DISQUS

Nathaniel Broughton · 3 months ago

And you can even find other SEO's lurking around St. Supery. That has to make them tops!

rebeccakelley · 3 months ago

I know! It's the place to go for SEO networking. :D

chriswinfield · 3 months ago

Hey Nate!

Rebecca told me she saw you - so cool (and what a small world!)

Warren_Sukernek · 3 months ago

Cool post! Also, Murphy Goode recently had a contest where they hired a blogger based on videos and fan voting. I think they are also active in the same social media channels, http://www.murphygoodewinery.com/, but then that's Sonoma county.

SEO Hack · 3 months ago

You should've tried some of the poorly rated ones too to see if they were getting hosed by Yelp reviewers. The worst that would have happened is a hangover! ;)

chriswinfield · 3 months ago

Nice post - looks like it was a fun time. Regarding this part:

--"Rick has mentioned via Twitter that if you tweet at him and mention that you’re going to be visiting St. Supery, he’ll give you a complimentary private tour."

Did you tweet him? And if so, did he give you a tour?

rebeccakelley · 3 months ago

Jason had mentioned that he follows a guy who does marketing for a winery, but we didn't realize he worked for St. Supery until after we had visited it.

Todd Mintz · 3 months ago

So, I assume you're going to do Part 2 in Oregon Wine Country around the time of SearchFest 2010?

Stephanie Woods · 3 months ago

When you come back to the Okanagan in the spring I'll take you guys on a wine tour. There are soooo many amazing wineries here!

rebeccakelley · 3 months ago

I'll happily take you up on that offer! :)

andrew wee · 3 months ago

Great publicity for the 3 highlighted wineries, esp with coverage on 10e20.
If anything, it's proof for great ROI (and foresight on their part) on the social media spend.

keith · 3 months ago

Great if you went to Supery and others but how long will the product stick with you after you leave?

rebeccakelley · 3 months ago

Well I signed up for St. Supery's wine club so I'll be a repeat customer. I've already recommended the Castello wine tour to my family and friends the next time they're in Napa, and I'm probably more likely to buy all three wineries' wines if I see them at the store.

RickBreslin @drvthru · 3 months ago

This is an excellent article, and a valuable contribution to online marketers in the wine industry. Thanks for sharing!

One major point for all businesses to consider when forming a social media strategy - you don't have to do all the heavy lifting yourselves (e.g. build a fan base or follower count of 30,000+). Instead, motivate your customers to share their positive experiences in their social networking circles. Therein lies the true benefit of SM.

Case in point: A simple sign

RickBreslin @drvthru · 3 months ago

... posted in Hagafen Cellars was enough to generate positive Yelp reviews, and brought in some wine tasters.

Thanks again for the nice write-up,

Rick Breslin
Drive Thru Interactive

rebeccakelley · 3 months ago

Definitely agree with you -- the social media signs were enough to pique my interest and stay memorable, and I'm sure it did the same for other young people/social media savvy folks.

Lisa Williams · 3 months ago

Great idea Todd! We've got some special wineries in the region.

WineDiverGirl · 3 months ago

Great post...and nice to have the new company in the SM world with Hagafen and Castello di Amorosa ...other (earlier, formidable) pioneers: Twisted Oak Winery, Hahn Estates...

frank · 3 months ago

So I, myself, am a wine taster as well. Been looking around for new types that I havent come across or have heard of before, and I thought I'd pass this along to see what you thought about JM Fonseca Twin Vines. Its a new wine, well, at least I havent heard of it in the past. Wanted to know if you've heard of it, and if you have and have tried it, what you thought about it. The URL is too messy to put up so I shortened it down.

http://tinyurl.com/meko65

rebeccakelley · 3 months ago

Holy music, Batman!

Josh Stein · 3 months ago

Thank you for the kind words about our tasting room and social media presence. I would like to point out that our fan page is separate from our main FB account page--which has close to 200 friends, some of which are in the industry (as you will find with just about every winery's friends) but most of whom are consumers who friended us as a result of tasting our wines in the tasting room or at a trade show or because of the various digital breadcrumbing we do (additions to sig lines, mentions in articles, etc.). I think you'll find that for a large enough business--one where job categorization and diversification are possible--keeping up a clear brand presence that is smoothly interacting with consumers and encouraging exactly the kinds of re-tweets and status updates and comments mentioned above is a task that is easily added into the company's management and customer service structures. However, for a small winery--there are TWO of us plus a two-day bookkeeper in our back office--creating the more robust presence that social media really require is tough. Twitter in particular is so in-the-moment that to keep our authenticity (meaning, avoiding pure selling tweets) and also keep up a steady flow of interesting, non-repetitive tweets is simply not that easy. A small business requires people who can do ten things at once, and there is never enough time to do everything as well as we would like in the ideal. We strive to keep our interactions with consumers as relaxed and un-pressured as possible so that the experience of tasting our wines is not one fraught with anxiety or ambivalence, as it is in so many tasting rooms. If that means our social networking is not as robust as it could be, we will take that as a trade-off because it still allows us to put our emphasis where we think it matters most: getting consumers to taste and enjoy our wines and want to bring that experience back home with them. I understand how social media can allow for that extension, but as with many of the other marketing channels we use, the pragmatics of the size of our company become a major factor.

Josh Stein
Brands Manager and Assistant Winemaker
Hagafen Cellars

rebeccakelley · 3 months ago

"We strive to keep our interactions with consumers as relaxed and un-pressured as possible..."

You definitely achieved that when I visited. I like how you talk about making sacrifices and focusing on what's more important -- you have a nice, small social media presence but work with the time and staff that you have and are willing to sacrifice a huge social media account in order to provide a solid in-person experience and run your business smoothly. I totally respect and admire that!

1WineDude · 3 months ago

Nice to see some places that "get it"!

mandy · 3 months ago

Thanks for the the post - sounds like a great trip. Its great to see the wineries using social media to relate and connect with their target audience. As a business social media can provide a platform for opening discussions, and sharing your views and options. In this way social media sits really well with wine tasting allowing you to discuss and share your favorite wines with other interested parties.

rebeccakelley · 3 months ago

I totally agree, Mandy! :D

David · 3 months ago

Cool - been a few years since we were in the Nape Valley. Actually, it was in the days when decent Napa Valley Cabernet was still affordable.

One of my favorite places ever and it was interesting to read how some of the wineries are embracing social marketing.

Nice report - thanks!

4You · 3 months ago

Cool article! Well, I think that Social Media is a many-sided marketing tool which is available to help businessmen to achieve their target audience.

joshua · 3 months ago

hey test the water some work some dont. People get the idea that when you promote a blog you need to be on all social sites just do the ones that work best for you and build up from there.

benmaxime · 3 months ago

wow who would have that that wine and social media went together

rebeccakelley · 3 months ago

They go together like bacon and anything that would taste better with bacon. :D

Shana Ray · 3 months ago

Great to read a review of wineries using social media by someone outside of the wine industry. Next time, tweet out that you are coming to Sonoma County and see what happens. ;)