Why Wineries Need Influencer Marketing Now Here's a number that should reshape how you think about marketing: 69% of consumers trust influencer recommendations more than information coming directly from a brand That's not a slight edge. That's a fundamental shift in how people decide what to buy. For wineries, this matters more than it does for most industries. Wine is a considered purchase wrapped in uncertainty. Your potential customer is standing in a tasting room or scrolling through an online store, wondering: Will I like this? Is it worth the price? Am I making the right choice? Influencer content answers those questions in ways traditional marketing cannot. When a trusted voice says "I tried this Pinot and it's incredible with grilled salmon," that carries weight. It's a peer recommendation disguised as content. Instagram and TikTok now drive wine discovery among younger audiences, and 87% of Gen Z consumers say they're willing to buy products

Looking for innovative ways to keep your wine club members engaged? Awtomic Moments lets you visualize and gamify retention—helping wineries build long-term loyalty, increase average order value, and create personalized rewards program When it comes to wine club retention, wineries often focus on the basics: great wine, exclusive perks, and occasional discounts. But what if you could gamify retention, making every shipment feel like a milestone and every year of membership feel like an achievement? That’s exactly what Awtomic Moments is designed to do. 🍷✨ What Makes Awtomic Moments So Unique? Awtomic Moments is an industry-first tool that visualizes a customer’s membership journey, making it easy to see: ✅ What rewards they’ve earned ✅ What’s coming next ✅ Why it’s worth staying in the club By gamifying retention, wineries can create excitement, anticipation, and long-term loyalty—turning passive subscribers into engaged advocates who s

If your winery’s December felt like a sugar high followed by a January hangover, congratulations—you’re in the club. The holiday season brings out the best and worst of wine marketing. We see a flurry of emails, social posts, pop-up bundles, and panicked “last chance for shipping!” reminders that make even Santa unsubscribe. But behind all that glitter and noise sits something actually useful: data. And data, unlike mistletoe or tinsel, ages beautifully—if you know how to use it. Day 1: The Ghost of Open Rates Past Let’s start with the easy one. You sent fifteen emails between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, and shocker—open rates dropped after the first week. This isn’t your subscribers turning into Grinches; it’s list fatigue. Consumers are bombarded with messages from every brand they’ve ever accidentally clicked “subscribe” on. The fix: cut your frequency, not your revenue. Segment your list by engage

Facebook/Meta: Turning Fans into Wine Club Members Expanding on insights from our Wine Club Scorecard, this post explores one of the most underused yet powerful tools for wine club growth: Facebook. While platforms like TikTok and Instagram often grab attention, Facebook remains one of the most effective drivers of wine club engagement and conversion when paired with Meta’s advanced targeting and advertising tools. With 72% of wine consumers aged 35–65 actively using Facebook, this is not just a social network—it’s an opportunity to build real relationships, deepen loyalty, and guide new members into your wine club. Yet most wineries still treat Facebook as a newsfeed instead of a growth engine. Sporadic posts, static bottle shots, and low engagement can’t compete with a thoughtful strategy that uses Facebook the way it was meant to be used: to connect, converse, and convert. Let’s explore how to turn Facebook into a true wine club acquisition chann

Beyond SMS & Email: 2 Proven DTC Channels for More Wine Sales in 2025 New Direct Mail Strategies & Affordable Mobile Apps Deliver Quick Wins As we barrel into OND — the most critical sales quarter for wine brands — many DTC marketing teams are staring down a sobering reality: sales are slumping, inboxes are saturated, and SMS campaigns are losing steam.  The two primary direct marketing channels most wineries rely on — email (used by 85% of brands) and SMS (used by 15%) — are showing serious signs of fatigue. Promotional emails are increasingly buried in spam folders, and just last week, some of the industry’s leading SMS providers urged wineries to limit their use of SMS this holiday season due to deliverability concerns. So what now? If you’re a wine marketer looking for incremental sales this year without taking big risks, it’s time to revisit two proven channels that have quietly regained their edge: direct mail and affordabl

Bottle360: Redefining DTC Wine Sales Proven Bottom-Line Results The trend toward wine subscriptions and modernized membership formats relies on personalization. That means wineries need to tailor their messaging, pricing and communications to individual wine consumers. Making personalization flexible, is the most sought-after function in Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) programs, but many users find that their software makes it hard to accomplish. Bottle360 is tackling this challenge. “The tools a winery needs to boost new consumer sales and earn repeat orders have to be highly flexible to personalize customer experiences but also match the individuality and uniqueness of each winery,” says Katherine Adams, the CEO and founder of Bottle360. “That is why we focused on developing the right tools that offer versatile ways for the winery to transform how they connect with their potential customers and foster deeper loyalty with existing ones. Our goal is to increa

Boost Holiday Wine Club Sales with a Mobile App Ready in 7 Days Let’s not beat around the bush… Direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine sales are down, and fewer wine country visitors fill our tasting rooms. So, this holiday season, all eyes are on wine club sales. But you already know there’s a problem. Many of your best customers complain that they “never see your emails.” And the growing costs and complexity of SMS can overwhelm any wine marketing team. So how can you win this game? Your Secret Weapon: A Custom Wine Club App Email still matters.  It’s great for long-form content, images, or receipts. But between spam filters and overcrowded inboxes, you’re lucky if 50% of your club members see your pick-up reminders, deadlines for customizing shipments, or special holiday sales offers. And even if you text your club members, many of your best customers won’t opt in. That’s why leading brands turned to branded mobile apps over a dec

When it comes to wine club retention, wineries often focus on the fundamentals: great wine, exclusive perks, and occasional discounts. But what if you could gamify retention, making every shipment feel like a milestone and every year of membership feel like an achievement? That’s exactly what Awtomic Moments is designed to do.  What Makes Awtomic Moments So Unique? Awtomic Moments is an industry-first tool that visualizes a customer’s membership journey, making it easy to see: ✅ What rewards they’ve earned ✅ What’s coming next ✅ Why it’s worth staying in the club By gamifying retention, wineries can create excitement, anticipation, and long-term loyalty—turning passive subscribers into engaged advocates who stick around for years. But that’s just the beginning. Let’s dive into some innovative ways to use Moments to maximize retention and revenue. Reward Loyalty Over Time 💡 Give members something to look forward to with milest

In today’s competitive DTC wine market, where digital acquisition costs keep climbing and consumer loyalty is harder to earn, retention is the cornerstone of long-term success. Increasing your wine club membership and customer retention by just 5% can lead to a 25% to 95% boost in profitability. But how do you transform first-time visitors into loyal customers—and more importantly, committed wine club members? Let’s explore tailored strategies to keep customers returning to your winery, boosting repeat business, and maximizing their lifetime value (LTV). Distinguishing Returning Customers from Repeat Customers It’s essential to differentiate between returning and repeat customers. A returning customer has visited your tasting room or purchased your wine before and has decided to return for another experience. They might have made two or three purchases. On the other hand, a repeat customer is one who consistently supports your winery, regularly visits your tasti

Written by Jeanette Tan  The 2025 Silicon Valley Bank Annual Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Wine Report, released in early June, is full of insights especially relevant for small, family-owned wineries. As Rob McMillan notes, there is “tangible evidence that we’re moving forward through this cycle,” and smaller wineries, in particular, are showing signs of success in navigating these changes. Here are my top three takeaways: Download the report here: SVB 2025 DTC Report 1. Small Wineries Built the DTC Model – and Still Lead It The report acknowledges the massive impact small, family wineries have had on shaping the DTC model we see today. Rob McMillan explains that 15 years ago, the dominant model was simple: wineries made the wine, and distributors sold it. Even after the 2005 Granholm Decision opened the door to DTC, many in the industry doubted that wineries had the necessary skills to sell directly. But when distributors began dropping smaller producers, sm