedule one-on-one consultations with wineries and event planners to help guide them through the process of creating Group Tasting events.

  In the future, the company plans to launch tasting groups similar to Facebook groups, where us-ers can join and automatically be notified whenever someone adds new wine scores. These groups can be public or private. Also, they plan on adding the ability for users to follow individ-ual people on Winetracker.co. Along those lines, users can automatically receive notifications whenever people they follow taste a new wine. Winetracker.co is also looking to enable wineries to have conversation threads or email conversations with the people who participate in their tast-ing events.

  As technology continues to evolve, expect to see these software companies continue evolving to meet the needs of 21st-century wine producers.

WINERIES and the HOLIDAYS: Inseparable Partners in Making the Season Merry

Cyndi

By: Cheryl Gray

Portrait of Santa Claus watching tv, celebrating with a glass of champagne and panettone

With the holiday season comes infinite ways to celebrate the fruit of vineyards from coast-to-coast. Wineries and tasting rooms across the U.S. count the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s to be amongst their busiest and, in some cases, amongst their most profitable. Moreover, ancillary businesses, including hotels, inns, restaurants and special events venues, benefit from creative partnerships with local wineries during the holidays.

Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center

  The Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center stays open year-round and features Washington wines in its tasting room and during special events. The space was named for the man whose years of scientific research established Washington state as the second-largest premium wine producer in the country. According to the Center, Washington’s wine industry contributes approximately $14.9 billion to the U.S. economy and supports an estimated 27,000 jobs. Those numbers underscore why the holidays are an important component of marketing the state’s wine producers and grape growers.

  The Clore Center showcases Washington’s wine industry, as well as the science of enology, through a combination of educational, experiential and entertainment activities. Its holiday events kick off just before Thanksgiving, featuring established and up-and-coming Yakima Valley wineries. On Saturdays throughout November and December, several Yakima Valley winemakers will be pouring at the Center’s “Meet the Makers” event with the pertinent theme, “Thanksgiving in Wine Country.” In December, the Center will feature sparkling wines from Washington’s Columbia Gorge. 

  The Center’s holiday events will also include classes every Saturday in November and the first two Saturdays in December, according to Deb Carter, the Clore Center’s Wine and Culinary Program Director. That might, for example, include a cooking class from a local master chef on how to pair local wines with farm-to-table meals using local produce.

  In addition to educational classes, the venue rents out space during the holidays for corporate gatherings, parties and other holiday-centered outings, many of which choose to feature local wines.

  Wineries, tasting rooms, restaurants and others vested in promoting Yakima Valley wine during the holidays are, at the same time, raising money for a charitable cause—fighting hunger. “Thanksgiving in Wine Country,” will benefit Northwest Harvest and kicks off during Thanksgiving weekend. The event also allows visitors to take advantage of deals on wines and related products.

Milbrandt Vineyards

  Other Yakima Valley December events include Prosser, Washington-based Milbrandt Vineyards’ “Holiday Flights and Bites,” featuring holiday wines and food pairings with live entertainment.

  “The holidays are key for us because customers tend to purchase more of our higher tier wines like our Reserves, especially if they are buying wine as gifts,” says Milbrandt Vineyard’s Tasting Room Manager, Karen Ballew. “This holiday season is particularly special because we will be releasing our ‘Bottle Your Charity’ Sparkling Rosé with the winning charity’s mission featured on the back of the bottle. Direct donations from wine sales go to the charity.”

  One of Millbrandt’s holiday marketing strategies, says Ballew, is a play on words derived from a holiday favorite, Twelve Days of Christmas. “We will be bringing back our 12 Days of Deals, an online campaign we ran during the holidays that was incredibly successful the last couple of years. We will also be launching our Cyber Monday campaign where customers can get up to 40% off certain cases of wine.”

  As for partnering with local businesses, Ballew says Millbrandt favors specialty food shops, whose treats pair well with Milbrandt wines. “We partner with a few local business, most notably Jade’s British Girl Treats,” she says. “Jade’s is a local bakery/chocolate/sandwich shop in Prosser. They just opened a few months ago in downtown. They handle catering for our events and also cater our small plate menu that we offer in the tasting room daily.

  We also feature for sale a small selection of Chukar Cherries that are specifically paired with some of our wines. Another partnership is with Wine Country RV Park. We pour at their evening tastings about once a month during their peak season. They promote our events on their emails and on the TV in their retail shop.”

Tourism on the 45th Parallel

  Hotels and inns tied to wineries have a unique focus on the holidays. In Northern Michigan, wineries and tasting rooms dot the landscape along the same 45th parallel as Washington’s wine region. Among them is the internationally renowned Black Star Farms, a family-owned enterprise known for, among other products, its signature ‘Pear in a Bottle’ wine. 

  Black Star Farms provides a backdrop for holiday-inspired events, such as snowshoeing on its vast grounds and cooking classes that teach guests how to pair wines with various cuisines. Its most notable event, however, is the annual New Year’s Eve Wine Dinner, a formal occasion featuring a multi-course meal paired with wines produced by Black Star Farms. The event is popular enough that tickets go on sale beginning in early fall. Sherri Campbell Fenton, whose parents, Kerm and Sallie Campbell, established Black Star Farms in 1998, is managing proprietor. She told The Grapevine Magazine that the holidays are, indeed, big business. 

  “The holidays are a key time for Black Star Farms, for both holiday wine sales and the hospitality side of our business,” says Campbell Fenton. “Obviously, wine sales are strong for gifting and parties. We have a luxurious 10 room inn on our 160-acre property, which is a favorite for guests as a quiet, romantic escape, especially during the winter when blanketed in snow. We also host holiday corporate wine paired dinners as well as private or family gatherings. Holidays are a strong time for these. Many times, gift certificates are purchased for wine sales or inn stays during the holidays, as a gift of Black Star Farms is a very special one for anybody.”  

  At Washington’s end of the 45th parallel, there’s the Hotel Maison, a landmark in downtown Yakima, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The hotel’s holiday offerings include a package featuring Yakima’s annual “Sip, Stroll & Stay.” This promotional event features a downtown stroll with food, entertainment, and, at the end of the evening, an opportunity to overnight at the historic Maison, built in 1911 by Yakima Freemasons. Guests receive their choice of a bottle of wine, cider or beer delivered to their room. In addition to hosting wine tastings with local sommeliers, Hotel Maison does its part to promote wineries during Yakima Valley’s ‘Thanksgiving in Wine Country.’ They feature an overnight package that includes a bottle of Yakima Valley wine and a gourmet cheese board delivered to guests.   

  A quieter holiday respite can be found at Washington’s Cozy Rose Inn, an acclaimed bed and breakfast owned by husband and wife Mark and Jennie Jackson in Yakima Valley’s Grandview area. The Jacksons have relied upon friendships with local wineries over the past 27 years, which keeps guest referrals coming in both directions. Having a great location, Mark Jackson says, goes a long way. “Guests come to the Valley for the sunshine and wine. We’re just in a prime location, being in the middle of Yakima Valley. They taste on their way down the Valley, stay here, eat dinner, and the next morning, they’re off to Red Mountain and Prosser Wineries.”

  In addition to its chef-inspired gourmet breakfast, during the holidays the Cozy Rose Inn offers guests staying at least two nights a candlelit dinner for two, which includes a bottle from one of the region’s wineries.

Holiday Food Pairing

  Foodies looking for a Southwestern flavor to pair with Washington wines during the holidays turn to Los Hernandez Tamales, another family-owned business in Yakima Valley. They tout an authentic family recipe, combining it with local, Washington state ingredients, including the state’s bountiful asparagus crop. Rachel Wilburn, whose father, Felipe Hernandez, started the business in 1990, says the holidays are tremendously hectic for the Hernandez clan.  

  “Tamales are traditionally a holiday season food. Christmas, in particular, is the busiest time for them. We open early, and everyone gets tamales with or without an order. We usually have 400 to 600 dozen in pre-orders, but we sell 1,000 dozens (12,000 single tamales) by the end of the day, all made by hand.” Wilburn says that Los Hernandez Tamales is also called upon all over Washington to participate in events that pair their famous tamales with regional wines.

  Gingerbread co-stars with wines at Desert Wind Winery, which supports a local charity through its annual “Gingerbread Build Off.” This holiday-themed event, held in November, draws professional bakers from throughout the Yakima Valley region.  Wine barrels serve as the background for gingerbread creations large and small in a winery whose Southwestern style architecture belies its Washington state location. 

  It’s not difficult to see how the holidays bring out the best in wineries and related industries across the United States. From charitable giving to savvy marketing, synergy builds between businesses that understand the value of partnerships during the holiday season.

Wine Industry 2019 Email Benchmark Results

Cyndi
Email marketing with young man

Presented by WineGlass Marketing

A clean, transactional website that conveys a story, a consistent and authentic social media presence, and thoughtful targeted emails are the digital super group in your marketing arsenal. Although it seems every year someone comes out and predicts the death of email, it is still the best direct marketing tactic available to you. In the U.S., email usage has grown every single year since 2012 and 91% of American internet users use email (statista.com).

  But, that thoughtful and targeted part ain’t easy. After you find your audience and convince them to subscribe, which is a challenge in itself, you then have to keep their attention. (It takes an average of six to eight touch points to generate a qualified sales lead. (Salesforce))

The WGM Client Email Project is Born

  When we are working with our client on their email-marketing efforts, many of our clients want to know what others are doing. The internet is full of benchmarks and studies about email marketing, but very little exists about wine-related content. Can we assume that we are most analogous to a “Retail” category? Agricultural? Food and beverage? We’re never sure.

  So we started a project in January 2018 that entailed recording every email we sent for our clients: 3,089,124 emails across 1,697 campaigns for 43 clients over 21 months, to be exact. We removed administrative and club emails and checked for statistical significance and can confirm this is a large enough sample to be confident about the findings. Our goal was to compare our clients’ results to the posted industry benchmarks to see if they were a good judge of success. What we uncovered was interesting.

We are not the same!

  Immediately, we saw that our emails performed differently than the posted benchmarks. We had always used Mailchimp’s “Retail” benchmarks for our marketing – but never knew if this was a good comparison. It turns out that its’s not.

Graph showing Winery Open and CTR versus Mailchimp "Retail"

I’d like to say that the emails we create for our clients are so creative and impactful that they perform 20% better than industry average, and there might be some small truth there. But, it’s more likely that the wine category, as a whole, gets better response than the average category.  “Retail” is a broad category for any email that is selling something from Amazon to Zappos. But our clients are selling wine, which, in most people’s world, is a good thing and a welcome distraction from their daily drivel. Our theory is that winery customers look forward to news about their wineries, their favorite wines or upcoming events because it is an enjoyable hobby they have chosen to learn about and follow, versus the Sunday white sale at Macy’s which, may or may not be, relevant this week.

Getting Their Attention: Thoughts on Open Rates

  The two best predictors of whether an email will be opened is the subject line, and when the email is sent. We wanted to isolate both of these variables. According to data from Marketo, 41 characters–or 7 words–is reported to be the sweet spot for email subject line length in 2019. We counted all the characters (including spaces) in our campaigns and came out with an average of 42…so, we were pretty confident about our test results.

  But when we got into the data we were surprised. We couldn’t find any general statistical significance between open rate and the length of the subject line. (For you nerds out there, in our analysis, R2 =.04894 indicating that there is no linear relationship.) Put another way, if you have more, or less, characters in your subject line, we couldn’t say if your email is more, or less, likely to be opened. Length didn’t matter when looking at the emails in aggregate.

Graph showing Impact on Length of Subject Line

  However, when we look at the type of email, we saw trending. We bucketed emails into groups of club emails, eCommerce or sales emails, event announcements and emails with just information or news. We then looked at the open rate of emails whose subject line were low (1-25), medium (26-50), high (51-75) and very high (over 75) character counts. What we found was club emails perform better with brief subject lines, whereas event and newsletters are more likely to be opened with a longer, more explanative subject line. The fact that eCommerce shows little difference between lengths of subject lines indicates that it is the message that matters – or, simply, what is the offer?

Graph showing Impact of Day on Open and Click Through Rates

The frequently debated topic of which day to send emails was also on our radar. Old-school folklore says Tuesdays are the best, but we should know by now that mobile phones have changed the way we consume email. It is now a 24-7 activity done on the bus, in line at the lunch counter, during weekends and before bedtime. Also, most people use mail applications that merge personal and work email together on their phone or they switch back and forth. So, it’s no longer a world where we read our work emails at the office desk between 9-5 on weekdays, and our home emails at the weekend home computer. In fact, there is substantial research indicating that a hobby topic like reading about wine is most often enjoyed and acted upon during weekends. So, we had our doubts.

  Looking at our clients’ data, the majority of the emails were sent on Thursday, and this coincided with a peak in open rate and click through rate. We surmised that for each client we naturally started optimizing to the best send day, and it is definitively Thursday. (Since they are all averages, the increased number of email campaigns on Thursday shouldn’t necessarily mean that open and click through rates are better, so we feel confident that mid-week is still the best time to send for optimal performance.)

Keeping Their Attention: What About Frequency?

  Then there is the question of frequency. Frequency is a complex mix of your unique databases’ relationship with your winery, and the quality of content you deliver to them. Some wineries may have developed a relationship that their customers tolerate several emails a week. Some only email twice a year. The only true way to tell your particular ideal frequency is to test and look at unsubscribe, open and click through rates.

Pie Graph showing Frequency of Email Sends

The client pool for our data collection was wide and diverse. It included large, distributed mass-market brands, as well as small, allocation-only wines. It should be noted, generally, that the larger the winery, the more frequently they emailed their database. But, when we looked across all 43 clients, more than half of them are sending emails once or twice a month. Only 10% are sending weekly, and 9% are sending every 6 weeks or every 3 months. The 13% of wineries sending every 6 months are all on allocations.

Graph showing the Affect of Frequency on Email Performance

  But, the question becomes, what is the optimal frequency for performance? Well the answer there is more is not better, but there’s a catch. At first glance, the data suggests that every six months gets you the best open and click through rate, but take into consideration these communications are highly anticipated semi-annual release allocations. For those of us that don’t have a line waiting around the block for our wine, it appears somewhere around 4-5 weeks is the sweet spot. This is also supported by the data and knowledge that segmentation and smaller lists get better response. Remember – it’s not how often you send an email, but how often any one person on your list receives one. So, your best bet is to spread out your communication and don’t hit everyone all the time. Segment your lists by their preference, location, or buying habits, and your frequency will naturally drop.

Getting To The Sale

  Not all of our email campaigns were sales based (yours’ shouldn’t be either.) Some were event invitations or newsletters, but we did pull out the eCommerce emails for sales statistics. Klaviyo.com quoted the average conversion rate on 18,000 customers across 13 industries during the full 2018 calendar year at .09%. We felt pretty awesome at our. 48% average. But once again, take into account this is wine versus kitty litter or whatever other offer ends up in your inbox. Our consumers generally want to hear about our winery and order our wine because they choose to enjoy it.

  If you were to project out response, you can assume about $334 AOV and 7-8 orders on an average campaign.

Winery Benchmark Averages

Conclusion

  So, what does this all mean? Here are our take-aways:

1.  Wine is a cheerful addition to the inbox, so set your goals higher than posted averages. Below is what we’re using for our winery benchmark performance moving forward.

Winery Benchmark Averages

2.  Go ahead and use those long subject lines and test emojis and other attention grabbers. But on sales emails, keep the offer short and to the point.

3.  Don’t feel stressed about making a specific send day of the week. It is true that Thursdays are the best day for email drops. But if you miss that, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays are good, too.

4.  While most of us send emails every 2-4 weeks, it appears that spacing this out to every 4-6 weeks would be beneficial. Rather than cutting back on good content, try segmenting communications to who might best respond to the message.

5.  Smaller lists perform better. Always. Get out of the habit of sending every message to everyone on your list. Its more work to segment, but it’s worth it.

  We were pleased with the results of this inaugural benchmark, and will continue and broaden our study, and continue reporting annual results.

  We are curious – does this match with what you see in your own database? If you have comments, we’d love to hear them at service@wineglassmarketing.com.

  Susan DeMatei is the President of WineGlass Marketing, a full-service direct marketing firm working within the wine industry in Napa, California. www.wineglassmarketing.com

Wine, Widgets & Website Accessibility

Cyndi
Blind person using computer with braille computer display

By: ADA Site Compliance

Like most businesses today, wineries are grappling with making their websites accessible to users with disabilities. Plaintiffs and their attorneys continue to target the wine industry and have now filed dozens of lawsuits alleging that growers, distillers, distributors, and merchants are non-compliant under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If the current litigation wave follows that of other verticals recently hit – retail apparel, hospitality, restaurants, travel, among others – the trend will likely persist until every player in the space has either revamped its existing website, built an entirely new one, or closed its doors altogether.

  So how have wineries and vineyards fared so far in facing this new risk? While the final chapter in this story has yet to be written, defendants in such suits across similar retail-based industries have found that their outcomes largely depend on the strategy they choose to adopt. There are three basic approaches. One option is to do nothing at all and hope for the best.

  A second option is to take some incremental step or steps toward improving the website. Often, this involves fixing the easy-to-find compliance failures – issues like color contrast violations and missing alterative (“alt”) text on images. The advantages here are convenience and cost; many software tools can assist with this, and for not much money. The primary disadvantage is that the results are mixed, since no technology can catch every failure. In fact, most automated tools only detect about 20-30% of the non-compliant issues. As a result, while software offers a step toward ADA compliance, it will continue to leave website owners exposed and vulnerable. And given that “copycat” suits are now the norm, your odds of escaping further litigation are low.

  The third option is for wineries to make their websites ADA compliant. The only way to do this is through human expert auditing that involves actual people going through the site manually to check for all 78 “success criteria” under the current web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.1). After that, wineries can use the audit reports to remediate their sites and achieve meaningful compliance. While this option costs more, it remains the only reliable way to stop successive suits. It is also the right thing to do.

Widgets: Savior or Snake Oil?

  Many businesses – not just wineries – turn to third-party accessibility “widgets” as an apparent cure-all. These software plugins or overlays go directly on a website and claim to provide disabled visitors with an expanded set of accessibility tools to help them better navigate the site. To the uninitiated, widgets seem to be the long- sought solution: an inexpensive and easy-to-use button that makes fonts bigger, contrasts sharper, and other enhancements. Their simple integration with any website accounts for their widespread adoption.

  Unfortunately, as lots of their former advocates have found, widgets fail to make any website. In fact, there is reason to believe they make sites less compliant than before and more susceptible to litigation. The reason: the features they offer are already available to users via their browsers, their operating systems, or their assistive devices such as electronic screen readers (JAWS and NVDA are the two most popular). Most users who would benefit from a widget’s functionality already have these options available and are using them when needed. So instead of providing new ways to access information, widgets only succeed in further confusing assistive devices, which now have yet another potential barrier on the website to try to “read” and “understand.”

  Some experts have been vocal in their opposition to widgets as a quick-fix tool. Jeanne Spellman, a 19-year veteran of web accessibility, represents the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the group that creates the WCAG guidelines. When asked about the rise of widgets, Ms. Spellman referred to them as “snake oil” and noted their likelihood of exacerbating a website’s accessibility hurdles. “Installing plugins that provide text-to- speech or screen magnification,” she writes, “does not help people who are blind or low-vision, because these inferior plugins interfere with real assistive technology the blind or low-vision person already owns and uses.”

  Fair enough. But what about the benefit of widgets as a risk-mitigation tool? Is there not some advantage that website owners derive from prominently displaying this software on their site? To this, Ms. Spellman offers a definitive no: “Plugins do not help you if you are sued. Additionally, installing a custom overlay over your code … requires changing the custom overlay every time you make a change to your site. In the end, you still have an inaccessible site.” In the end, the only use Ms. Spellman sees for widgets is as a temporary patch while business owners fix their sites.

Take Action Now

  In the short term, what should wineries do in order to minimize their risk of costly litigation? Here are some steps that make for a good start:

•   Hire a true expert in website accessibility. There are many new players in the digital accessibility world, many of whom come from other businesses like web design or marketing. They may be experts in their core business, but they’re not web accessibility specialists. Don’t let them learn on your dime.

•   Post an accessibility statement. This can be simple verbiage on your site that lets visitors know you are addressing the issues. It also lists your contact info so that users can reach you if they need help navigating the site. Nearly every lawsuit filed in his space cites the lack of such a statement on the site.

•   Perform human audits. Again, technology does have some benefit for those looking to gauge their general accessibility level. But it will not make your website compliant. If true accessibility is the goal, you must have human beings auditing your website for all instances of all WCAG errors.

•   Commit to ongoing auditing and maintenance. Post-remediation, you’ll need to periodically review your site to make sure it stays compliant. Your content may change, as do laws and regulations, and so a set-it-and-forget-it strategy can land you back in court. Accessibility is a journey, not a destination. 


  Lastly, remember that website accessibility is about more than merely avoiding lawsuits; it’s about doing what is lawful and making your website accessible to all, which ultimately benefits everyone, including your winery. 


  For more information about becoming ADA compliant, please contact Gemma Petrón at ADA Site Compliance at…

(561) 258-9875; gemma@adasitecompliance.com

or find us at… https://adasitecompliance.com