A couple of weeks ago, AJ Gerritson, Founding Partner, and Francis Skipper, Director of Search Engine Marketing, visited a few of the winners from our Best of 2011: #SocialWine Awards on behalf of the 451 Marketing team.  While there, they had a chance to tour the winners’ beautiful facilities, taste their delicious wines, and ask them a few questions about their social media philosophies and experiences.  You can check out their answers, along with a few images from the visit, below.

 

Wente Vineyards

St. Francis Winery & Vineyards

Armida Winery

Seghesio Family Vineyards

 

Wente Vineyards (@Wente; Wente on Facebook) 
Nicole Quandt, Marketing Director, and Andrew Block, Assistant Marketing Manager

(Pictured from L to R: Francis Skipper and AJ Gerritson, 451 Marketing;
Nicole Quandt and Andrew Block, Wente Vineyards)

 

How long have you been involved in social media?

NICOLE- Since I started working here about four years ago.

How are you using it?

NICOLE- We’re using Facebook, Twitter, TasteLive, and Foursquare.  And Yelp, a little.  On all of the platforms, we’re promoting everything – from our wine, to our concert series, to our restaurant.  The ability to let people have a dialogue with us, taste our wines special tasting offerings.

What are some of the main objectives you have for using social media?

ANDREW- It’s definitely a struggle to find balance because we have so many different businesses [at Wente].  Social Media is a window into our world.  We have 300,000 guests on property every year.  They really just want a glimpse into what we are doing out here.

NICOLE- We are always interested in feedback from others and understanding what they are looking for so that we can present better experiences and offerings for them.  This dialogue with our consumers is one of the best ways we can communicate on a consistent basis with them.

Social Media is a window into our world. We have 300,000 guests on property every year. They really just want a glimpse into what we are doing out here.

Any funny stories about social media that may have happened since you guys have been here?

ANDREW- We’ve had some outrageous comments on our Facebook page when we give away concert tickets every once in a while.  We were giving away a few tickets to Chris Isaak a few weeks ago and we had a tremendous turnout –  100 comments, 300 ‘Likes’, and  300 new fans – in one day.  Our question was, “What outfit do you want to see Chris Isaak wear on stage?”  The ladies were not shy about what they wanted to see him wear – or not wear.  It was pretty outrageous to see the comments.  He would have gotten a kick out if it –  he’s a cool guy.


Did you have any hesitations about social media before you jumped in to it?

NICOLE- Not really.  Our only hesitation was to ensure we are doing what was authentic and a value ad.  We didn’t want to be someone that jumped on the bandwagon and was just out there to say we do Facebook or Twitter.  We really wanted to have something that provided value for consumers and for us as well.  We kind of dove in head first and are really happy with the success we’ve seen and what we’ve gained from it as well.

Do you guys manage all your activities for it in house?

NICOLE- Andrew does most of it in-house.

ANDREW- It’s really an investment for the business.  It’s something I take seriously.  It’s something I think is a great value ad for our consumers and our company so I don’t mind putting in the time.

NICOLE-  There have been times we’ve had consultants to help in our efforts.  We worked with them to provide an agenda, talking points etc., and then they help us to execute.

You guys mentioned Yelp.  Do find that a lot of people come here and do Yelp reviews?

ANDREW- Yeah,  we do get a lot of Yelp reviews.  That’s something we monitor constantly, and for the most part everything is positive.

NICOLE- We generally monitor it on a daily basis and we thank customers for their time and reviews and remedy anything when we need to.  We are very interactive and don’t just monitor –  we actually correspond with a lot of our customers.

Is there any advice you’d give to people who are just starting out who really don’t know where to go or what to do?

ANDREW- Find a voice.   What would you want to see on a company page?  What would get you to comment, “Like,” or re-tweet?  Try to put yourself in their shoes and think what might be interesting.

NICOLE- And I think baby steps.  Start with Facebook or Twitter get a good voice, then see how you can extend to other social mediums.

 

 

St. Francis Winery and Vineyards (@StFrancisWinery; St. Francis Winery on Facebook)

David Buerger, Marketing & Social Media Manager

How long have you been using social media and what platforms are you using?

DAVID- We started using social media in April 2009 with a Facebook page and eventually moved in to Twitter.  We tried Foursquare, but now we’ve just arrived at Facebook and Twitter.

What is your objective in using social media?

DAVID- To build relationships with our existing customers people who have visited the winery, keep wine club members up to date on events and news, and show them pictures of the winery.

What is your philosophy for using social media?  What types of information do you like to share?

DAVID- We mix it up quite a bit.  We like a lot of visual, photos, daily and weekly photo features which keeps our content fresh.  For us, it’s all about creating new content and making sure we stay on top of mind with our customers – engage them, answer their questions, invite them to share their experiences and their photos with us – really making a friendly open communication with them.

If you were to give any advice to a company that’s starting out what would it be?

DAVID- I would say keep it real.  Keep your communications friendly and warm.  Invite conversation when you can.  Share information about experiences you have to offer.  Share information about the wines themselves and try not to push it to hard (the sales) – those will come.  I think its more about building a brand and building loyalty amongst the people you are already in communication with.

 

 

Armida Winery (@ArmidaWinery, Armida on Facebook)

Nick McCook, Tasting Room Guy and Social Media

 

How long have you been using social media?

NICK – It started about 2 years ago.  It was a mishmash of things.  We had an old cellar master that used to do it and since he left and went on to bigger and better things I went ahead and took it over.  I’ve been doing it since March.

What platforms are you using?

Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  I want to hopefully create a presence on Yelp – have Bruce and Steve (the owners) interact with the customers.  Positive or negative [feedback], you’ve got to respond.

Were any of the team hesitant about using social media?

No.  I think the old cellar master really ran with it and did a great job.  Around harvest time, there’s always something to talk about, something to do.  And when you have a small winery like this –  7 people – you can really make a story out of it.  What I hope to do is to ramp up the blog – start doing blogs to get the winemaker out there, get the cellar master out there, get some of the tasting room staff,  get Bruce.  With Bruce, who’s an old school sales guy, handshaking around is still the best marketing.  But I think now, with our team,  Facebook and Twitter are awesome tools.

 

What are your goals for using social media?  Is it to create more awareness or to engage your current customers? Is it both?

It’s both, really.  With a winery like this, which is direct consumer, [you have to] talk to the consumer.  So my goals for it are to really turn it into another medium to say “Hey, I know you’re out in Chicago, but how’s your day going?”  but I really want to make it to where our family is part of theirs.  I feel at home here, and I want customers to feel the same way.  If that means me going on Twitter and saying “Hey, I just crushed a grape – it’s looking great –  the juice is perfect,” just our community knows and has a opportunity to get involved, that’s awesome.  In the end, it’s all about selling wine.  But, we have a great product to sell, so make it a story as well.

 I feel at home here, and I want customers to feel the same way.

Any funny social media stories?

We had a couple bottles and Bruce came up with the idea of, “Pick Your Poizin.”  Basically, if you bought futures of our Poizin, you could design your own bottle.  A lot of different bottle designs came from that promotion.  So I went ahead on Facebook and did something called, “Take Your Poizin.”   I ran a campaign – I would send a bottle of wine to the person with best picture of themselves with a bottle of Poizin.  The picture that ended up winning was a dog that looked like it was nursing on a bottle of poison –  chewing on the bottle.  When you have something like that, with people really interacting with the brand and the label – that was the greatest thing ever.

via Armida Facebook 

 

Any advice for other wineries who are just starting out?

I think the best thing to do is just be honest.  You can sell wine on the internet, but be interesting.  You don’t have to be a shmuck on Facebook and just put the best pictures on.  Half of the pictures you see online are uploaded directly from my phone, and it’s the easiest thing in the world, so everyone can do something like that.  Be honest –  I think that’s the best advice I can give.

 

 

 

Seghesio Family Vineyards (@Seghesio, Seghesio on Facebook)

David Messerli, Director of Consumer Direct Sales, and Brandye Alexander, Marketing Assistant

How long have you been involved in social media?  What are your social media objectives?

DAVID: Two or three years.  We started off really slowly – most people in the wine industry weren’t.  There was definitely some resistance.  So Kathy Seghesio and Brandye are the ones that really got it rolling and over the last year that it’s taken hold.

BRANDYE: I met Kathy about six months before I ever even thought of working here and it was at a social media event.  It was really fun because I met my future boss through social media.

 

So you love social media!

BRANDYE:  I was doing marketing for another winery and they sent me to Wine 2.0 in New York City.  I was not an early adopter – I was using Twitter via text because I didn’t even have a smartphone.  It was kind of like baptism by fire.  I moved quickly, I had just started in the wine industry and moved here to Sonoma, California.  99% of the friends I’ve made outside of colleagues are people I’ve met through social media. It’s so entrenched in the culture here, or at least among a certain segment.  It’s a great way to be a newcomer and quickly establish a social circle.

Our goal with social media is similar to a lot of wineries.  Our focus has really become using it as a means to interact with our fans, club members, someone on our mailing list, or just someone out there who likes our wine.  If there’s nothing else we can do on any given day, we at least like to see if there’s anyone out there talking about us and acknowledging them – saying thank you, re-tweeting, or correcting misinformation.  It’s a way for us to extend the relationships we have here at the winery to a broader circle of people.  That is our main objective: to maintain relationships, strengthen them, and reach out to new people through [social media] channels.

 

So who manages social media at Seghesio?

BRANDYE:  It’s a team effort, but I’m the conduit.  What works for us is having one person that’s on top of it, paying attention to it, making sure it gets the care it needs, while also maintaining that consistent voice and tone.  People come to my office several times a day or email me with an interesting blog post.  Or, the chef will come into my office with a plate of food that he thinks is worth talking about.  We’re so into food and wine, so family oriented, and people love it.

DAVID: By and large, our most successful posts have been the most simple – things we would have overlooked before.

BRANDYE: And we have such a diverse base of fans out there, so we use a “something for everyone” approach.

 

Was there any hesitation initially when you hired someone to come in a train you? Were a lot of people here hesitant about social media?

DAVID:  Rewinding a few years, before Facebook and Twitter were big on the scene, blogs were the buzz word.  In this county, you’re dealing with more family, agricultural farming and less with large corporate wineries, so most of the people are trying to steal the ideas from the big boys – see what we can tools we can apply.

So blogs were big, and we really talked them up.  But talking to the winemaker and CEOs, it was apparent we weren’t going to get the frequency of feedback that we needed to carry on any kind of conversation.  So we decided not to do that and have a few tools on the website to try to get the conversation going again.  Those didn’t really go anywhere.  And the next buzzword we heard was “millennials” and that’s when social media really started getting our attention.  The stuff that Brandy’s doing is really helping with that angle.

 It can be overwhelming and hard to keep up with, so a piece of advice: start small, have clear objectives and be realistic about what you can manage.

You have an iPad app, which is awesome!

DAVID: It’s funny to hear you guys say that.  I have no background in any of this.  We’re just a family winery and the CEO said one day, “We need an iPhone app!” which then developed into the iPad app.  Our first version was more focused on distributors and retailers.  The next one will be more consumer-focused and get back to that two-way conversation, have some type of wine ordering function.

 

You guys are obviously ahead of the curve.  Is there any advice you’d give people who haven’t dipped their toe in the social media space yet? 

BRANDYE: To not be intimidated.  I know that’s easy to say.  But when I started with Twitter – 140 characters is hard.  My best advice would to be relax, just be you.  And to think about what’s interesting and invaluable to you as a consumer because that’s what I always think about.  I love wine as a taster, so I try to step back and still look at it through that prism and think: would this still be interesting to me if I were still working at a newspaper?  It makes it useful and much less intimidating.  You suddenly are not trying to impress others in the wine industry because that’s not who you’re doing it for.

It can be overwhelming and hard to keep up with, so another piece of advice: start small, have clear objectives and be realistic about what you can manage.  You have to decide what you can devote to it and be consistent.  Consistency is huge.