WTN Services Sales Tip #96 From “Buzz to Profits”-A Shifting Marketplace…
A Shifting Wine Marketplace…
There is an emerging shift in the way consumers explore, learn and consider the purchase of wine. WTN Services is witnessing a trend of significantly more wine being purchased via the web, through email campaigns and from referrals thanks to interest driven by the use of new media or as some term it-Web 2.0.
WTN Services partnered with Inertia Beverage Company is exploring the emerging trends. Our account management teams are encouraging our winery partners to take tactical advantage of the web opportunities for growth. Act and review your past sales trends then partner with us, from concept to order fulfillment to message, market and grow sales and profits together.
Take note of behaviors. The consumer has more control over the advertising or messaging he or she wishes to view due to the increased use of devices such asTiVo with television, spam blockers with the internet and bypassing much print marketing all together. Websites are flooded with wine offerings. The category of direct to consumer wine sales is growing by leaps and bounds but there is more market segmentation. Consumers feel there are too many choices or that wine is confusing.
The successful winery or wine retailer must engage the consumer to explore their brand and make it easy to “buy now.” With such abundance in choice, and often little product variance in terms of quality and price some brands have become commoditized without ever realizing what has hit them.
Wine marketers focusing on creating loyalty for their brands will not survive in this new marketplace without a review in strategy, creativity, taking a chance to succeed, daring to act and not fearing the occasional failure with a campaign or project.
Successful wineries and wine retailers that focus on their customers wants and experiences specific to…
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Tasting room or store visits,
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Brand presence in a restaurant or at a wine shop,
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Building that experience via their wine club and
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Via the website, email campaigns and blogs…
Are achieving greater levels of brand loyalty, building lifetime customer equity and enjoying incremental financial success.
The most successful wineries and wine retailers are increasing the focus on customer relationships. Constantly engaging the consumer in a more segmented manner is key. Reminding the targeted consumer of buying opportunities and targeting those relationships in messaging and sales opportunities is a must. This technique is proven by the increase in market fragmentation and the increase in sales where this strategy is applied.
Successful marketing initiatives have splintered into several channels with various demographics. New mediums have developed such as Pod casts, blogs and interactive advertising. The newer medium is old news. The real news is a limited number of wineries and wine retailers are beginning to reap the benefits by tactics of exploration of these new opportunities. The success of new media marketing is not yet proven or supported by large industry wide sales growth numbers.
What is proven is “ buzz” can begin from the use of new media.
That buzz leads to “exploration.” If exploration of your website, wine-club or brand it supported by old school best practices; constant consistent messaging, paired with delivering on the quality experience consistently, in the tasting room, via the club, via the website with every brand touch— then sales and profits will come.
Sales will come incrementally at first. If you are persistent, plan and share the vision with your e-commerce partner and your fulfillment partner for quality in execution, you will build sales and turn “buzz into profits.”
Speak with your WTN Services account management team about how WTN Services can service you.