WineMatch and Google Analytics – Another Match!

Measurable Results. It’s what we’re all about. It gives us tools to see where we are doing well and also helps us identify areas for improvements. After all, life,technology and everything else is pretty much all about continuous improvement. So when it comes to wine, how is that different? It’s not.

Understanding Google Analytics is a key point. What does it tell you? Just about everything and is likely the most useful tool in your arsenal, but you need to understand it and know how to use it. Here is just a small partial list of what it tells you.

It tells you how many visitors visited how many pages and which pages they frequent. More importantly, it also tells you which ones they are not visiting. It also tells you if folks found you by use of a search engine, direct traffic (by typing in your web site URL), or if they found you by being referred to by another site, which makes them your ally and we can never have enough allies. You see, every piece of data tells you something and sometimes it may not be something you wish to hear, but it may be something you need to hear. With Google Analytics, you have to check your ego at the door as the truth can be a but tough to swallow, but armed with the truth, it helps you provide a roadmap to future improvement and prosperity.

With Google Analytics, you also know when they visit, from where they are visiting and how long they stay, including a key component called bounce rate. If a consumer goes to your web site and their very next move is not to another page on your website but instead they go elsewhere, that is considered a ‘bounce’. A bounce rate of over 20% means they get to you, but may not stay long enough to be engaged or purchase product.

Here comes the fun and beneficial twist. Combining Google Analytics with other data sources can not only tell you a lot about cause and effect, but can help you figure out what your next logical move might be to get more folks to your website and engaged. There is truth in sheer numbers to your site and you need to start there, but once there, there has to be enough engagement, also known as stickiness, there to keep the potential customer interested. This means you peak their curiosity to the point where they are willing to try something including making purchases.

All wineries on WineMatch now get free Google Analytics view paired with WineMatch data to let them know exactly what they need to do to increase their ability to leverage WineMatch’s technology engine. This helps wineries reach more consumers more frequently with truly targeted data. At WineMatch, it’s about combining Deals and Events with Wine Profiles to maximize your outreach. We only target consumers with information that tell us what they like.. Look, I don’t like bogus marketing e-mails any more than the next person, but if you listen to what I tell you I like, then show me something like something I like, I’m all ears. Okay, I have a few more parts than ears, but you get the drift.

So if you’re a winery and want to know more about that you need to do, just look at our WineMatch Statistics under the Overview tab. To see a larger example of a Beaulieu Vineyards report in more detail, click here. We also give you intuitive red, yellow and green dots (like a stoplight) indicating what is dialed in and what could use a little more help to take you to the next level of exposure and success on WineMatch. Just highlight over the red and yellow dots and we’ll tell you exactly what you need to do to maximize you ROI on WineMatch!

If you want to see your WineMatch Analytics, just log into your winery account . We’re always here to help you better connect with your consumer!

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Wine Marketing 102 – For Wineries and Consumers!

When we define what is questionable with some of the marketing practices, we can’t do this in all fairness without first pointing what we know to be right.

Here’s what’s right. Good hardworking people that don’t know a time clock. This is because as the day winds down, either the job is done, or we sit down from exhaustion to nap a moment and wake up some seven hours later on the couch! The wine by and large is all too good as well. Innovative blends, creative bottles and labels, and someone always glad to see you in the tasting room. Simply put, we have great folks with great products. As a matter of reference, this was the time clock I punched when I worked for Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, so I guess I’m no longer 18 years old!

When I embarked on this project that has become WineMatch some six years ago, the dream was of helping the consumer find the right bottle. You know, reduce the “hit-to-miss” ratio and be right on target at least eight out of ten times when selecting a wine. My own personal inability to select a wine I liked most of the time was at the heart of it all.

To get started on my journey, I spent time with some twenty-five wineries in Oregon, Washington and California. These wineries are still with the program today and represent a cross-section of various sized wineries. Heck, at one point I tried to define what a Boutique Winery was, which is truly subject to the area. What is considered boutique in California is a large winery in Oregon – go figure! At the end of the day, it was about winery perspectives and a lot of them. When asked to look at our wheel and comment, they would say “It’s great and we love it, but how are you going to change those that embrace the 100-point system?” The answer was a simple one – “Because it hurts many wineries, does not represent the wine as a multi-faceted product, and the consumer is confused“.

I also asked what I could do to help them. This single answer resonated the most, “Help Us Sell More Wine Directly to the Consumer!” When I asked why, the reasons were simple.

Stop the presses. The last item makes a lot of sense. In fact, isn’t that exactly what wine clubs are all about?

Folks, it really comes down to how you market your brand and your wines. It’s about the best use of time, people, and money – and avenues. Here’s what I hear from the wineries.

Connecting with vintner and other associations meets often times mixed results, but some exposure will always come at a cost.

The additional cost of applying to being a “public” tasting room to me is ridiculous, like “why would we make wine if we weren’t planning on selling it to folks through every possible venue?“

Events. Many wineries hold fun events to gather multitudes of folks ready for a wine-immersed experience with good food and good people. Ceja is always cooking something up here and DeLille Cellars does cruises if money is not scarce.

Getting placed in restaurants and retailers is always key to a consumer having a connection to the brand and specific wine offering, but the profit isn’t always very good here.

Wineries submitting wines in competitions to have those shiny ribbons and hoping those frequenting the tasting room will parallel that to winning a Gymkhana.

100-point Ratings. Submitting to those rating via the 100-point system is down, as thankfully people are learning better ways to increase their “hit-to-miss” ratio. Wineries are hoping for some press on that end – but that door swings two ways, like a saloon door.

Web Site and related Maintenance. Always a tough one here. You need a presence, yet if designed improperly or used improperly, the ongoing costs will simply kill you. Something requiring proper design and management to be certain!

Social Media. All that public facing one-on-one and many-to-one communications. Clearly you need to have a presence, but how much you put into it has to be compared with the return of other methods.

As with any marketing effort, the question begs “Is this really the best use of time and money?” Folks, at WineMatch, we help wineries and consumers alike. No cost to the consumer and very low cost to the winery with a ton of exposure, where loading deals and events are always free and are pushed out to the consumer, as are the self-printing QR coded shelf talkers where the winery indicates where the QR Code should point. All from the comfort of your facility and all your wines will get pushed out via social media and through our own RSS feed. To wineries, we believe this to be the best use of your marketing dollar in reaching the consumer.

As a consumer, you’ll love it! Sign up, it’s free, and you get to select what you do and don’t want to receive from us so we’re giving you exactly what you want, and no more than what you’ve asked to receive. So maybe you want deals, but not events, but also want to see matches, using 16 to 20 different wine characteristics. No problem – as it’s all easily tailored to your wishes. To get started, sign in using WineMatch, your facebook or twitter account. Then browse wines and add them to your favorites letting WineMatch work for you.

After all, without the consumer, the winery would not exist! And without the winery, WineMatch would not exist – and we never forget that!

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WineMatch Unleashes A New Winery Interface!

As we continuously comb through where WineMatch needs to add functionality or improve, we decided to perform a forklift overhaul on the winery data entry area, as ultimately, wineries are our paying clients. We need to make things clear and simple, especially as functionality has grown. Logical placement of items makes sense, as I sure as heck would not

expect to find a hammer in a refrigerator any more than I would expect to find a half-gallon of milk on the workbench!

So, in the interest of making reaping the benefits of WineMatch easier and less time -consuming for wineries, here is the latest “dashboard”!

As you can see from the Overview, you can add or edit wines, add or edit deals, and add or edit events. Plus you can maintain those pesky ever-changing shipping states or maintain winery information, like pictures or social media items. New functionality also means new abilities, and a few of the recent ones are below.

New Features!

SIP-Certified – We are allowing SIP-certified for a winery and separately for the wines, as we understand some have SIP programs which may or may not apply to all wines.

QR-coded Shelf Talkers – These seem to be the talk of the town. We have sent a few out and love the reviews. As a result, wineries will be able to print these themselves from WineMatch.com. You can have them branded on one side with WineMatch-branded information and the other side with winery-branded information – and you get to pick the link for your own QR code – we’ll do the rest! This will be available in July, with the ability to also select from more than one style of shelf talker.

Grape Clones – Another winery request fulfilled here, as you could have a Chardonnay, from three different AVAs using six different FPS clones.

Multiple Tasting Rooms – Yet another winery-requested set of functionality delivered! Whether you have one or one hundred (or more) tasting rooms, we’ll list them. As far as apps go, think GPS!

More Pictures! Not sure we ever get enough of these. You can load a picture for a deal, for an event, for your winery, and now for the winery person, and the consumer image is coming soon as well to increase winery to consumer interaction as well.

Solid Security! We don’t talk about it much, but we believe in being water-tight in this area, having been fully PCI-compliant from the start. We have a number of high-end inside and outside monitoring tools to keep your data safe. Furthermore, we share your data with no one.

See us in Napa!

As we have changed a lot recently, we ask if you find something askew, you let us know and we’ll fix it ASAP! We’re not perfect, just real responsive!

Remember, we will be at Merryvale Vineyards in St. Helena on Tuesday, June 28th and Wednesday, June 29th. Details are in the following brochure. If you wish to attend (wineries only please), we still have some room, but seating is limited, so please call us soon at 949.273.5300!

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