It is a question that has been asked over and over as owners and managers of wineries ponder exactly how much effort they need to dedicate to marketing their winery. How much time should you spend on marketing? The query is followed by the next logical conundrums. How much should you spend on marketing? How often should I advertise? How much social media, digital advertisement, or print media should you use? Well, there is a ton of advice out there and most of it is technically correct and effective, however, most answers to these questions may be missing the point entirely. 

Let’s start with some of the guidance that we all have been provided. For example, the “Rule of 7” is a common product marketing rule referring how many times a customer needs to see an ad or hear your name before purchasing. According to a myriad of experts and consultants, the budget for marketing can be anywhere from 5% to 12%. As reported in a Forbes article, 94% of small businesses plan on expanding their marketing budget in 2024, with 70% of those businesses setting aside 10-30% of their marketing budget to social media. The research firm Gartner published survey results stating that companies spent 9.1% of total company revenue on marketing on average in 2023. To add to the dizzying advice, regarding time spent, dozens of marketing consultants tout the idea of spending anywhere from 5 to 20 hours a week on marketing or sometimes specifically on social media. Some experts were recommending 1-3 posts on Facebook, 1-2 posts on Instagram and 5-15 posts on Twitter per day for a small business. By the way, that is nuts… 

In the sea of expert opinions found online and elsewhere it can get a little confusing. Finding where your winery fits into any of these formulas can feel a bit daunting. The parameters for all these ideas seem so ambiguous, you might feel like throwing in the towel. There are some coherent principles outside of this never-ending sea of advice that do ring true. Keeping yourself focused on the 5 “P’s” of marketing which are product, price, promotion, place, and people can help pilot the marketing ship and make it easier to set goals for what you want to do. Knowing your target market, having a solid brand, understanding your product value, deciding how to communicate, and then determining how you measure success are all very important. Still, we may be missing the real crux of marketing success.

All of this is good, but for a winery to discover and maintain success in marketing, it is imperative you shift the paradigm of how you think about marketing. When I was a younger professional, eager to move up the chain, I will never forget an interview I had with a very wise VP looking to hire a regional marketing rep. Somehow, I got hired even though I failed in my answer to one of his core questions. He asked me “How much time do you spend marketing in your current position?” I told him that I spent about 50% of my time doing so, which seemed logical since I was a regional marketing representative for another company. The answer was dead wrong and any other breakdown of percentages of time would be misguided as well. He was looking for another kind of response.

The magic formula that the VP was looking for was as follows. You should be spending 100% of your time marketing. Now comes the paradigm shift. For a winery to achieve high levels of success, that winery must live by this rule. You are marketing yourself 100% of the time. Sure, you have social media, website, tasting room, print media, along with your branding and label designs. What we are talking about here is the glue that binds all your marketing together. For any marketing campaign to be successful at a winery, you must remember that everything you do or say is marketing. How you answer the phone ismarketing. How you treat your employees is marketing. How you keep track of inventory, fulfill an order, pour a glass of wine, is marketing. Every time you greet a guest, a club member, or a vendor, you are marketing. The culture you create for your team and the ambience of your tasting room are aspects of marketing. Literally any visible part of your day-to-day flow is marketing.

How can you and your whole winery staff market 100% of the time? You do it by creating a culture within your winery team that is embodied in all your actions every day. The culture may take time to become ingrained to every team member, but once that philosophy is set, the everyday marketing becomes natural. When a customer hangs up a phone after having a great conversation, or when a patron leaves the tasting room knowing you remembered their name, you can be sure they will tell others about the great feeling they get from your winery. The wonderful intangibles of this philosophy can permeate and self-propagate. Those that take part in this school of thought, namely you and your team, enjoy their jobs more and feel more fulfilled. It is only natural for us all to want to love our jobs and to feel like we are doing something great for our community. Make it so. What it all comes down to is basic kindness, understanding and being aware of those around you. Show it to your team, your peers, and to your patrons and it will pay you back financial dividends in repeat business, referrals, and recommendations. Spending 100% of your time marketing becomes such a positive force in your culture that everyone within range of its’ magnetism will be pulled in the direction of your winery. We know that the quality of wine can bring you a customer, but the customer service and culture you create will keep that customer and attract even more. 

We all need to do our marketing for our winery. That will never change. However, if you change how you think about marketing, it becomes easier. In my humble opinion, the idea of culture is more important to the winery industry than almost any other industry save a few. People choose where they want to go, and they will go where they feel wanted, special, and comfortable. Working in a winery is not just a job, it is a passion for most. It is OK to show that passion to your customers. If you do not love connecting with people, then the winery business may not be for you, because this industry thrives on those connections. Sometimes we forget how important interactions and actions are when we are busy scrambling to run a business. This is your reminder to get back to the passion of serving wine to people who are excited to try it.