According to recent research published by Silicon Valley Bank’s Wine Division, the lion’s share of winery revenue comes from tasting rooms (42%) and wine club memberships (36%). Consistency also plays a pivotal role in keeping customers engaged, which helps increase retention rates and attract a larger customer base.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic cast serious doubt on this model, forcing wine tasting rooms across Australia to suspend their operations for an extended period. During this uncertain time, wineries had to devise a contingency plan to continue marketing their products. This led winery owners to turn to marketing automation platforms as a means to streamline their marketing efforts and reach out to customers virtually.
Through these automation platforms, winery owners found ways to engage with a large target audience without the need for physical presence in tasting rooms. Instead, customers were introduced to the innovative concept of virtual tasting rooms.
Marketing automation platforms enabled wineries to market new products, boost their wine club membership sign-ups, and focus on creating a more enriching and personalised experience for their existing and potential customers. This ensured customers felt valued and had their needs met.
With marketing automation, wineries could enhance their sales productivity by up to 15% by providing customers with a personalised experience.
Even in a post-pandemic business environment, marketing automation tools continue to be beneficial for wineries. So, in this post, we’ll explore four ways wineries can leverage marketing automation to boost their ROI.
They facilitate market segmentation
When integrated with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, marketing automation platforms can be utilised by wineries to target potential customers who are likely to be high-quality leads. This level of segmentation assists wineries in crafting the right marketing campaigns for the right customers.
From exclusive discounts and offers to new products, marketing automation facilitates diverse marketing campaigns by analysing demographic details such as age range, location, past purchases, and buying behaviour.
In addition, market segmentation has significantly boosted email revenue wineries and many other businesses. It has led to increased open rates, click-through rates, higher subscription rates, and improved sales conversion.
They automate email drip campaigns
Marketing automation allows wineries to automate introductory or welcome emails, as well as follow-up emails, reducing the need for manual composition. This facilitates the setup of email drip campaigns that aid in lead collection and nurturing.
If winery marketers struggle with curating creative content for their email drip campaigns, marketing automation typically incorporates large language models and generative AI components to assist in crafting content relevant to their target audience.
This spares marketers from depleting their creative resources while still delivering effective results.
They help wineries embrace personalisation
Sending out generic marketing content to target customers could result in wineries experiencing low open and click-through rates for their marketing campaigns, potentially causing their subscription rates to decline.
Personalisation is a crucial element in converting potential customers into high-quality leads, who can then be nurtured and converted into paying customers. Customers want to feel valued, and when brands personalise their customer experience, they are more likely to be attracted to the product or offer, potentially showing interest in them.
The popular marketing automation platform, Keap, includes an email subject line generator that assists in creating catchy and compelling subject lines, encouraging customers to open an email. Wineries should also leverage marketing automation features to gather relevant customer data, which aids in grouping customers based on similar interests and demographics.
Remember – customers are more likely to open an email and engage with a product if there is a sense of relevance and personal touch.
They facilitate social media automation
With marketing automation, wineries can consolidate their social media channels into a sophisticated platform. This means that winery staff no longer need to be on standby to respond to customer queries or post on social media in real time.
Social media automation allows for scheduling of social media posts in advance, providing ample time for wineries to gather high-quality leads at every stage of their marketing campaign. Wineries can automate social media posts at any time to ensure a consistent social media presence and manage all their social media platforms without feeling overwhelmed.
Marketing automation platforms also feature a chatbot, which can provide standard responses to frequently asked customer queries. For more detailed or complex questions, customers also have the opportunity to speak with a live customer representative.
Boost your winery ROI by investing in a marketing automation platform
It is undeniable that marketing automation brings about many benefits to wineries, especially in terms of increased workforce productivity levels, wine club membership growth, revenue from virtual wine tasting, and saved time and cost.
Schedule a consultation with a marketing automation expert today to begin experiencing the benefits of marketing automation platforms.