Acan Media

I don’t know of any person more controversial in the American wine trade than Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk. Well, perhaps Robert Parker raises more hackles but when I talk with winery owners about social media Gary always comes up. And there seems to be few Vayniacs in the trade. Most wine industry people in the U.S. view him with a mixture of respect for what he has accomplished and fear that they will have to be like Gary to sell wine to younger audiences.

But I see Gary as a case study of how social media can change your business and have put together some lessons we can learn from his success:

Be Yourself - Wine Library TV works because of the honesty and passion of the host. While some might not care for Gary’s schtick, at some level what he projects is the essence of what makes him tick (perhaps turned up to “11″).

Some winery owners I have spoken with think they have to be like Gary to connect with younger customers. Not true; just be yourself, find your niche and an audience will find you. And while I think video is a great medium for wineries to tell their story, I don’t think everyone needs to start a daily video podcast. Explore blogging, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and other social media tools and find what works for you. Just be authentic and transparent.

Produce Content Consistently - If there’s one thing Gary does right, it’s setting an expectation of daily podcasts and delivering on that promise. This consistency builds an audience over time. So if you are blogging, podcasting or Twittering, just pick a schedule and stick to it. Don’t be sporadic.

Master All Social Media - There are a number of social networks and Web 2.0 sites that can be used in an integrated outreach campaign. Gary uses them all to drive traffic back to his podcast site and his online wine store. Since many of these sites can be linked and posting automated, it’s not much work once you get the accounts set-up. And like blogging, many of these services are search engine friendly so your website will be found more often on Google and Yahoo!

Don’t Pass Up Free PR - Gary speaks at tech events and to audiences inside companies like Google. This spreads the word outside of the wine business and attracts more viewers to his podcast. It’s also consistent with his wine education mission. This leads to appearances on mainstream media like Conan, Ellen and most recently The Big Idea on CNBC. All this free publicity creates a viral, virtuous cycle which leads to more people following Gary and eventually more sales in his wine store. At worst, it builds his brand.

Understand What’s Coming Next - Staying on top of trends in the wine business is important but by the time everyone talks and writes about the trend it’s too late to take full competitive advantage. For example, the wineries who got into consumer direct sales 5 years ago are the one’s who have benefited most from this trend today. Keep looking for the next big trend. The best place for this is in the wine blogosphere and social networking sites like the OpenWine Consortium.

Invest In Talent & Customers - When the going gets tough in the wine business, the first things to go are the most expensive expense items. Unfortunately, these tend to be things like marketing people and demand generation campaigns which can actually be the things a winery needs to do in a tough sales environment.

I also think that investments in customers are critical. So instead of pouring at yet another trade tasting, consider a BBQ at the winery with members of your wine club. Even investments of your time connecting with customers online can pay off well in the long run.

I know that not every winery can follow Gary’s model but even if you take away just one idea from this post it will likley make a difference in your business by this time next year. I’d also suggest you check out Gary’s full interview from yesterday on CNBC and follow Gary’s personal blog for more ideas. This will help you stay ahead of the curve and make you more comfortable participating in social media.

The first step wineries should take in social media is to monitor what is being said about them online. Media monitoring has been around for years and PR firms have distributed press clippings as part of their service to clients. These days it’s easy to follow the discussion online in forums, blogs and websites in near real time.

The best tool to start with is Google Alerts which can be setup via email or RSS feeds. This free service works with relevant search terms and can be customized to meet the needs of wineries of any size. To set up an alert, your first stop is Google News where you enter your search term. Your winery name is a good place to start. Once you see the initial results, you can tweak your search to filter out non-related results. If your winery name alone does not return relevant results, add a single space and the word “wine.” Google uses those terms together to filter down your search results. For example, “sebastiani wine” returns better results than simply “sebastiani.”

Once you determine your best search terms, look for the “News Alerts” link on the left sidebar. This is where you can enter your email address and determine how often you want to receive notifications. For users of RSS feed readers such as Google Reader or NewsGator, alerts can be subscribed via RSS or Atom feeds.

I suggest most users start with email alerts as they are easier to manage and might be more convenient to your daily workflow. While you are signing up for your alert, you will notice a drop-down to select the source type. The default of “News” is a good one to start with but “Blog” is also recommended. This second choice will send results from Google’s blog search service and will provide you with information being published in the growing wine blogosphere. Alerts can also be setup with other services such as Technorati but most of your monitoring needs will be met via Google’s free services.

I will be covering techniques like these at seminars held in both Napa and Healdsburg next week. Details are here and here with sign-ups on my wiki.