Many of you may think of sending emails for your winery as a necessary evil. It's most certainly necessary- email marketing is still the number one way to drive direct to consumer sales at the lowest cost- but it doesn't need to be evil!
Many of you may dread getting around to finally sending that winery newsletter. But that's because you're looking at it the wrong way. Emails are a GREAT way for you to connect with your buyers and club members.
Pro tip: If you're dreading writing your email how do you think your subscribers are going to feel about reading it? Here are some winery email marketing tips to help you out.
Here are the 7 most common mistakes I see with winery emails:
- Newsletters. Most people don't have enough time to read all that detailed content- nor do they necessarily want to. In fact, the average attention span a person gives to an email after they open it is 8 seconds. 8 seconds. Furthermore, there's no clear call-to-action with a newsletter. (A blog is a great place for that content) You're more likely to engage someone with ONE specific message and keeping emails short and sweet.
- Not optimized for mobile. 55% of email is opened on a mobile device. Do you really want to lose half of your subscribers? You worked so hard on that content!
- Your subject line is boring. Would you rather open "July Newsletter" or "Special Rose discounts for a limited time!"?
- You're not including personalization. You will most likely have a first name and an email address for your contacts. Make use of that. Almost all email clients have this capability. Additionally, if you're segmenting your email lists you can address the group you're sending, "VIP Members we've got something special for you."
- There's no clear call-to-action. Each email you send should have one clear call to action. Whether it's to buy wine, visit the site, schedule a tasting, attend an upcoming event, etc. Make it clear, to the point and easy to understand what you need to do next. "Sign Up," "Join Us," "Order Now," etc.
- You're lacking enticing visuals. Vineyards are a beautiful thing. Get creative with displaying your wine on your property, in the sun. Remind subscribers of that 3-dimensional experience they had when they last visited. THAT sells.
- You're not emailing enough. A lot of people stick to the standard monthly newsletter, because they are afraid of losing subscribers. Guess what? We actually see a higher conversion rate when you send at least TWO emails per month. So by sending just that one lonely newsletter, you're actually missing out on an opportunity to make more money.