Recent Blog Posts
Blog Categories
Tips to Lowering Email Bounces
Emails that bounce can be one of the most frustrating situations to deal with in email marketing. A bounced email means that your reader didn’t get the information that they signed up for. There are many things that can be done to help delivery your emails reach your readers’ inbox. In this post, we’ll discuss the differences between a “hard bounce” and a “soft bounce”, why they occur, and how to prevent and resolve the issues that cause high bounce rates. Continue »
Aug 21, 2019 at 7:00 PM
PermalinkWhat You Should Know About ADA Compliance
Unless you’ve been hiding in a wine barrel, you’ve no doubt seen a flurry of news articles in the last 6 months regarding ADA website accessibility lawsuits. Specifically, wineries in New York state and California have been served with lawsuit papers in the past 6 months claiming their websites are not ADA compliant. These wineries are caught not because of insolence but because of ignorance, as many of us don’t know what it means to be ADA compliant Continue »
Aug 8, 2019 at 10:00 AMHow to Use Images to Increase Email Click-through Rates
Let’s face it, we have all turned into big photo-fanatics. We are constantly taking photos of everything we see and although this new technological access to images is great, it has turned us into image critics... Continue »
Jul 31, 2019 at 9:00 AM6 Things to Consider Before Signing That SaaS SLA
As companies continue to move away from developing software in-house, they've been relying on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors to provide the services they need. In fact, the average company spent 78% more on SaaS products in 2018 compared to 2017. Continue »
Jul 25, 2019 at 10:00 AMTofanelli Case Study – Social Media Conversions
One question our clients continuously want to be answered is how to leverage their social media following to gain new sales conversions. We wanted to show how strategically timed and targeted ads could compliment release schedules while building brand awareness and engagement, drive website traffic, and contribute to sales. Continue »
Jun 28, 2019 at 10:30 AMTHE MOBILITY EFFECT ON DESIGN
When we first started using email regularly in the workplace, it was before the PalmPilot, BlackBerry, or iPhone. We viewed emails on computers at our desks. Emails took the place of memos, which took the place of letters––so formal, long format text was the norm. With the increasingly fast pace of technology adoption, our lines between work and non-work on a computer have blurred considerably. Continue »
Jun 4, 2019 at 8:30 AMMobile Usage Drives Timing
For a long time, the belief was that the best time to send an email is at 10:00 AM on a Tuesday morning, and for the most part that still holds true. But, the overwhelming use of mobile phones to read email has us consuming content at different times and in different ways. Continue »
May 20, 2019 at 8:00 AMIs Your Website ADA Compliant?
ADA compliance is an important consideration for websites. Not being ADA-compliant means your site is less accessible to visitors with disabilities, and can also open you up to potential lawsuits. We have a solution! Continue »
Nov 14, 2018 at 1:45 PM
SEASONAL PHOTOGRAPHY
It’s time to start thinking about your seasonal/holiday photography needs. While promotional details can be worked out later, a general idea of which wines you’ll want to feature is a good place to begin. Continue »
Comments (17)WHY WE LOVE PICTURES: How to use photography to pull at heartstrings
Whether you’re curating images from stock or creating your own with a camera and editing software, choosing the right image is essential to your message. A photo that doesn’t provoke a response can result in an ineffective campaign. Continue »
Apr 30, 2018 at 9:00 AM
Four things to take your Wine Club to the next level in 2018
The rains are fading off and spring events are in full swing. By now most of us have processed our first wine club run of the year. How did it go? Do you know? As you head into the busy selling period, it's important to take a moment to reassess your club successes, failures, and strategies to determine your best selling plan moving forward into the tourist season. Here are some best practices we recommend to improve your club health in the coming year: Continue »
Mar 27, 2018 at 1:30 PMWinery DTC Case Studies
A presentation created for the WineDirect Roadshows that showcase three case studies - one on Facebook Ads, one on email design and one on custom wine clubs. Continue »
Mar 16, 2018 at 12:27 PMDirect to Consumer Wine Symposium 2018 Facebook Workshop
A presentation on Facebook Marketing presented at the 2018 Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium with Louis Calli of Echo and Carin Oliver of Angelsmith. Continue »
Mar 9, 2018 at 12:22 PM
Beyond Email Address Collection – Why Using Data is Your Best ROI
From keynote addresses on wine and cannabis, artificial intelligence, and state legislation, to workshops on customer service, social media and and wine club optimization, the 2018 Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium brought together individuals from all walks of the wine industry. Every session was filled with individuals looking to industry leaders to share their knowledge on how to maximize DTC efforts. Common questions attendees would ask questions were, “How do I improve my club retention rates?” or “What kind of offers will help my email conversions without devaluing my product?” or “How can I get a customer to purchase again?” I noticed that many of the presenters would turn the questions back onto the attendee, and ask, “What does your data tell you?” and often, the person could not answer them. Continue »
Mar 1, 2018 at 9:00 AM
Five signs your website needs a refresh.
Every year in Q1 our agency get a small flurry of requests to "update" or "refresh" clients' websites. They're often not sure why, or have metrics to support the request. How often should this be done? How many years is too old? Just because you're tired of looking at the same home page, doesn't mean your customers are....right? Continue »
Feb 13, 2018 at 5:00 AM2018 Predictions for Winery DTC Businesses
We've turned the page on the calendar, and are already plunged into another year. Here are my predictions for changes to the winery direct marketing landscape this year. Continue »
Jan 30, 2018 at 10:45 AM'Twas the week before Christmas
when all through wine country we pause for a break. (We need one, quite bluntly.) Continue »
Dec 22, 2017 at 1:37 PMHOLIDAY EMAIL BEST PRACTICES
We turned on the best Christmas album to get me in the mood to write this post. We just finished Thanksgiving, but Christmas ads are on the TV and displays are in the stores, and shipping deadlines will be here before you know it. Continue »
THE NAUGHTY AND NICE OF HOLIDAY OFFERS
You hire photographers for your wine, graphic designers to build your emails and printers to print and mail your holiday promotions. You spent hours fussing… Continue »
LET’S TALK TURKEY
The holidays are a time for family gatherings, eating too much food…and shopping. Those of us in the sales and marketing business are far too… Continue »
SELLING THE WINE COUNTRY DREAM ON BUSY HARVEST WEEKENDS
The wine industry is one of adventure, mystery, romance and awe. No, seriously. Our guests want to escape the hustle and bustle of their daily… Continue »
Sep 1, 2015 at 9:00 AMHOW FRIENDLY ARE YOU
I’m sure the answer is ‘very’. You’re a pleasure to be around. You’re the first person to volunteer when a friend is moving apartments and… Continue »
THE COOLEST FACEBOOK FEATURE YOU’RE NOT USING
You’re standing in line at the grocery store waiting to check out and you see a magazine. Not Time or Rolling Stone, but a trashy… Continue »
SLIDESHARE PRESENTATION: VIN65 DATA TRAINING
Having set up almost 50-60 websites with data on Vin65, they asked me to lead a Free Training Friday webinar on best practices for data… Continue »
DTC SYMPOSIUM/MILLENNIAL WHITEPAPER BY COPPER PEAK LOGISTICS
I was honored to be asked to be on a panel for the DTC Symposium a few weeks ago by Copper Peak logistics. The topic… Continue »
SLIDESHARE PRESENTATION: VIN65, TRANSACTION PRO IMPORTER AND QUICKBOOKS
It would be nice if we all had one system that did everything…but that is so often not the case. In many cases, your accounting… Continue »
PRESENTATION: 5 TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
I was asked to present to a group of winery C-level about why they should care about Social Media marketing, and answer two questions: “What… Continue »
6 MYTHS ABOUT EMAIL MARKETING AND MOBILE PHONES
I remember when I was on the team to launch the first “smart-phone” at Sprint. The tech guys were explaining how it would make pagers… Continue »
7 MYTHS ABOUT EMAIL MARKETING CONTENT
Right about now we’re all deep into 2015 planning…or finishing up our calendars. This begs the question, what content should we be using for our… Continue »
7 MYTHS ABOUT EMAIL MARKETING TIMING
Happy New Year! We made it through another holiday period….which means you navigated the maze of holiday promotions. This inspired me to do some research… Continue »
QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK BEFORE MOVING YOUR DATA
With the end of one year comes the beginning of another. For many of us, that means 2015 planning. And some wineries might be considering… Continue »
SIMPLE TIPS FOR USING GOOGLE ANALYTICS
Do you look at Google Analytics? If you’re like most, it is overwhelming and confusing and once it is set up, you rarely look at… Continue »
THE NEW BLACK (FRIDAY)
Around this time of year, us marketers are typically working on our “Black Friday” messages. This day after Thanksgiving started out as a convenient… Continue »
ELECTION DAY, EVERY DAY: WIN YOUR CUSTOMERS’ VOTE BY KEEPING CHOICES SIMPLE
As you leave the local elementary school sporting the “I Voted!” sticker, consider how easy or complicated the process was for you. Were there complicated… Continue »
TRICK OR TREAT: HOW TO ATTRACT AND DELIGHT YOUR ONLINE VISITORS
Halloween is my favorite holiday. I think because it reminds me of being a kid: choosing what costume to wear, watching scary movies, and of… Continue »
10 TIPS FOR DISASTER RECOVERY FOR YOUR DTC BUSINESS
Unless you’ve been drinking far to much of your own product, you know that an earthquake hit the Napa Valley this past week. In the… Continue »
THE IMPORTANCE OF INTELLIGENT SHIPPER DESIGN
Well, the guest post on label design certainly generated some passionate discussion! So much so, that my friend and colleague Cindy Deutsch, who knows more… Continue »
IDENTIFYING HOW AND WHEN TO COLLECT CUSTOMER DATA
I recently ran a quick analysis for a client considering a new Wine Club. After 20 minutes of diving into their backend system (which happened… Continue »
SIPPING YOUR WAY TO SAVORING YOUR DATABASE
If you cringe when databases and “CRM” is brought up in marketing conversations, you are not alone. Many wineries are confused about this area of… Continue »
DATABASE SPRING CLEANING
What is it about Spring that makes one take on more challenges than is humanly possible? Something about the warmer weather inspires us to… Continue »
BEST PRACTICES IN WINE LABEL DESIGN
We have a special “Guest Glass” post today: Courtney Holmes from Talk is Sheep Marketing, a wine marketing design firm specializing in wine label design. … Continue »
STRATEGIC USES OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR WINERIES
Clients ask me all the time about what/how often to post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other Social Media channels. I typically flip the question… Continue »
THREE FREE THINGS TO DO TODAY TO HELP YOUR WINERY’S CUSTOMER SERVICE
My wonderful husband, who has worked for 17 years at AAA, was sent to a conference last week in San Diego. He returned with a… Continue »
BEST PRACTICES FOR DATA COLLECTION AT WINERIES
Below is a presentation I finally got around to posting on slideshare. It is a presentation given at the Wine Industry Network conference last December… Continue »
5 SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGES WINERIES SHOULD LOOK FOR THIS SEASON
As February draws to a close, we start to come out of hibernation and look at the busy spring, summer and harvest seasons. The… Continue »
GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!
Happy New Year! This past weekend was the Chinese Lunar New Year. It’s the Year of the Wooden Horse. According to Chinese beliefs, the ‘Year… Continue »
BEING THANKFUL
I was all ready to provide another list of ideas this week to follow up on last years blog “Ten Ways to Give Thanks for… Continue »
INFOGRAPHIC – WHY YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO ONLINE SALES
With the holidays coming, we are all busy planning holiday events and sending holiday emails, but don’t forget that millions of busy little elves are… Continue »
SEO AND CARS – THREE THINGS THAT DRIVE YOUR SEARCH RESULTS
I’ve been doing a fair amount of SEO project lately and the more I learn, the more I realize there is to learn. SEO is… Continue »
HOW TO SET UP A DATA COLLECTION PLAN – SECONDARY AND TERTIARY DATA
This is the second part of a two-part blog on Data Collection Strategies. The premise is that many wineries don’t have an understanding of what… Continue »
HOW TO SET UP A DATA COLLECTION PLAN – PRIMARY DATA
I work with a variety of wineries to collect customer data. Most understand why this is important, but few have a documented, or even widely… Continue »
10 POINT CHECKLIST FOR GETTING GOOD CLIENT SERVICE
I know I’m old school. I’m not so old that I experienced Mad Men, but I did earn my chops as an Account Executive at… Continue »
BEFORE YOU HIT SEND...
Most customer care people will suggest you communicate with customers in the manner to which you were first communicated. This makes sense, as they initially… Continue »
MARKETING VS SALES
No doubt there are financial pressures being in the wine business. As a winery owner you have put out thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of… Continue »
COMCAST AND YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE
Sorry, for the long blog post, but, I need to vent. At the risk of being cliché, I feel the need to use my recent… Continue »
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
We hear a lot about “quality”, “authenticity” and “relevancy” when developing Direct to Consumer strategies. But we also talk a lot about metrics, Google… Continue »
EVERYTHING IS COMING UP ROSÉS
Guest post for WWS about their upcoming Rosé event. I have a confession I am obsessed with Rosé, and have been for some time. Oh, sure,… Continue »
FLEA MARKET FINDS FOR MOBILE POS
This is a guest blog post I wrote for Vin65 which can also be found here. They just announced a suite of new features for… Continue »
EYE OPENING STATS...AND WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THEM
Statistics, and Direct Marketing This week we’ll dive into two of my favorite things and see what kernels of wisdom we can find for ourselves…. Continue »
DOG AS MY CO-PILOT
I haven’t written a blog post in a couple weeks. The reason is… well, my dog died, and I haven’t much felt like writing. Most… Continue »
Mar 4, 2013 at 11:24 AMA FEAR OF TOFU
Another consultant told one of my clients recently that they needed more tofu. Top Of the FUnnel offers, (or TOFU, get it?) are commonly dangled… Continue »
“WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO KNOW?” LOOKING AT CUSTOMER WARINESS TO COLLECTING DATA
I just got a new credit card in the mail this week. Not because I asked for it, and not because the old one had… Continue »
CASE STUDY PRESENTATION FROM THE DTCWS
I had a wonderful time, as usual, at the Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium in San Francisco last week. Blog posts will follow about… Continue »
CREATING TRUST – USING ALLOCATIONS EFFECTIVELY
Selling via an allocation method is commonly associated with the higher-echelon of wineries. But just because we all want our wines to command the demand… Continue »
HOW TO EVALUATE YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE
2012 was heralded by many as the “Year of Customer Service“. Now widely noted the #1 success criteria, many are hyper-focused on getting this area… Continue »
2013 PREDICTIONS
Isn’t this what marketers are supposed to do this time of year? I feel pressured to make predictions…so here it goes. My top 5 are:… Continue »
T’WAS THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS...
T’was the day before Christmas when all through the valley all the wineries were cheering an end-of-year rally. This year had been different, from ones… Continue »
2012 IN REVIEW
Whew, what a year. This has been an interesting year for the wine business. While not exhaustive, let’s look back on some of the key… Continue »
SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT JUST FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
Do you know how Coke got started? Back before big pharmaceutical companies, you’d go to the druggist and get your powdered medicine. And it… Continue »
DOWNTIME TO DO LIST – THREE THINGS YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID
By now there isn’t much you can do but process holiday orders. Emails should be sent, websites updated, cards mailed. And shortly, sometime about December… Continue »
10 WAYS TO GIVE THANKS FOR CUSTOMERS
Typically we gather together in small family and friend groups this week, huddle around the soothing warmth of the television, and drink and eat… Continue »
HOW TO HANDLE A “WINE-ER” ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media might be the most helpful customer service tool to come along since the telephone. But nobody wants to run into a ticked off… Continue »
THE CUSTOMER SERVICE PERSPECTIVE
I was having drinks with my friend the other night, and we were griping and venting the ways good friends do, when my friend suddenly… Continue »
MANAGE YOUR WINERY LIKE A BASEBALL TEAM.
Like many fans in the bay area, our baseball teams inspired me this year. The Giants and the A’s did a great job all year… Continue »
BETTER Q4 EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing is a staple among wineries trying to communicate to wine clubs, provide holiday offers and reach new customers. If you’re like most,… Continue »
SMALLER WINERIES BETTER AT ESCAPING DATA SILOS
It is no secret that Direct Marketing has gotten more complicated. Printed communications have given way to digital communications, and digital communications are splintering into… Continue »
CUSTOMER SERVICE WEEK – MORE THAN A SEVEN DAY CELEBRATION
The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 166, has designated the first week in October, as “National Customer Service Week” since 1992. When George Bush Sr…. Continue »
“DOMO ARIGATO, MR. ROBOTO”
It is important to be genuine. I write a lot about customer “engagement”, “authentic” marketing and “touch-point” analyses. This is because a major goal with… Continue »
THINGS TO KNOW IN TRADEMARK REGISTRATION
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger Welcome to Wine Glass Marketing – same services, same experience and same snarky blog. Just a different name…. Continue »
NEXTERNAL GUEST BLOG POST
One of the most common questions businesses ask about direct marketing is – how often should we talk to our customers? Controlling the frequency of… Continue »
HOW & WHY TO INTEGRATE SOCIAL MEDIA INTO WINERY CRM
Social Media is a Communication Channel. CRM is a Strategy. If you’ve read my blog, you’ll realize I am a passionate believer that having an… Continue »
EVALUATING YOUR WEBSITE WITH WEB 2.0 STANDARDS
What is Web 2.0? Recently a client asked me to look over their website and provide a subjective audit on what they could do to… Continue »
SIMPLE SEGMENTATION – HOW TO INCREASE SALES AND RETENTION
Segmentation 101 The question of segmentation comes up very frequently, as it should since it is the most important success variable in any direct marketing… Continue »
HOW TO CALCULATE ROI FOR YOUR PROGRAMS
Whether you work for a small winery or or a large international beverage company, there are certain things that are common among all of us:… Continue »
THE DEFINITION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
I’m staying with my Mother in the hospital while she’s getting her knee replaced. I’m exhausted. She’s miserable. So far, according to her, the room… Continue »
WHY YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER SHOULD BE OVER 25
Call and Response The responses and subsequent discussion about the now infamous NextGen article “Why Every Social Media Manager Should be Under 25” has been… Continue »
SOCIAL CRM, OR “WE’RE NOT IN INDIANA ANYMORE”
Indians...Indiana, what’s the difference? When my husband and I were in Paris last April, there was a series of chain restaurants called Indiana Café. Friday evening, Continue »
CRM – A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION
When someone says CRM what do you think of? If you’re in IT or operations you might think of the software that holds your company’s… Continue »
TECHNOLOGY DOESN’T MATTER – JUST START WALKING
You might be surprised the week before the Wine Industry Technology Forum, or with all my technology background, to hear this statement from me. Of… Continue »
THE DREAM OF DATA – WHY THE WINE INDUSTRY IS STUCK IN A NIGHTMARE
I was struck at the Ship Compliant conference last Thursday how lucky we are in the wine industry to have such a high caliber of… Continue »
IF IT’S TOO HOT...STAY OFF THE SIDEWALK.
I’ve always been a confident person. I can’t help it. I had good parents and decent opportunities to capitalize on so when it gets down… Continue »
Sign Up For Insider Info
OUR BLOG IS FULL OF DTC TIPS AND YOU'LL WANT TO READ IT!
Enter your email address to receive notifications of new blog posts.