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Today’s Most Useful Wine Marketing Ideas

11 real-world winery marketing ideas for small wineries

When brainstorming how to promote wine, it is not unusual to run into creative roadblocks.

A web search for inspiration offers unhelpful suggestions to Start a wine club or Consider social media. Such fluff causes one to wonder where can we find wine marketing ideas of substance.

Keeping an assortment of good wine marketing ideas in the pantry will keep your funnel fed.

Here is a list of my top wine marketing ideas from 20 years of consulting with brands of all sizes.

These wine promotion ideas are simple to implement by anyone. Further, most are maintenance-free and will produce results for years.

Winery Marketing Idea #1

Increase brand awareness with branded winery email signatures

Area of impact: BRAND AWARENESS

A strong winery brand always gets remembered over a weak brand.

As a wine marketing agency, we see a lot of emails from small winery owners lacking any branding.

Squandering such an opportunity to reinforce their brand image, marketers are giving up valuable mind space.

Creating your winery email signature will do more than remind your email recipients who you are.

Good email signatures can:

  • Provide useful contact information;
  • Provide tasting room hours;
  • Include helpful links to your events page or your latest sale;
  • Direct recipients to a custom landing page.
  • Provide links to your Social feeds.

Setting up an email signature requires moderate HTML knowledge and some design skills.

Use the link in the Resources Section to get a free HTML email signature.

The latest Brand Consistency Report by Marq found that the consistent presentation of a brand can increase revenue by up to 33%.

A strong brand is more likely to stand out.

McKinsey — The Business Value of Design

Winery Marketing Idea #2

Increase website conversion rate with a targeted CTA approach

Area of impact: WEBSITE CONVERSIONS

Calls-to-action (CTAs) prompt online visitors to perform a desired action on your website, such as clicking on a link or adding something to a shopping cart.

Calls to action can be a simple text prompt or graphically laid out in a box with stylized text and a graphical button — either approach can be successful.

Your CTAs can be made more compelling by including a desirable benefit the visitor will receive by taking action. Get notified about insider events is inherently more appealing than Subscribe to our newsletter.

Seasonal wine promotions can benefit from well-timed calls-to-action, such as offering expedited shipping on Rosé before special holidays.

Lastly, keep your most valuable calls to action above the fold. Your less-important ones can be lower on the page.

Wine Marketing Tactic #3

Improve organic CTR and search rankings with optimized meta Description tags

Area of impact: WEB TRAFFIC

A compelling meta description is your first opportunity to convince a searcher that your page is what they seek. It is a small yet powerful snippet of content that can significantly impact click-through rates.

In the words of Brian Dean, Founder of Backlinko, the meta description is like a mini-ad for the page. It is a brief (sic) summary that should entice users to click.

A wine marketing idea providing an easy win is Improving your site's description tags to increase organic CTR. (Screenshot showing how a meta description tag appears in search results.)

Want a wine marketing idea that is an easy win? Turn your meta tags into enticing little mini-ads for your website in search results. This simple wine marketing tactic will do more for your organic click-through rate in less time than anything else.

By taking a few minutes to improve your Description meta tags, you can increase your qualified web traffic long into the future. Consider this often-neglected wine marketing tactic as standard operating procedure.

Keep your Descriptions under 155 characters, including spaces and punctuation. And most importantly, give your online searchers a compelling reason to click.

Get an SEO Audit and customized report, Action Items for Biggest Gains for your website.

A compelling meta description is your first opportunity to convince a searcher that your page is what they seek. It’s a small yet powerful snippet of content that can significantly impact click-through rates.

    Rand Fishkin

    Co-founder, Moz

    Wine Promotion Idea #4

    Increase click-throughs and return visits with updated Favicon practices

    Area of impact: WEB TRAFFIC

    For something so small, favicons can deliver impressive results in better click-through rates from search engines.

    Users rely on visual cues like favicons when revisiting websites. Creating a strong favicon is a rewarding use of marketing resources.

    Favicons appear in browser tabs, bookmarks, and browser history, contributing to the overall visibility of a website.

    The most effective favicon design for enhancing your brand online is a simple, high-contrast design.

    Google provides the following guidelines for favicons

    • Both the favicon file and the home page must be crawlable by Google.
    • Your favicon should visually represent your wine brand to help users quickly identify your site when they scan through search results.
    • Your favicon should be a multiple of 48px square, for example, 48 x 48px, 96 x 96px, 144 x 144px, and so on. SVG files, of course, do not have a specific size. Any valid favicon format is supported. Google will rescale your image to 16 x 16px for use in search results, so make sure it looks good at that resolution. Note: do not provide a 16 x 16px favicon.
    • The favicon URL should consistently remain the same.
    According to Nielsen Norman Group, consistent use of brand elements, including logos and icons, can increase brand recognition by 80%.

    Wine Marketing Idea #5

    Attract new audiences with entry-level wine descriptions

    Area of impact: AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT

    Wine descriptors can be confusing for folks who are new to wine lingo.

    Describing the mouthfeel or the nature of the tannins to an audience unable to recognize the difference between fruity and sweet may come across as wine snobbery.

    Today, with far more wine drinkers who are novices than experts, you risk alienating visitors if your descriptions assume a level of expertise.

    Instead, delivering content likely to resonate with your audience will engage your readers on your site for longer.

    Gain insight into the wine knowledge of your audience by testing different forms of content, using Google Analytics to monitor Engagement Time.

    Another approach is to use multiple versions of your product pages optimized for different search terms.

    Avoid doing this:

    “Crafted from vines rooted in the well-drained, limestone-rich soils of our hillside vineyard, this wine expresses the essence of the microclimate, delivering a palate promising flinty minerality in the finish.”

    Wine Marketing Idea #6

    Increase subscriber engagement with better confirmation emails

    Area of impact: EMAIL MARKETING

    Automated emails sent by your Email Service Provider asking new subscribers to confirm their subscription can (and should!) be customized.

    Most email service platforms send a pre-configured message to subscribers to confirm their email.

    But this is a perfect moment for you to communicate your brand and deliver some attractive wine promotions. As wine marketing tactics go, this one delivers big!

    Transforming your default confirmation email into a welcome sequence offers abundant benefits. Learn the wine preferences of your subscribers, offer discounts on first orders, and provide a stream of wine promotion ideas.

    Email Marketing Trail Guide Download

    Email Marketing Trail Guide Download

    Your email marketingcould use a little fresh air. Download the Small Winery Email Marketing Trail Guide — before your subscribers take a hike.You don't need me to tell you email marketing is still the most effective, highest-ROI marketing activity for small wineries....

    Wine Promotion Idea #7

    Improve website reputation by strengthening your weakest pages

    Area of impact: RANKINGS AND CONVERSIONS

    Give your website an upgrade by improving your underperforming pages.

    Pages with poor user experience, writing, or information can negatively impact the effectiveness and rankings of your entire website.

    Take a few minutes to browse your website or Analytics Dashboard, and find the page with the lowest engagement time or conversion rate.

    Review the page for readability, appeal, and adherence to the defined goals for the page, and make the necessary changes to improve the quality.

    Once complete, you will have elevated the standard of your website as a whole, and the improved results will be cumulative. Next, find your site’s newest weakest page.

    Wine Promotion Idea #8

    Increase email engagement with audience segments

    Area of impact: E-commerce Performance

    Segmented email campaigns consistently produce higher engagement rates than non-segmented ones.

    This result is related to the fact that your subscribers do not all share similar needs. Appealing to all subscribers with the same content is just not very likely.

    Targeting specific audience segments with tailored content and messaging can increase open- and click-through rates.

    Although sometimes perceived as arduous, creating audience segments is quite straightforward.

    Start by introducing one new segment: Locals (subscribers who live within day-trip distance).

    An email promoting upcoming live performances is useful information for your Locals. Sending this to your out-of-towners, however, will only waste their time.

     

    How to Create Audience Segments

    The process varies slightly for each Email Service Provider (ESP). It begins by clicking ‘Add new segment’ or the + sign displayed next to Segments in the Subscribers section of the interface.

    Next, filter your subscribers by geography, moving the locals into the new segment. 

    Locals will still receive your regular emails, but for announcements of upcoming live performances at your winery, you can exclude non-locals.

    Email Marketing Trail Guide Download

    Email Marketing Trail Guide Download

    Your email marketingcould use a little fresh air. Download the Small Winery Email Marketing Trail Guide — before your subscribers take a hike.You don't need me to tell you email marketing is still the most effective, highest-ROI marketing activity for small wineries....

    Wine Marketing Idea #9

    Qualify site visitors with a better About page

    Area of impact: CONVERSIONS

    When considering a plumber, do you visit their About page to find out where they went to plumbing school? Or are you hoping to learn about the services they offer?

    Your About page has two critical functions:

    1. Inform your visitors what you do (by describing your wine styles);
    2. Bring qualified visitors on board as followers.

    Start by describing your wine styles in a way your audience can understand. Mention if they’re big and bold, or more restrained and lower alcohol. This helps your visitors understand if your wines are for them.

    Providing this understanding is a very welcoming gesture to new visitors.

    Do not misjudge the power of your About page.

    Avoid diluting the power of your About page with descriptions of soil. Likewise, where you obtained your enology degree will not stir emotions.

    When your visitors become potential customers, you can begin to draw them in with your unique winery story. A compelling story delivered at the right moment for your visitors builds connections.

    Your About page can become a hardworking member of your marketing team. Drawing in new followers without requiring continued input is its job.

    Learn how storytelling can build strong connections with your audiences >

    Wine Storytelling and its Role in Brand Building

    Wine Storytelling and its Role in Brand Building

    Wine Storytelling and its Role in Brand Building The 7 Best Opportunities to Build Your Brand with Winery StorytellingForbes calls storytelling one of the most powerful marketing techniques available for brands. For wineries, storytelling is a way to stand out in a...

    Winery Promotion Idea #10

    Attract more press with industry-centric wine descriptions

    Area of impact: PR, TRADE RELATIONS

    Include wine descriptions for industry experts in the Trade section of your website. Content written to make life easier for wine critics and columnists can help your winery gain exposure from prominent publications.

    Although fully describing the wine in terms of the wine-making process or final numbers may seem necessary, wine writers often care more about the story they can tell.

    Wine writers are busy people. Give them a story they can write featuring something only your winery can provide.

    Develop a powerful wine marketing strategy

    Develop a powerful wine marketing strategy

    Developing a wine marketing strategy that really does attract new customers How to finally get over the hurdle of creating that wine marketing strategy — and get results.If you have a small winery, there is a good chance you've been told you need a wine marketing...

    Winery Marketing Idea #11

    (Re-)Submit your website and sitemap for search engine indexing

    Area of impact: WEB TRAFFIC

    Although your website is likely already indexed by the major search engines, unindexed pages are surprisingly common.

    Pages that are not indexed do not get displayed in search results.

    Additionally, if you have recently made SEO improvements to your site, it is worth letting the search engines know which pages should be re-indexed.

    The process for requesting pages to be indexed is simple. The inspection tool within Google Seach Console can determine if a specific page is in their index and provide the latest crawl date.

    Here, you can submit individual pages for indexing.

    For Bing (also the data source for Duck Duck Go), the process is the same using Webmaster Tools at Bing.com.

    Use an XML sitemap to notify search engines about frequently updated content.

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    Bradley Squires

    ENGAGEMENT CATALYST

    Bradley Squires, the founder of Wine Chemistry Creative, helps wineries become memorable. He thinks of this as Creating Chemistry with your customers and future customers. Bradley has provided marketing services for some of the largest (and smallest) brands in the U.S.. Notable brands include Vintrace, UCSF, Ericcson, Grgich Hills, The Nature Conservancy, and Napa Valley Vintners. He holds degrees in Oenology, Viticulture, and Wine Marketing. He doesn’t have a dog.

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