Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123973
UNCORKING PR PAUL WAGNER a company to its list of some 5,000 contacts, regarding a prestigious award it had received. This business was the only one in the wine industry to win the national award. That's real news, and it got some nice coverage in the trade publications. The company also received an overwhelming response of congratulations from clients. SOCIAL MEDIA Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter can help any business build a community around its brand, product and/or services. While these methods are mostly concerned with broadly disseminating information about your business or communicating oneto-one, social media is an opportunity to have conversations on a larger scale. Regardless of whether you are B2B or B2C – business to consumer – the method is the same. Most pundits will tell you that social media is mostly good for brand-building, but that is only one small benefit of this powerful medium. Social media allows you to generate special offers to spur sales, run contests to increase engagement and create ambassadors, and to survey fans to employ informal market research. Whether you are a wine producer or a supplier, you have the chance to interact directly with customers, discover preferences, share news, post event notices and influence purchasing behavior. An important point to realize is that it is better to have a few highquality fans than many low-quality likers. A high-quality "fan" is going to participate in conversations, act as an advocate for you, and is likely to purchase more of your products and services. A low-quality "liker" doesn't interact, doesn't provide any benefit to your business and isn't likely to be a buyer. It's not about numbers, it's about quality engagement. As an example, on the Facebook page of the lab I mentioned earlier, we've helped the company develop a small community of winemakers and industry influencers. It's a very effective way to communicate with the smaller group, and the topical discussions can range far and wide – well beyond the more general information on the website itself. If you're a small winery, you can share event schedules, news clips, special offers, holiday/weekend/ harvest hours, new services and current news in a similar way, via social media. Get going! Paul Wagner formed Balzac Com- munications & Marketing and is an instructor for Napa Valley College's Viticulture and Enology Department. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. "Carlsen & Associates was an easy choice for our initial winery crushpad package. The staff's commitment to client service gave us the confidence that we would be supported throughout our equipment's use. They have certainly not disappointed us." Kevin Doucet Dogpatch WineWorks San Francisco, CA Carlsen & Associates 707-431-2000 20 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | May - June 2013 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m