My talk at the #WBIS event in Munich, January 2014

1. should we care about the:
ryan opaz - vrazon.com
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co

2. measuring success
Audience?
Awards?
Recognition among peers?
Ability to sell wine
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3. he sells wine
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4. not everyone wants to
be robert parker
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5. not everyone wants to
be a journalist
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6. start with the
word: “blog”
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co

7. •
from the contraction of web+log = blog
•
started as a piece of software
•
adopted by news agencies, marketers and
“average joe’s”
•
today all of these could be considered “blogs”:
Instagram, Youtube, FB, G+, Twitter, Wordpress,
Blogger, Vine and more.
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co

8. quickly: what is a wine
blogger?
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9. not so easy.
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10. target the ‘blogger’
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11. bloggers are:
companies
hobbyists
consumers
journalists
critics
shop owners
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co

12. Targeting Bloggers?
•
Demographic - Age, Location, Gender, Interest
•
Reputation - Both in wine and on their site. Focus
on their online brand.
•
Audience - Don’t discount small audiences,
depends on your demographic. Small vs. Big, both
have benefits. Interests play a part here too.
•
Cost - Free is often free of value. What do you
need to offer to achieve your goal.
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co

13. traditional wine bloggers
•
Demographic - Lot’s of diversity, there are bloggers for
almost any niche. Though individual sites are often very
focused on a small segment.
•
Reputation - Can be quite good in the wine world, though
there is a lot of variation. It is not hard today to find out
who the reputable bloggers are. How are they seen
outside the wine niche.
•
Audience - SMALL and often self referential, wine and
sometimes food focused.
•
Cost - Cheap, will work for flights and food.
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co

14. other bloggers
•
Demographic - Lifestyle, Travel, to a lesser extent food these areas have sites with broad demographics
•
Reputation - We make too much of this as it pertains to
wine. Online profile can be quite strong here. See who they
are influencing online.
•
Audience - Tech, Sport, Lifestyle and Travel - These are
the big ones. With bigger numbers at the entry levels
•
Cost - Sometimes you get what you pay for. Consider
paying a bit more for smaller groups of higher value
players. They often do not work for free.
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co

15. So should we care about
the wine bloggers?
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16. Current Importance
•
To the trade - We like to navel gaze, this is good when
discussing certain topics
•
As content generators - you can use this content to promote
projects, often it can be quite good if you know what you want
•
Noise makers - if you want hashtag buzz they can do it well
•
Events - They can boost an events online chatter quick
•
Future employees - Hiring a marketing guy? Sales person?
Look at the blogger, they can make a business grow˜fast
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co

17. How they can improve?
•
Be different - Wine on the Rocks, GaryVee, Old Parn,
Terroirist, ViniiTV
•
Give wine Context - An assortment of adjectives in
haiku format does not a wine blogger make.
•
Bring wine to life - Stop demanding people make time
for it apart from their lives. Insert it into their current
lifestyles.
•
Stop using the ‘L’ word - Wine is not a math class, it’s
a social lubricant
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co

18. yes bloggers matter
just make sure to find the right one for your needs
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19. thank you
ryanopaz.com - www.2014.dwcc.co
www.vrazon.com - www.ryanopaz.com - www.dwcc.co