#MEMO – A new way to recommend connections on Twitter and beyond

Whether or not you or your company uses Twitter there are some things you have probably come across since the rise of Twitter and those things are called Hashtags. Hashtags are represented by the # symbol.

You can read more about hashtags and how to use them here.

One of the most popular #’s that I’ve come across is #FF, which stands for “follow Friday”. It’s a quick way to go about recommending your current followers to follow specific people or companies on Twitter. Sometimes these Tweets include some information about the actual connections or group of connections that the person is recommending but many times, dare I say most of the time, they do not.

Why is that the case I ask you? I’m going to step out on a limb here without having done any quantifiable research and say it’s because most #FF updates are based on one of three factors, (1) the profile recommending certain users to follow have actually interacted with those persons or companies online or IRL (in real life) and thus they have built a rapport and feel a recommendation is warranted, (2) the recommended connection mentioned you in their #FF update and thus you are returning the favor, or (3) the recommender is including high profile connections that they follow in hopes of getting the same recommendation from said connection if and when that user uses the #FF method.

This is not to say that no one categorizes their #FF recommendations or that all #FF recommendations fall into one of the three categories above. Still yet, in my opinion the #FF is flawed for the following reasons. When taken from the perspective of someone who is interested in connecting with and following people who add value to their business goals most #FF tweets, and thus the recommendations, simply miss the boat on allowing users to easily find people who share their interests, especially in the business community.

I’ve personally spent several hours going through #FF recommendations one profile at a time trying to find people and companies that fit my needs and desires which primarily include wine, marketing, and social media (for Twitter specifically). Not everyone, myself included, can afford to do this every Friday even if you are about to leave the office for the weekend. So instead of trying to change the way that people use #FF because it’s already so engrained I am recommending a new process and new hashtag to go along with it.

Mention Monday #MEMO (registered on Twubs.com)

If you are using #FF to recommend people who you are familiar with or are interested in gaining attention from and possibly even to find high value profiles to follow I would implore you to consider adding #MEMO to your calendar each Monday.

Here’s the caveat and what will ultimately separate and increase the value of #MEMO recommendations over and above #FF recommendations: After typing “#MEMO” type some words that relate to the group of connections in that update or tweet.

Examples:

#MEMO wine bloggers @joeroberts @tampawinewoman

#MEMO social media marketing @mashable @facebookwizard @hubspot

The point behind including these words after #MEMO is to make them searchable but also to identify them by relevance to your audience (i.e. followers).

I, like you, want to find valuable connections on Twitter who I can follow even if I am not looking to specifically build a rapport with them right away. #MEMO (subject) will make it easier to find and promote them to your current followers based on a specific subject.

One additional thought on why this could make more sense in the business community instead of just editing how you go about using #FF is this: What are you doing on Friday if your work-week ends on that day? Thinking about deadlines; thinking about your weekend activities; thinking about getting out of the office early for happy hour, etc. You’re thinking about closure and ending the week. Not exactly the right time to connect with a new person or even taking the time to look into who they are and what they do.

Now, take the same line of thought and apply it to Monday. You’re thinking about getting the week under way, getting ahead of deadlines, finding ways to achieve your goals and making something happen. Take that last part, “making something happen”, and you should begin to see why reviewing recommendations based on relevancy to your goals and business objectives on Monday would be more likely to help you in the pursuit of those goals by potentially establishing a new connection that could be valuable to you, say, by as early as the upcoming Friday.

Go ahead and keep using #FF by all means. But if someone asks you if you got the #MEMO you surely want to be able to say, “Yes. I did!”

Grapes, Gravel and Glass

Few people have the opportunity to sample and learn about the actual grape varieties or soil types that are involved in making the wines they enjoy, even those who have visited wine regions around the world. With the world of wine becoming increasingly based on authenticity, connectivity and direct communication with consumers I feel it’s the right time to engage consumers like never before, where they are – their local wine store!

It’s widely known in the industry that consumers and wineries both benefit greatly from winery visits and wineries are always trying to find ways to get more visitors to their doors.  As a consumer I enjoy a wine tasting as much as the next person and I typically try to find something to purchase at each such event because I understand it takes time and dime to put one of these on whether small or grand.  But what’s missing from many of these events is a connection to the wineries being presented; a real, raw and unique connection. 

Sure the wine is there and hopefully someone who knows a little something about the wines too.  The labels are there and maybe even a tech sheet is present.  But what’s missing is the true connection to the winery, a connection that truly ‘connects’ the dots for consumers.

Here are two ways in which I think wineries could pull this off and establish a greater connection in the mind of the consumer while at the same time bringing the winery to the consumer via more than just the wine in front of them.

Grapes

Should you get the chance to visit a winery during harvest it will be one of the neatest experiences you will have because you get to see the grapes before they are made into the wine.  What I am proposing is that your winery sets aside a certain level of grapes to be shipped to your best customers throughout the country during harvest and that those be presented side-by-side with your wines.

Imagine the impression that could be made if your winery produces Chardonnay, Cabernet and Pinot Noir and instead of just tasting your wines the consumers got a chance to touch, feel and taste the grapes at their peak.  I for one would find this extremely different and representative of your winery in a way that only I could experience if I were at your winery at that very moment.  Bring the winery to the consumer and I’d be willing to bet that they will be much more inclined to actually visit your winery instead of just buying your wines.  Sure there are legal issues to understand with regard to the shipping of the grapes into said state(s) but it’s not like that can’t be achieved. I’ve asked about doing this in Florida and it can be done.

Gravel

People collect things.  You’ve probably got a relative who collects some form of porcelain do-hicky and has them all over their house. You may have even bought one for them before.  There’s also someone you know who collects sports memorabilia of some sort.  What do the wine ”guys” and ”gals” collect? Corks…I’ve got a ton! Empty bottles…not so much (in so far as they are not around too long after the last drop has been excavated from the bottle). Labels…hardly, not with all the electronic ways in which to keep a picture or note of your favorites.  Never the less we still collect.

All wineries have soil types whether it’s sand, gravel, schist, loam (how many people even know what loam looks like?!) and the list goes on.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a wine tasting at my local wine store and they were tasting XYZ brand of wines and someone told me, “the vineyard soil for this wine is mostly a chalky limestone mixture which comes across as minerality in the wine.” Pretty cool when I start to recognize that in other wines too!  But what’s never present at these tastings is the actual soil, not just any soil that looks like chalky limestone, oh no!  I’m talking about THE soil that those grapes sitting beside that bottle there on the table actually grew in.

WHOA! Now we’re talking about an experience!  Forgive my excitement but as a self-proclaimed cork dork I, like many of your customers, love seeing this type of stuff first hand.  And not just seeing it but collecting it. So your winery took a little time to collect and ship out samples of the soil from your vineyards and partnered with the retailer to put them into small, collectible, containers with your brand name on it. 

Now there’s something I’d put on my shelf and talk about, proudly.

Ciao for now

Retail Wine Merchandising (Best of the rest)

Walk into your local retail wine shop and I would be willing to bet that you will see a variety of merchandising techniques. Whether the store promises to be “the lowest retail price” you can find and may even show other retailers pricing, case stackers’ are all around giving you the impression that they have low prices, ratings posted next to some of the wines, and maybe even an area for top rated wines.

The list goes on and on.

If you happen to want something like a nice Garnacha based wine from Spain or a good value Sparkling for a special occasion I’m sure you can find your way with all of these methods.  Which, by the way, I appreciate as much as the next consumer.

What you and I both hope to find behind all of this merchandising though is an enterprising staff and owner who knows a little something about wine and can help us find the right bottle of wine for that moment.  That’s where my concept of the Best of the Rest can come in handy, especially if your particular store is a busy one and even better yet, one that doesn’t have an engaged and knowledgeable staff.

Deep down I believe most purchase decisions are based on price first and foremost. Notice that I did not say a low price, just a price point that we each feel comfortable spending for a particular bottle.  Have I ever been up sold to something slightly or even well above my comfort zone? Why yes I have! And I enjoyed the fact that I was.

So here’s the concept that I call Best of the Rest which can help you, the retailer, not only help your customers find great wines but maybe even up sell them while you’re at it!

Each store has areas designated for red wines, or Chardonnay’s and French wines, etc.  What I am proposing is that you take a section of your store and call it the Best of the Rest (or some other name that fits with your concept), as the merchandising technique will remain the same. 

Step 1: Pick two wines from each category that you care to represent as the Best of the Rest that in your mind represent the best values for their price point and separate them based on your customers main purchasing prices (e.g. $15 and under, $16 and up)

Example:  Choose an $8 Cabernet and a $19 Cabernet, a $11 Pinot Noir and a $27 Pinot Noir, a $6 Sauvignon Blanc and a $16 Sauvignon Blanc, a $10 Cotes du Rhone and a $29 Cotes du Rhone, etc. 

Step 2: What ever you choose for this shelf make sure it’s clear where your price points change and align the wines as such on the shelf.

Here’s the catch: You must, I repeat, you MUST make sure that you do one if not both of the following things, (a) train your staff to be as knowledgeable as possible on these wines and why YOU feel that they represent the Best of the Rest and (b) put some effort into what you put in front of the customer regarding these wines whether that means using quality, full color, winery technical sheets along with ratings or maybe even a personal statement in written format about why you feel this wine deserves to be in your customers bag as they leave.

 Let’s face it, people buy brands and wineries they are familiar with, on average, much more readily than something else they’ve never had. Even those crazy Millennials out there!  (Just joking you crazy Millennials!) Now here’s where the customer engagement part comes in with regard to this technique. 

In order for this technique to work and by work I mean build your customers level of appreciation for your efforts and reward you with a long-term relationship built on trust and your personal recommendation, instead of just another rating by one of those “highly trusted magazines“, you need to be the one picking these wines out.  If you try to tell me (the customer) that the Best of the Rest in your store consists of Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio, Blackstone Merlot, Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, or even Mark West Pinot Noir I would not be very trusting of your recommendations moving forward. 

Not that any of these wines are bad because obviously they sell well for most retailers (small and large) and restaurants.  It’s that these wines have, in my humble opinion, lost their sense of exploration.  People don’t explore with these wines – they buy them because they trust the brand. 

The Best of the Rest concept is about building trust by exploring wine together. Trust between you, your customer and that amazing Chardonnay from so-and-so out in Santa Maria Valley because that wine really is the Best of the Rest. Next month you’ll be sure to pick out another stellar Chardonnay to put it up there for your customers to purchase because you’ve gained their trust or at least you’re on your way to doing so.  Isn’t that what being an independent wine retailer is about in the end.

Ciao for now!

Wine List Idea – BTG of 3′s

So you like Syrah do you? “Well we only have one by the glass, but I’m sure you’ll like it…”  Oh you like Chardonnay? “I’ll be glad to recommend one these five different ones we have from California for you.”

You know where I’m going with this one folks.  Too many establishments I visit (not just in any one city either) have numerous Chardonnay’s and Cabernet’s and Pinot Noir’s on their by-the-glass (BTG) lists and only one or two other options in the other 2000 plus varietals that exist in the world. And that’s fine with me especially if that’s what your customer orders most but maybe, just maybe, there’s room for some consideration of your best selling varietals from somewhere else besides California.  So here’s an idea for you to consider using about how to approach the major varietals of the world.

Let’s call it the BTG of 3′s.  If you are a wine drinker, and I’m assuming you are, you’ve probably tried a number of different wine styles from the same grape in order to find something you consistently enjoy.  If you’ve ever wondered how to add variety to your wine list without taking on too much risk then this idea just might be a way for you to achieve more BTG sales and also a happy, more well educated ahem wine educated customer.

Pick three wines from the six major varietals and put everyone on your list.  That’s only 18 placements and if you can’t handle 18 placements on your BTG list then feel free to skip this post.  But seriously let’s consider how this might look.

Cabernet – One from the left bank, one from Napa and say, one from Chile. Three styles, three price points, three different consumers, one grape

Chardonnay – One from Burgundy, one from Sonoma and one from South Africa, you know the unoaked type. Same premise as far as pricing and customers are concerned.

Pinot Noir – One from Oregon (man I love those smoky undertones!), one from Burgundy at the entry level and one from the likes of New Zealand (peaty Pinot anyone?).  Sure the price might be a bit high on some of these but I seem to remember seeing several options in the $13-$17 wholesale range.  What? Your customers won’t pay $17 a glass? Try making a little less margin at $14 and I bet you still move enough juice to more than make up for it because there are consumers who will pay that to taste a good glass of wine that isn’t found at every grocery store.  Notice I didn’t recommend one from Corsica.

Merlot - Maybe with Merlot you can go all Californian seeing as how that’s what people buy the most but if you do, pick three different styles.  One complex, one more earthy, and one more fruity.  Show people that Merlot is good and they will drink it. Tell them that it’s not by only putting one on your list and guess what happens?

Pinot Grigio - One from Italy, one from Alsace and one from California.  As the second most selling white wine varietal in the U.S. I feel good about recommending three Pinot Grigio’s for your list if you intend on offering four or more Chardonnay’s. And with the wide variety of styles I bet your customers will enjoy a little exploration!

Syrah/Shiraz – A big ole Aussie, a refined and taught Rhone styling and beefy yet fruity Washington State offering should offer up plenty of options.  Give me a chance to sample two of them side-by-side and I bet I’ll pick one to enjoy!

The next wine style/varietal I’ve thought long and hard about how to get people to try more of and thus I’ve thought about which to pick for this post. I’ve settled on Sparkling wine instead of the oft misunderstood Riesling grape.  Don’t you worry one bit – I love Riesling of all shapes, sizes, and profiles.  But for this post I feel that it’s important to make my point with sparklings.

Sparkling - One from Spain (Cava), one from Champagne (something yeast yet appealing) and one of those Rose thing-e’s.  I can hear now “Rose sparkling never sells! So I completely disagree with your statement.”  To this I have but only one response: what attempts did you make to sell the Rose rather than waiting on someone to buy it? In other words, did you pick up the Rose di Regale because I hear it does pretty well at retail.  What about a dry rose with that beautiful Tuna appetizer on your menu? Ever give your servers a chance to taste the two together? What’s that thing about Pinot Noir going well with Tuna? Rings true here too. 

For the sake of not sounding condescending what I am encouraging here is for you, Mr. or Mrs. Restaurant Owner, to be accommodating, be informative, and be open to suggestions.  This post is simply a suggestion after all. But in my opinion alone, a suggestion that just might have some legs to it. Pardon the pun.

Ciao for now!

Wine Marketing

Recently I found myself caught in a bit of a creative dilemma, which can be tricky for a Gemini.  Gemini tendencies aside I was considering how to find my “voice”, as it is called, when writing about topics that interest me and in particular the topic of wine.

What I yet to realize is that my voice was there all along and I had actually been using for quite a while as it were.  Why the dilemma you ask? Well, I just hadn’t been using it online. I’d previously attempted to write about wine online before in two instances. One of which dealt with adult themed wine reviews (more on that later I promise!) and  the other with standard “go here and try this wine..” or “I had this wine the other night and it was fill in the blank”.

And then it dawned on me one day that I was trying to write for consumers. I felt that they were the target I should be going after, as far as readership was concerned, and in the process I had been going against the blogging grain. Write about what you care about, make it interesting, make it informative and make it worth someones time to read and you will get readers.  Amateur mistake? Yes! Foolish mistake? Yes! Yes! Yes!

So who did I want to be connecting with anyways? Businesses that’s who. Businesses that are involved in the wine business in some fashion; If you make wine, I hope you read; If you sell wine for the second tier, I hope you read; If you write about wine, I hope you read; if you think about wine marketing whatsoever, I hope you read.  Most of all I hope the ideas I present here help you and your business. Please comment or feel free to contact me and tell me how an idea struck you, even if you didn’t use it.

This blog is about wine marketing.  It’s my intent to write about and present my own impressions and ideas as often as possible but also to share those ideas, concepts and issues that are of importance to world-wide community of wine businesses and of course to give credit to other websites and bloggers who make a difference in wine marketing.

My first issue on concern will have to do with wine by-the-glass ideas (or the lack thereof) and it’s coming shortly.

Ciao for now.

J.C. Milam

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