From the beginnings of social media and digital media marketing, the wine industry has seen and felt the impact these communication trends are generating in society.
Industry actors such as sommeliers, winemakers, grape growers, wine amateurs, wine dealers, importers, wine writers, specialized journalists and retailers, have set up accounts in Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but without having a clear idea on how these tools can help them either communicate their passion for wine or promote the products they sell. The aim is simple: to be there because everybody else is!
Most of the time, it is journalists or PR officers who manage a winery´s social network sites. Some other times, it’s the chief enologist or even the owner of the winery who uploads the information.
According to data compiled by AndesWines.com, most of these “community managers” do not handle confidential information on the vineyard they work at, therefore limiting themselves to just answer general queries and give basic information on the products.
Some wineries have been successful in the use of social networks and transcended frontiers with their Facebook and Twitter accounts, attracting a variety of new wine buyers. Therefore, the responsibility in managing these accounts have been given to professional communication agencies, a move that has encountered many challenges. Usually the person in charge of transmitting the information at those agencies has little knowledge of the dynamics of the wine business, has never been to the vineyard itself, or simply doesn’t know anything about wine, as AndesWines.com points out.
Keeping up the information flow is a process tiring by itself, and it has left many people behind. But there are those who are still standing; their persistence has open up the doors to new buyers and followers of a specific winery.
That being said, we must understand that social networks are a great alternative in keeping in touch with new and old clients and fans, in positioning the products and generate brand recognition, but is very difficult to measure how many of them actually buy the products because of this interaction. Nonetheless, it is a good way to receive feedback and suggestions to improve the message and learn what the consumers want, adds AndesWines.com
The flexibility that social networks provide has allowed the surge of a series of “spin offs” such as the theme groups in Twitter and Facebook about wine. A good example are the “winetuiteros”, a group of 15 professionals or more, -from journalists to wine growers- that exchange ideas and critiques about wine through Twitter, meeting once a month in different restaurants in Santiago, Chile, to share impressions on different brands, bringing the bottles themselves in each occasion.
As wine marketing experts, at Andes Wines understood the need to incorporate these tools into a business strategy, so they offered a social network management service based in their expertise in wines and wine tourism. It seeks to generate different digital marketing approaches and alternative ways to communicate with users, both in English and in Spanish, depending on the market the company is aiming at.
Translation by Marta Lillo Bustos
AndesWines
andes@andeswines.com
twitter: andeswines
