Black Friday, once a primarily American shopping phenomenon, has transcended borders and become a global retail extravaganza. In the Australian wine industry, particularly the direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine sales space, leveraging Black Friday and the associate shopping day – Cyber Monday is an exceptional opportunity to move stock, boost revenue and connect with customers. Understanding the Black Friday Phenomenon Black Friday, which falls on the day after Thanksgiving in the United States (the fourth Thursday in November), traditionally marks the beginning of the holiday (Christmas) shopping ..read more

Originally developed as a blogging platform, WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS) and now powers around 43% of all websites globally. Since its release in 2003, WordPress has revolutionised website design and development. And in 2023, two out of every five websites use WordPress. As an open-source CMS, WordPress plugins are contributed to by tens of thousands of developers worldwide, allowing for the construction of highly customisable websites. WordPress also allows websites to easily adhere to modern standards of search optimisation and observe web development best pr ..read more

Selling wine direct to the consumer (DTC) is a vital component of the Australian and New Zealand wine industry. The 2021 Wine Australia Direct to Consumer wine report advised that DTC sales accounted for an average of 18 per cent of a winery’s income. And that the DTC share increases as winery production size decreases. This figure has undoubtedly increased further in 2022. So with wine businesses increasingly recognising the importance of the DTC sales channel, frustration arises thanks to a fragmented technology ecosystem. Technology to date has been complex and challenging for wine brand ..read more

Email marketing continues to be a cost effective and efficient way to build customer relationships, boost brand awareness and ease subscribers through the DTC sales funnel. But there’s a snag – that darn Promotions inbox and dreaded Junk folder. Getting your email into your subscriber’s inbox is all about the deliverability of your email campaign. What is email deliverability exactly? In Email Marketing, deliverability is the success of your emails reaching the inbox without bouncing or being marked as spam. If you have issues with high bounce rates, flagged spam filters, and low engagement f ..read more

We first wrote this article in 2018 after the original Wine Australia’s Wine direct-to-consumer survey report was released. Each year we update it to include current information and tactics to help wineries increase DTC wine sales. What is DTC and Why is it Relevant Direct-to-Consumer (DTC, DtC, D2C) in the wine industry is by no means a new concept as the model of building a direct, close relationship between winery and consumer is the basis of growing tasting room sales. Even with rapidly evolving technology, changing consumer wants and needs, plus border closures in 2020/21 thanks to COVID ..read more

Thanks to the immediacy and ease of communication in the digital age, consumers are effortlessly exposed to what the media, friends, relatives and peers say online. For wine brands, this means that the messages consumers receive are no longer about your wines ONLY coming from you! That may seem a tad scary, especially for those wanting to ramp up their Direct to Consumer (DTC) Wine Sales in 2022. FURTHER READING: Powerful Tactics to Increase DTC Wine Sales in 2022 So, how can you ramp up DTC wine sales? Incorporate the three forms of media (content) – Paid Media, Owned Media and Earned Media ..read more

Initially written in 2016 as “Seven ways to ethically grow your winery email database”, we have repurposed this blog to cover the wine industry’s re-ignited love affair with QR Codes and the necessity to re-engage consumers directly. This 2022 version has an extra 13 new ways to grow your email database fast. We’ve all heard the old chestnut “the money is in the list,” which could not be more accurate at no more critical time in history. Email marketing allows you to build relationships and sales leads. It’s your opportunity to speak directly to possible customers via their inbox at a time ..read more

We all know the importance of using DTC (Direct to Consumer) email marketing to increase wine sales. But, sending out the ‘once a month’, or worse, ‘once in a blue moon’ wine offer or newsletter no longer generates the dollars it once did. Why is that, you ask? The generic, ‘one-size-fits-all’ email doesn’t work in today’s market. As we have mentioned before, . They subscribed at one of your touchpoints by giving you their email address, hoping you will give them something in return – preferably something of value. This opens the door for you to send relevant, timely, targeted, compelling com ..read more

A few years back, we had the opportunity to cut our teeth within the event marketing space by assisting a long-standing, multiple stakeholder wine tourism festival. Not only did we hone our skills, but we were also able to test our ideas on wine tourism event promotion tactics in the digital age. Since then, we have built on this learning and created comprehensive event marketing strategies for several smaller tourism events and wine festivals. If you’re reading this, you want clever ways to promote your tourism or wine event online. It may not be necessary for you to promote an event globall ..read more

Sending a winery email newsletter is an easy, efficient and affordable direct to consumer (DTC) marketing tactic. It enables you to connect with valued consumers, boost brand awareness, and convert subscribers into repeat wine customers. Out of all of the marketing channels available today, email marketing still offers the highest ROI. Regular Marketing Communications By sending a regular, engaging email communication, you can generate: More customers More attention More opportunity, which of course, leads to More SALES! AND it is also one of the most straightforward strategies to turn ..read more