The internet has countlessly proven to be a great way for wineries to gain visibility. As we all know, having an online presence matters a lot. Everyone from consumers, to importers and distributors are on the internet. In fact, before people even go out to purchase something or order something, the first thing they do is look it up online.

With the current pandemic in hand, the use of digital media has become even more important. There is no other way for people to communicate, or know about things other than the internet. A lot of wineries have already taken a step ahead and are fully investing both time and money in building their online presence.

Having an online presence has long lasting benefits that are only going to help wineries. The first and foremost is of course, the amount of visibility and awareness that your winery can gain through a strong online presence. With a wide reach, wineries can attract new customers, importers, distributors, and also build relationships with their audience.

On the same side, the internet is proving to be a great base to create and build sales. Online shopping has become a huge thing, even in the wine sector. In fact, according to Neilsen, the online market for alcohol in the US has seen a five-fold increase in the first two weeks of April - which of course, is driven by the closure of on-premise establishments as of right now. But sales through the internet are only going to skyrocket from now on.

Here are the top 10 things a winery needs to do to build a strong online presence.

Make sure you have a solid website

Before you go ahead and think of a strategy to build your online presence, or spend money on advertising - you need to have a solid website. When someone searches for your wines, your website is going to be the first thing that’s going to pop up, and that’s where they’re going to go to lurk around. The old saying of ‘first impressions matter’ is put into use here. Your website is the first impression anyone will have on your winery, whether it’s a consumer or an importer or distributor.

A great example of a strong website is Austin Winery’s website.

As you can see, the homepage of the website itself has all you need. They have their winery tour, their online purchases, and information about themselves as well. The small contact us tab on the side also makes it easier for the user to find everything on one page. This is how easy your website should be to navigate. Just like Austin Winery’s website, the user should be able to find everything they’re looking for at the first glance itself.

So you need to make sure that you have a website which will attract your audience and keep them hooked on. You don’t want them clicking off without browsing around. Here are a couple of things you can do to make sure you have an effective website:

• Make sure your website is attractive. Whenever someone gets onto your website, it should speak to their eyes first. If your website is boring looking, or bothers someone’s vision, then they’re definitely going to click off.
• Make sure your website tells your story and your wines’ story. Now this might sound weird, but your products need to resonate with your website. For example, if you’re selling classic wines with simple labels then a clean and classy website would work. However, if you’re selling let’s say box wine, or canned wines, or maybe wines with some funky packaging - then your website needs to portray that accordingly.
• Make sure your website is easy to navigate. Keep in mind, the internet is there to make things easy for people, so your website should be a place where users can easily move around without getting confused. They should be able to find whatever they want by just one click, without winding themselves within the website.

Differentiate yourself with a brand strategy

To be prominent in the online world, you need to stand out, and to do that, you need to be different. There are thousands of wineries that are trying to build an online presence just like you - so you need to show the audience that you’re different. What is something unique about your winery, your story, or your wines? What is something that is different from other wineries? Show your audience that you’re unique and different, and you have something extra to offer them.

Engage with your audience

Let’s be honest, the base of your online presence is your audience, and people love brands who talk to them and make them feel like they are a part of the journey. No one likes a quiet winery on social media. Your audience is going to be commenting on your posts, giving reviews about your wines, asking questions - and it’s important for you to engage with them.

Reply to comments, see the reviews they are giving you and reply to them accordingly, answer their questions. This will show your audience that you care about them, and not only will it build your current audience’s trust in you, but it will also attract a new audience towards your winery. When people see you’re active and you care about your audience, they’re bound to come towards you.

Let’s take a look at Reynolds Wines on Instagram. When it comes to engaging with their audience, Reynolds Wines does a top notch job. As soon as you follow them, you receive a welcome message in your dms. Other than that, you will always find the Reynolds team replying and talking to their audience through facebook, instagram comments and dms. It’s a great way to show your audience that they matter to you, and that you care about them.

They also engage with their audience by sharing their stories when their customers share posts about them.

Videos & Micro Content

You’ve heard the famous phrase ‘content is king’, well, now is the time to put it to good use. You need to be active on social media and other online platforms, and to do that and keep your audience engaged with you, you need to create content. A great way of creating content is doing it through videos and blogs. People watch a lot of videos, and they read a lot as well. So creating valuable content for the audience through videos and blogs is something that will help you build a strong online presence for your winery. You need to create videos and blogs that your audience can relate to, something that they can keep going back to, something they will enjoy.

A great example is Jordan Winery. Jordan Winery’s instagram is focused on different things around the winery. They usually share what you can eat with their wine, they share their story, they share about what they are doing right now.

As shown here, they’ve used a very creative way to depict that their wine goes well with pizza. And the plus point, they’re also great at engaging with their audience.

Here are a few ideas for you:

• Create videos and blogs about your wines. Tell your audience about your wines, how to drink them, what food pairing goes best with them. This way, they’ll be learning new things, which will make them keep coming back for more, and they might also recommend your page to other people.
• Create a video where you’re taking them on a tour of your winery. People love to see what is happening behind the scenes, and when they get to see your winery and what actually goes on in there, they will definitely be inclined to keep their eyes on your pages.
• Share information about different things in the wine world. Educate your audience, not only about your wines, but about wines in general. They will appreciate this.
• Tell your story. Make videos about the origin of your winery, how the wines came about to be, the struggles you faced, and your success stories.

Live sessions

The one thing that is trending right now is ‘going live’ through platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, Periscope, and many more. Going live means you’ll be connecting and communicating with your audience in real time. This way you will be able to show your audience who is behind the winery and the wines you produce. You will be able to talk to them, and answer their questions. Engaging with your audience through live sessions will show them that you care about them, and want them to be a part of your journey - which only inclines them towards you.

Keep your audience updated

Tell your audience about new launches, tell them what’s going on in your winery.

• What are you doing right now?
• How is the current situation affecting you?
• What are the safety measures you’re taking?
• Are you helping out in the community?
• 

An exemplary winery when it comes to updating their audience is the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. The Coppola Winery is always updating their audience with their new launches, with what they are doing, and what’s going on with them. They also keep their audience engaged on all their social platforms, even LinkedIN.

They also use videos to keep their audience updated, not only with what’s going on right now with the winery, but also their history and their story. Francis Ford Coppola Winery is great at creating video content for their audience where they share their story.

Check out The Family Coppola’s video content.

Keep your audience updated with what’s going on in your winery. This will make them connect with you more, and will also build their trust in your winery, which will help you gain credibility.

Invest in influencer marketing

Influencers play a huge role in the online world. Influencers tend to have a large following, where people usually listen and see what they’re doing, and do it as well. So if an influencer is drinking a particular wine, their followers want to get their hands on it too.

This is a screenshot from Fabien Laine’s account, a French wine influencer. If you go through his account, you’ll see Fabien sharing loads about different wines and regions, and through that, a lot of wineries have seen their presence rise. Investing in influencer marketing, and working with authentic influencers like Fabien can definitely help your online presence.

As a winery, to build your online presence and gain a higher reach, it’s key to invest in influencer marketing. Reach out to a couple of wine influencers, send them a couple of your bottles and ask them if they could do a review. Some influencers work on a barter trade system, but some have their prices. However, it’s a smart move to invest in this source of marketing as you will be getting a new consumer base and audience all together.

Encourage customer reviews

Your customers matter, and for you to be seen by others, you need to make your customers talk about you. Post a review page of your wines around the internet, and encourage customer reviews. Customer reviews will help you gain credibility within the online world. On top of that, you will also be able to figure out what customers like and what they don’t, which will only help you in improving your winery and your winery’s experience.

One way in which you can encourage customer reviews is by offering deals and discounts. Maybe put in a deal where you say ‘if you review our wines, we’ll give you a free tasting’, or ‘review our wines and find a discount in your inbox’.

Get listed on web directories

Customers tend to browse through different web directories to search for wines when they’re buying, or even just looking. Spend some time in getting your winery listed on different web directories such as Wine Searcher, Get Drinks Delivered, Drizly, Wines Vines Analytics, and more.

For example, if you’re delivering and offering pick-up right now, you can list your winery on Get Drinks Delivered. Get Drinks Delivered is an online platform that helps consumers discover wineries that are delivering and offering pick-up. So, by signing up on such a platform, you can easily gain a wider range of awareness, and also some sales as well.

Be consistent and don’t give up

Following all these tips wouldn’t be worth it if you aren’t consistent. You need to make sure that you’re active daily, you’re posting regularly, and engaging with your audience regularly. They need to know that you’re still there. Some days can be slow, but that doesn’t mean you give up. Push your digital team to continue doing what they’re doing for the best results.