Researching and understanding your target consumers is a key part of any wine marketing strategy, but this approach is limited by consumers’ understanding of wine. Steve Jobs astutely summarised an alternative approach; “Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do…People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
Wine drinkers with limited knowledge of wine may stick to safe, familiar choices rather than seeking out new products which they know nothing about. One highly successful alternative approach is to help educate consumers about wine and empower them to make purchasing decisions which favour your products.
Use Social Media
One important way to help potential consumers learn about your wines is to use social media to connect with them. Collaborating with key influencers on social media platforms can help you to reach new audiences and convince them to try your products. Social media is an excellent way to share interesting educational content, especially when it is in a visual format.
Videos which show your vineyards or how you make your wines can be excellent educational tools for consumers and can also easily be shared by potential consumers, helping you to reach even more individuals. The same is true of infographics, eyecatching diagrams which might illustrate the flavour profile of your wines or key facts about your winery, which can be shared on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
Communicate Your USP
Another key aspect of your marketing plan should be how you communicate and teach consumers about the unique selling point or USP of your wines. For example, some female consumers are concerned about the number of calories or amount of sugar in the wine they drink, so to appeal to this segment of consumers you might want to highlight the low calorie products in your portfolio.
Other consumers are concerned with the health benefits of drinking wine. In this case you might want to help educate them about the scientific research which indicates drinking red wine can have health benefits. This information can be shared on your website, social media platforms, advertising, or email campaigns to boost consumer awareness and encourage them to purchase your products.
Awards
International wine competitions can be another way to help educate consumers about wines. These contests make it easy for consumers to tell which wines have been tasted and approved by experts since the winning wines feature stickers which make them immediately recognisable on the supermarket shelf.
One key competition for wine producers and brands is the annual Women’s Wine & Spirits Awards. This international wine competition is held in London and invites 100 top female wine buyers to select the very best products on the market. The medals awarded by these influential judges act as a powerful signal to both male and female consumers that your wines have been approved by expert professionals.
