Social Media Wine-ing

Who doesn't have a facebook, twitter, linkedin, or tumblr account these days? If you don't have any of these, then you should probably get one. ASAP.

If you are a successful business or organization (or want to be) then you should definitely use social media tools daily. While facebook may seem like a website used to play farm games and chat with long-last friends, it is far beyond any of that.

Social media is a highly successful, accessible publishing technique. As public relations professionals, it is highly important to identify the target audiences so that we can be effective and successful practitioners.

Social media for Public Relations:

• Get the message out faster- and to more people. Why wait for a press release when you can see a Facebook post in 30 seconds?


• Social media can be a highly effective tool for enhancing awareness. "Spread the word" about a company, product, services or WINE!


• Boost the impact of direct marketing.
  

Okay, so I know you are wondering...where's the wine in this?

Once again, wine is an INDUSTRY and that means it wants to make money. Nothing in business is made for "fun", though we all have fun drinking it.

As wine lovers, we all love to talk about wine. Social media has given us an outlet to meet other wine aficionados, discuss our favorite wines, chat about wineries we have visited, and more. It's the perfect community as consumers and contributors of the wine industry.

More importantly, the wine industry should be paying close attention to what we say. By 'environmentally scanning' they can monitor the entire network of wine fans on facebook, twitter, and more.
Just by looking on social media, they can see that one person likes Cabernet Sauvignons from the Rutherford Hills California, while another person only drinks 'super' Tuscan reds from Italy. Oh but don't forget, they all want wine that is between $8 and $10 a bottle, with a nice label and a good name.
Corporate Eye says that social media is one giant 'always on' focus group, a perfect tool for qualitative research!

Want to join a focus group to aid in wine research? There is a facebook link for that.
Want to be interviewed by your local wine magazine to discuss the opening of your new winery? There is a facebook link for that.
Want to discuss only Merlot wines, with only Merlot drinkers? There is a site for that too.

Think I'm kidding? Check out some fun social media wine sites here:
-A site decided to unearthing great old red wines: DeadRed WineGroup
-Barefoot Wine & Bubbly has a fun facebook site!
-Jancis Robinson is a wine expert tweeter, and if you follow her then you'll be connected to a
network of 44,000 people. HELLO. wine industry...follow her!!

So go out there & tweet, with a glass of wine in your hand :)