Email marketing continues to be one of the most effective and highest return on investment (ROI) marketing strategies for wineries. With email marketing being 40% better at converting browsers into leads (in comparison to Facebook and Twitter) and an ROI of 4200% ($42 for every $1 spent), it's hard to ignore how crucial email marketing is. You just need to execute your campaigns correctly.
So how exactly can a winery grow and nurture its email list? Let's cover four strategies to help you grow your email list and take advantage of one of the most effective ways to communicate and share your brand with your customers.
What is an Email List?
A collection of email addresses a winery has obtained because customers have entered their emails and opted in to receive content and updates about your winery.
Creating and optimizing an email opt-in option is great for growing your email list. Giving your website visitors an easy way to stay connected while also being able to provide value is a win-win for both parties. 55% of website visitors only spend 15 seconds or less on your website, meaning you will need to capture their attention quickly. While the copy and design should be clear and visually appealing, the main goal is to make your form stand out from the rest of the components on your website.
The industry best practice to have an email opt-in is to include a clear and visible email sign-up in the footer of your website. An opt-in in the footer will be easy to find for customers as it is visible on all website pages. Another commonly used method is pop-ups, which can be intrusive at times and should generally have a delay before they appear.
Here are some examples of wineries with wonderful, eye-catching email opt-ins:
Your tasting room provides an excellent opportunity for you to capture customer emails. Your visitors enjoyed a pleasant sampling experience, drinking wine, and having fun, and they want to extend that feeling by remaining connected with your winery. Email is the best way to do so, with 72 percent of adults preferring this channel to all others.
After touring your facilities and sampling your wine, customers who want to get more engaged with your winery should be able to add their email addresses to your list right then and there. Having kiosks in your tasting room makes it easy for customers to sign up and serves as a fantastic way to build and maintain excitement about your business. The kiosk automatically syncs data to your point-of-sale system and updates your email marketing list, then instantly sends a welcome message ready to greet customers the next time they open their inbox.
You can also have your staff collect customer emails as they check out. The WineDirect POS (Point Of Sale) makes it easy for customers to opt-in if they wish to continue to receive emails from you. For a little extra incentive, reward your employees for every address they record.
The trend of loyalty programs continues to rise as customers want to connect more with the brands they adore. Loyalty programs offer rewards, discounts, and other special incentives to attract and retain customers. These programs, such as WineDirect loyalty points, are designed to encourage repeat business, offering people a reward for brand loyalty.
Not only do they keep customers coming back, but they also help wineries gather valuable customer data. By creating a cost-free rewards program and focusing on the benefits of participation, you can encourage your customers to sign up and share their contact information. It's a fantastic way to incentivize your customers and continue getting constant communication from your winery.
Not all your potential customers are on the same platform. Social media continues to be one of the easiest ways to connect with your audience on the platform they prefer. A terrific way to continue building that relationship is to let them know about your emails and all the benefits they receive when you sign up. As your followers are already fans of your winery, asking them to join your email list will be much easier than people who just found out about you. Here are a few strategies you can use on your social media to help grow your email list:
There is no one surefire way to increase your winery's email list. The best approach is to use multiple strategies to help you reach your audience from various directions and increase the chance of growing your list. While list size is a great KPI, you'll also want to spend time segmenting your lists and personalizing your content. Warm your contacts up with some winery news, meet the winemaker, highlight a new release, ways you’re giving back to your community and always include an offer so that your contacts can purchase wine from you.
Ensure you nurture your list with high-quality emails to connect with customers at the right stage of their buyer cycle and monitor list health with regular cleanings; at least twice per year, you should clean your email lists. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out the WineDirect Academy and master data segmentation with List Builder.
