Comments on: What is Social Media Worth to a Winery?

By: jason

jason — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:35:31 +0000

Great post. I’m in the agency business by day and many treat social media as a check box on a list that they want to tick off. So next time the boss ask they can say they are “doing” social media. That is a waste of time. Social media is a tactic to be used that need to tie back to a higher level business strategy…

By: Ellen Roberts

Ellen Roberts — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:28:45 +0000

Thanks for providing such a great place to have the conversation.

It will be interesting to see how the Murphy Goode contest works out.

By: Josh Hermsmeyer

Josh Hermsmeyer — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:24:55 +0000

Hi Ellen,

Thanks for the comment!

Not sure how one could argue that Murphy Goode’s campaign was old school though…

If you mean that people are calling it a success because old media picked up on it, and that they got “earned media”, hey that’s all part of the strategy!

But getting people to submit videos, and having folks voting on them to capture emails etc., thats very new media.

Thanks again for the comment and the conversation! Love the market!

By: Ellen Roberts

Ellen Roberts — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:57:54 +0000

Interesting one of the most successful uses of new media was strictly old school.
The Murphy Goode blogger search got them at least 60k worth of free publicity and continued to the associate the brand with being hip (as opposed to being owned by a corporate giant)

By: Richard Beaudin

Richard Beaudin — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Alan … great start on a discussion that could go on and on. Whether your assumptions are spot on or not is somewhat irrelevant – your basic assumptions are sound and your emphasis on metrics and meeting objectives when it comes to social media are essential. Keep everyone up to date as you move closer to release.

By: alan

alan — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:07:33 +0000

Josh,
Great info! I was wondering if you had applied your model for sales to any other type of business or service in my case?

By: Dr. Horowitz

Dr. Horowitz — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:24:50 +0000

Dude, you could have spent at least another hour talking about marketing metrics in the Intro to Wine Blogging seminar at SSU!

By: Josh Hermsmeyer

Josh Hermsmeyer — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:00:12 +0000

Hi John,

The formula I use isn’t as draconian as “divide by 10″ but certainly it isn’t some pie in the sky 100% of sign ups will purchase.

The real point though, in my opinion, is that the process itself is taking place. Right now, from what I’ve seen after talking with lots of wineries, is that the process of defining objectives and measuring social media’s impact on meeting them just isn’t happening.

What you outline above is the narrative, which is great. But la-la woo-woo must, at some point, translate into something tangible. It’s up to the winery to put processes in place to measure that. And with clickstream data and clearly defined objectives a winery can determine exactly where orders, sign-ups and other measurable bottom line activities are coming from.

Thanks for the conversation!

By: John Kelly

John Kelly — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:47:55 +0000

Yes, absolutely. But you left out one factor: the dreaded “divide by 10.” In my experience the thousands of sign-ups a new venture gets before they release product translate into hundreds of actual buyers. You can never let up on bringing in new interest, and keep in touch with the contacts you already have.

In my opinion (and I’m hardly a frickin marketing genius, with a frickin laser beam on my forehead) online and social media are a great way to leverage your great personality to maintain the dialog with the people 1) interested in your wine and 2) in sharing – maybe even being a part of – your story.

Seems to me that today’s wine buyer (for little craft brands, anyway) is looking for an engaging experience above and beyond what’s in the glass, and the online presence enriches that experience. Guess that’s the la-la woo-woo part. Tough to apply metrics.

So yeah – I ‘m interested to see how you come at your metrics. My bankers and investors are going to be asking me the same questions sooner or later.