Getting Realistic about Social Media
I was recently asked what practical advice I would give an audience of wine store owners who want to use social media campaigns to increase sales. My response was not to bother, which reflected the experience of the retailers in the room, none of whom had an eCommerce website. My answer shocked me a little [...]
Catching the Buzz: Mining Digital Word of Mouth
A recent column explored the potential impact of social media on retail by describing campaigns designed to take advantage of customers’ activity on Facebook. The goal was to leverage social interactions to amplify a positive shopping experience across their network. With social commerce, most retailers see their goal as building engagement and providing customer service [...]
Virtual Vino session at Vino2011 (Jan 25)
virtualvino on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free
The replay of Tuesday’s Virtual Vino Seminar with Tom Wark, Talia Baiocchi, Jeff Lefevere, Amy Cao, Gregory Del Piaz, Kent Wilhelm.
Social Media: Putting it to work for your business
As the Digital Age cranks up, wine & spirit industry players aim to keep pace. The operative question has become not whether to use social media, but how.
Like so many adages that survive from generation to generation, The more things change, the more they stay the same is built on truth. The sun still [...]
Testing the Waters using Email and Social Media
If your retail store is brand new to the internet and you’re unsure about what kind of return you would get from being online, social media tools are a great way to test the waters and put your name out there. On the other hand, if you’re an established online retailer looking to grow, social [...]
What Exactly are the Rules for Collecting Emails?
Retail stores have the often difficult task of trying to collect email addresses from their customers (or potential customers) so that the store can alert them of sales, tastings, and other special events but at what point does that hunger for emails cross a line?
I was recently in a situation where I started following an [...]
Virtual Vino session at Vino 2010 (Feb 4)
The replay of Thursday’s Virtual Vino Seminar with Anthony Dias Blue, Alder Yarrow, Doug Cook, Steve Raye, Susannah Gold, Susanna Crociani, and Official Blogger James Rodewald. The action starts at around minute 6!
New Directions in Wine Writing
It is sad to watch the demise of prominent local newspapers as they struggle to respond to the threat of the Internet. With newsstand sales and subscriptions way down, Rupert Murdoch announced plans to generate revenue by charging for online access to his newspapers, effectively hiding his content from search engines. In a similar move [...]
Let’s Talk Twitter
It’s digital age word of mouth uncorked
Unless you’ve been living under a rock in the stony soil of Châteauneuf-du-Pape,without Internet access,chances are you have been hearing more and more often about the website called Twitter.com. Twitter talk seems to have undergone a huge uptick in recent months, thanks in part to Oprah and other media [...]
Social Networking for Wine Sales Online
Eighteen months ago this column described social media as the second wave of the Internet and gave some examples of tools that were being used to create opportunities for selling wine. Some of the early examples have become largely irrelevant or have become the home of a specific niche. Other new tools have come to [...]