This year’s Wine Pleasures International Wine Tourism Conference sees the addition of two Panel Discussions to the Conference Programme. First up in the programme will be:
What is a Blog and Why Should a Winery Have One?
Tuesday 2nd of February at 15.15
Panel discussion in which 3 wineries will talk about their blogs and show us how having a blog has helped their wine tourism business.
Panel Moderator Albert Moreno, Marketing & Social Media Consultant from FeedbackMP will give a brief definition of what a Blog is and how it can help wineries in their marketing strategy to enhance wine tourism activities. He’ll introduce 3 wineries that are already using this Social Media tool to engage their costumers and will go deeper to know more about their personal experiences and recommendations.
Panel members are Ana Belén Hernández (Vintae Luxury Wine Specialists, La Rioja), Barbara Siemianiuk (Caves Montau de Sadurní ,Penedès and Marcel Sabaté i Coca (Caves Castellriog), Cava
The purpose of this Panel Discussion is to demonstrate to wineries and other wine tourism providers such as hotels, museums, restaurants, travel agaents, Rutas del Vino, Tourist offices and so on the clear advantages of creating and maintaing a blog. If you don’t know what a blog is and/or do not actively maintain one then you should not miss this Panel Discussion and indeed the whole Conference should not be missed, as the topic of blogs and social media is reoccurring throughout.
During the Panel Discussion Albert will be putting any or all of the following questions to the panel and for audience to comment:
- Is your Blog part of your overall marketing strategy?
- Who is your potential audience (segments)?
- How long have you created your blog?
- Why did you decided create it?
- How much did it cost you?
- What kind content are you publishing? (news, events, photos, videos, etc.).
In which languages do you write your posts? - What is your updating schedule?
- Who updates the content?
- Has it helped you to generate a better positioning of your brand on the Internet?
- Is it integrated into your corporate site?
- How have you comunicate that you have a bog?
Social Media Tools
- Do yo allow free readers interaction?
- How long does it take you to answer?
- What kind of questions / comments are you receiving?
- What other Social Media applications have you integrated into your blog? (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube, LinkedIn ,…)
- Do you use RSS content syndication?
- Besides the blog, are you making some kind of regular communication (newsletter or similar)?
Analysis
- Do you have updated statistics? If yes, with which tool?
- What kind of monitoring are you carrying out? (indicators)
- If known, how many visits you get per month? How many pages they visit?
- What’s the average time spend on your blog? How many interactions do readers in your blog?
- And most important … where do your visitors come from (site referrals, Google, direct, etc.)?
Overall rating
- What has brought your Blog on a general level?
- And in a particular level, has your blog helped you out to boost wine tourism business?
- How do you value this new experience in the 2.0 world?
- But has your blog…
…generated a direct increase in sales?
…given you some new business contacts?
…created a larger brand awareness?
…provided you with better understanding of your customers?
Wine Pleasures Wine Tourism Conference. Delegate Registraion Form
Blogs help wineries extend their reach to a wider audience thereby increasing competitive advantage. The Millennial generation will be the majority of wine buyers tomorrow and they are all online – both on a personal and commercial level. Blogs can provide a more intimate, authentic connection between wine grower and consumer in terms of feedback, suggestions and knowledge sharing. The opportunity to promote products, special events, and crop information is boundless – and it’s free! The question is, why wouldn’t you have a blog?
Nice one Sarita! Why wouldn’t a winery have a blog indeed!
While I agree that it is a great tool that can beneficial for wineries, it must be approached in a way that is consistent with your marketing approach. Having a blog is a reflection of your business, and if not treated as such it could hurt the reputation that you have built in the past. If you are thinking about starting one and don’t know how to approach it, check with a professional that can lend some guidance or others in your industry.
Of course, if you are in the area, you could also register for the Wine Pleasures International Wine Tourism Conference and attend the panel discussion on the topic as well 😉