Despite an industry that is slow to adopt & embrace social media, wineries have a unique advantage to selling socially: people drink socially, and wineries are eager to share the winemaking process (same can't be said for manufacturing in other industries). In this lecture I delivered at Sonoma State, I cover principles of developing a social voice, how to post, the customer journey to purchase (and how social media plays into it), and fundamental truths about how to grow your follower base faster.

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BUS-800-102-14-SU: Wine eCommerce
Presented by:
Julian Scharman
June 11, 2014
Session: 6

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WHAT WE’LL COVER.
What is Social Commerce
Why Companies Suck at It.
Principles of Social Marketing
How Discover Works for the Customer
Winery Growth Hacker Tips
Social No-No’s

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ME.
Ø Head of Customer Acquisition @ Betabrand
Ø 6 Years in SF Digital Media Agencies
Ø Wine drinker, pork lover
Growth Marketer

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WHAT IS SOCIAL
COMMERCE

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WHAT’S ALL THE COMMOTION?
Selling goods or services on the social web via:
photos, videos, links, posts, tweets, pins, blogs, +1’s, ‘grams

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IT’S VITAL TO THE WINE INDUSTRY
1. Unifies users across devices and platforms
2. 80% use social to plan trips (ex. to wineries)
3. People are there, wineries have no choice
3 reasons it matters

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A HISTORY OF SOCIAL NETWORKS
IT’S LONG.
WE’RE NOT
COVERING IT

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WHY COMPANIES
SUCK AT IT.

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“”
…and then social media shows ups, and just blows open
the kimono on brands. They are just standing their like
"holy s***”, what am I suppose to do", everything we've
ever done and anything we've ever been is now on the
table...
“
Sasha Strauss, Innovation Protocol

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“”
…and then social media shows ups, and just blows open
the kimono on brands. They are just standing their like
"holy s***”, what am I suppose to do", everything we've
ever done and anything we've ever been is now on the
table...
“
Sasha Strauss, Innovation ProtocolPeople expect to see under the hood.
Opportunity for wineries to show the process!
Unlike other industries, wineries would love
to show you how it’s made & where!

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YET WINERIES ARE SLOW TO ADOPT
1. Feel it lacks measurement accountability
2. Belief that Social is a Zero-Sum Game
3. Takes resources away from other channels
…while other industries embrace social

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YET WINERIES ARE SLOW TO ADOPT
1. Feel it lacks measurement accountability
2. Belief that Social is a Zero-Sum Game
3. Takes resources away from other channels
…while other industries embrace social
NOT TRUE.

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It’s up to us to change the perception of how
wineries think.
Stop focusing on R-O-E

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THE 4 PRINCIPLES OF
SOCIAL MARKETING

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If you do these 4 things right,
You will find success

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BE AUTHENTIC
Celebrate winery culture
Don’t spew new releases
Fans are still valuable
UGC-UGC-UGC
“I know when all you care about is my wallet”

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HAVE EMPATHY
Personalize communication:
[“Thanks for coming” via FB message]
Segment social posts (e.g. WCMs only)
Help people plan their visit
Encourage reviews
“have a conversation & respect me”

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ADVOCATE
Tips for planning a visit
Make it easy to share
Early CS involvement
UGC-UGC-UGC
“look out for my interests”

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WORK FAST
Natural extension of cust. service
All levels involved (topàbottom)
1-minute=1-hour to customer
Be prepared to give up margin
respond fast to potential winery visitors/customers
$18 fee on a $45 ticket, gotta be kidding me
@Ticketmaster

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SUMMARY: 4 TIPS
Be authentic
Be empathetic
Be an advocate
Work Fast

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We need to understand our
customer’s POV.

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HOW DISCOVERY
WORKS FOR OUR
CUSTOMERS

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BUILD TRUST, THEN THEY WILL BUY
social is the best discovery engine, but there are 2 steps
1. Trust
2.Need

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CONSIDER YOUR FAVORITE BRAND
I like harry’s.
DISCOVER
Swipe: “cool”
Click: “hm. cool”

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CONSIDER YOUR FAVORITE BRAND
I like harry’s.
TRUST
Tweet: “awesome”
Read: “wow”

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CONSIDER YOUR FAVORITE BRAND
I like harry’s.
BUY
Bought: “excited.”
Need: “ouch”

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SUMMARY: TRUST, TRUST, BUY
FB ad
friend
hotel referral
I discover you
1
I trust you
2
I buy when in
need
3
FB post
tweet
email
FB post
winery visit
Social helps each step

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SUMMARY: TRUST, TRUST, BUY
FB ad
friend
hotel referral
I discover you
1
I trust you
2
I buy when in
need
3
FB post
tweet
email
FB post
winery visit
Social helps each step

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WHY IS UNDERSTANDING THE JOURNEY VITAL?
A return customer is….
10-15x
more likely to buy in the future after the 1st purchase

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“Great, but I need a following
first.”

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HOW TO GROW
WINERY FANS FASTER

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FACEBOOK + TWITTER ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS
1. Facebook: use link posts only, host content on winery site
2. Facebook: incentivize tasting room visitors to follow
3. Twitter: Follow all major wineries, wine club members and
newsletter subscribers

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THESE GUYS MATTER TOO.
1. Pinterest: Focus on FB/Twitter for now
2. Google+: Have a pulse here, connected to GMAIL & SEO
3. Include social links in all email outreach
4. Use lightbox on winery site to capture social traffic emails

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TEST SOCIAL RETARGETING
Can automatically create ads for all winery SKUs
à
à

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THE SOCIAL
NO-NOS.

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THE FORBIDDEN SOCIAL FRUIT
☹ There are undeniable temptations
☹ Social open nature tempts brands
to take advantage, wrongly.

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“”
DON’T ASTROTURF
ASTROTURFING
The practice of masking the sponsor of a message or
organization to make it appear as though it originates from
grassroots participant(s).
“
Wikipedia
…the most common no-no

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DON’T HIDE FROM CONVERSATION
…or delete comments.

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OTHER NO-NO’S.
☹ Winery staff posting fake reviews on Yelp/FB
☹ Employees pumping products in comments of
News Articles, YouTube Videos

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TO SUMMARIZE.

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Understand your customer’s journey to
purchase (winery visit, fb ad, a vacation)
Follow my follower hacking tips
Don’t fake review or post w/o disclosing your
connection to the winery
Be authentic, empathize, advocate, work fast.

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QUESTIONS?

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THANKS FOR LISTENING
BETABRAND SSU 20% DISCOUNT CODE:
JSCHARM