Wine. It is a drink that has been enjoyed by humans for thousands of years, with the first wine being produced in France back in the 19th century. While we enjoy a drink on special occasions, the majority of us probably enjoy a bottle or two on a daily basis, which is where the problem originates. The majority of us probably think that wine is something that you drink when you’re out with friends or family, with the occasional glass at a formal dinner party or special event. But what if I told you there was a way to enjoy wine, without going out to dinner parties or spending huge amounts of money paying for bottles at the bottle store?
Instead, what if I told you there was a way to enjoy wine, while being in the comfort of your home, in the company of your friends? Is it possible to conduct business online, without having a physical presence in the real world?
Yes, it is possible to market and sell wine, online, and much more effectively than you would believe. In fact, searching for “wine marketing” on YouTube will return over 900 million results, with over 200 million of those being uploaded within the last year, alone. If you’re interested, let’s have a quick look at how modern marketing works, and how you can use this to your advantage, when marketing wine online.
Traditional Marketing vs. Digital Marketing
Most of us are quite familiar with the term “traditional marketing,” which is basically advertising through traditional media, such as television, radio, and magazines. While these are considered “traditional” forms of marketing, the fact of the matter is that consumers are consuming content, digitally, on an almost constant basis, and traditional media (especially TV) is struggling to keep up with the technological advances made in the digital sphere.
To survive as a business, traditional marketing needs to evolve and change with the times, or risk becoming obsolete. But changing with the times doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to run off and adopt all the digital marketing techniques available today. Keep in mind: not everything digital is the same as online marketing, even though they may seem similar. For example, retail shops that sell product information and have physical locations are considered “physical stores,” even though they are online. So, when you’re deciding to adopt a digital marketing approach to market your wine, be sure that you’ve considered what it is that you want to accomplish.
Why Online Marketing Works For Wine
There are several reasons why online marketing is such a powerful tool for the wine industry, particularly when used in combination with traditional marketing. To begin with, searching for “wine” on YouTube will return over 900 million results, with the majority of them being educational videos, explaining about wine, featuring tastings and vineyards, and so on. In other words, Google is acting as a virtual wine shop, right at the fingertips of every consumer, which makes a lot of sense, considering that about 70% of American adults have used Google, or some variant of it, to find information online, in the past year. So, if you’re interested in learning more about wine, or in finding a vineyard that you can visit and learn about, this is the place to be.
Another great thing about online marketing is that you can target many different types of consumers, across many different countries, and engage them all, at once. This is a great advantage, because it is often difficult, if not impossible, to reach certain target audiences, with traditional marketing campaigns. For instance, American adults are more likely to be interested in Asian cuisine than in French food, so you may run an ad campaign in Korea, targeting American adults, and you’ll engage them, because they’re interested in what you have to offer. In other words, with online marketing, you’re reaching potential customers, wherever they may be, which is great for expanding your business, quickly and efficiently. Plus, you can measure the results of your campaign, instantly, which is also great for tracking the effectiveness of different marketing strategies and deciding, based on what you learn, what is working and what isn’t.
The Growth Of Online Wine Marketing
The popularity of YouTube, Google, and other online platforms, has led to a massive shift, in the way that people find and learn about products. Instead of relying on traditional print publications, like magazines or newspapers, which are slowly transitioning over to online platforms, people are finding multiple options, across the web, for consuming content.
Many people are discovering the joys of wine, as an alternative to coffee or other caffeinated beverages, when they want something refreshing to drink. But instead of heading to the local bar, for a glass of wine, they’re turning to their favorite wine-related channel, on YouTube, where they can find everything from how-to videos, to reviews, to tips and tricks.
According to HubSpot Blogs research, conducted in January 2017, 70% of consumers watch video content, when they’re looking for products or services, compared to just 29% that read text-based content, and 12% that listen to podcasts.
With so much video content available online, it’s no wonder why over 200 million videos have been uploaded to YouTube, in the last year alone. And, with so many consumers using Google, or some variant of it, to learn about products, video content is the clear, next-gen, choice for getting consumers to “like”, or “follow” your page, on social media platforms, like Twitter and Facebook.
The rise of TikTok, in particular, has changed the game, when it comes to online video. Since launching in early 2016, TikTok has exploded, becoming one of the most popular, if not the most popular, social media platforms, globally. The app’s popularity, largely, due to the fact that it is, essentially, video content, combined with social platforms, like Twitter and Facebook, makes for a great hybrid marketing platform: you can use social media, to attract potential customers to your website, and further entice them, into making a purchase, or joining your mailing list.
TikTok: The Ultimate Hybrid Marketing Platform
One of the reasons why, and certainly the biggest reason why, the rise of TikTok has been so phenomenal, is that it combines, video and social media, into one easy-to-use app. If you’re on social media, looking for a way to improve your efforts, and get more engaged users, you can’t miss out on the fun, and profitable, world of video.
According to TikTok insiders, the platform is focusing on, and constantly adapting to, user growth, through a variety of means, primarily focused on attracting new users.
The first of these means is, quite literally, appealing to the audience, that you hope to convert into paying customers, through effective marketing. If you’re running an ad, on TikTok, you’re going to see a variety of video content, from various creators, all working together, to form a coherent narrative, about your product or service.
Let’s examine, for a moment, the different types of video content that you’ll see on, or alongside, the ad that you’ve placed.
Product Launches, Trailer Videos, And Live-Action Versus Animation
If you look at the three stacked bars, to the right of the search bar, on the home page of TikTok, you’ll see a breakdown of the different types of videos, on the platform.
The first bar, on the far right, is, essentially, filled with product launches, or new product announcements. While this may not seem like a typical, traditional, marketing video, where a product is demonstrated, for the purposes of illustration, or simply described, in words, these videos serve an important purpose: they’re helping to attract new users, to your platform, via a variety of marketing mechanisms. Once you’ve gained a decent following on TikTok, you can begin to develop a more personal connection with your audience, through more creative marketing initiatives, like animation or comic books, to name but a few.
How-to And Tips Videos: Everything From Kitchen Hacks To Travel Hacks
Videos, on the whole, are one of the primary sources of information, for consumers, today. According to HubSpot Blogs research, conducted in January 2017, 39% of consumers have used videos to learn about products, compared to just 23% that have used text-based content, and 19% that have used audio content.