For me, as a social media manager, this looks like going into my clients’ analytics and seeing what posts performed the best and what posts performed the worst. (By the way, “performed” is subjective to your goals. A post may have had really shitty engagement, for example, but have the highest number of external link clicks of any of your other posts. If your goal for that post was to drive link clicks, then that post was a success.)

So, today’s 5-Minute task is to go through your insights on Instagram (or whatever platform you want to double down on in the new year) and look at what posts have performed well in each category you find valuable. Here are some metrics I personally like to pay attention to for my clients on Instagram:

• Accounts Reached/Reach

• Post Interactions

• External Link Taps

You may also want to look at Follows, Comments, Shares, and Views, but I find the above three the most important to my clients’ goals in general.

How to view your insights/analytics on Instagram

1. From your profile, tap the sandwich in the upper-right corner.

2. Tap “Insights” in the drop-down

   menu.

3. To look at specific content you shared last year, tap “Content You Shared.”

4. From here, you can control the data range, like time and what metric you want to look at. I recommend looking at data from the last year or even the last two years to really get an idea of what’s worked long term.

   1. Note: Some metrics aren’t available for all post types. For regular posts (like carousels and single photos), reels, and stories, you can see Views, Accounts Reached, Follows, and Shares. But, for some reason, you can only view External Link Taps and Profile visits on regular posts. You can see Interactions for Reels and Regular posts, but only if you look at those media types specifically, so you’ll have to do a bit of cross-referencing. It’s the bane of my existence when I do my analytics reports every month.

Highest Reach

Reach is the number of individual accounts that have seen a post. This is an important metric for just about any goal you have, but it’s especially important if your goal is brand awareness, because it shows which posts and post types (carousel, photo, or Reel) got out in front of the most (or least) number of people.

I like to view this one both in isolation and in comparison to the number of interactions a post has had, so I can really understand how well it has performed. Obviously, if a post got way higher reach than other posts, you’ll want to ask yourself why and see if you can replicate that. Was it the media type? The content itself? Did it get a lot of shares? Did you add music?

Most Interactions

Although engagement (likes, comments, saves, and shares) isn’t the most important metric, it is still a helpful indicator for how well a post was recieved by the folks that have seen it. If you want to go a level deeper, you can also look at most comments and most shares as two individual engagements that are most impactful. To me, it matters less how many “likes” a post has because that’s the lowest hanging fruit. I have found that posts that get a lot of shares and comments often have the most reach and overall interactions.

External Link Clicks

A lot of wineries express that online wine sales are an important goal, so it stands to reason that we want to also look at link clicks as a metric. Please note, though, that unfortunately, we can only track link clicks connected to regular posts like carousels and photos, as Reels don’t give us that data at this time. So, if you have a Reels-heavy strategy, then you might not get the data you want. That said, I’d still recommend looking at it because it can be enlightening.

If you’re feeling extra

So now that you have this information, what can you do with it? If you’d like to take an additional five minutes, I’d recommend taking the top performing post across a single category (or, if you’re like Brave & Maiden and find that the top performing post is the same across the categories, use that one), and trying to recreate it.

Your audience has given you valuable information about what they want to see. Listen to them!

Do you know what else takes five minutes or less? Buying me a beverage! Thank you for supporting my work here!

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One of the easiest ways to do this is to update the cover photo.

Updating the cover photo is a very low-hanging fruit way of

1. Reinforcing your seasonal story
   Is your vineyard lush and green or dormant? Do you have a crackling fire going right now in the tasting room? Wine is agricultural and seasonal. Your visuals should reflect that and your cover photo can set expectations

2. Signaling that you’re active and paying attention
   An outdated cover photo can communicate neglect, even if your feed is current.

3. Adding a subtle call to action
   You can add a caption and a clickable link to your cover photo. I almost always include a “Book a Tasting” or “Shop Wine” link.

Most of my clients don’t have massive Facebook audiences, but that doesn’t mean there’s no audience at all. And if someone does land on your page from Google or otherwise, this is the first thing they see.

Your 5-minute task

1. Choose a seasonal landscape or hospitality photo
   Vineyard, tasting room, cellar, etc.

2. Upload it as your Facebook cover photo.

3. Add a short caption + link
   Something simple like:
   ”Book a tasting today! [link]”

BONUS: The cover photo will appear as a post in your feed. Tap the three dots in the upper right corner of the post and select “Pin Post.” This will save the post to the top of your page, and if you keep the caption short enough, it will serve as an easy way to drive link clicks.

If you’re feeling really crazy, you can check in on your tasting room hours, address, and update your about section, too!

Do you know what else takes five minutes or less? Buying me a beverage! Thank you for supporting my work here!

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Turn what you found into content.

And yes, it can be that literal. Here are a few quick ways to do it:

1. Make a shot-for-shot remake of a guest’s post

If someone filmed a moment that clearly resonated (maybe their post got a ton of comments or other engagement), certain scenes from your tasting room, your dog, your barrel room, or a specific staff member. Your guests are telling you which parts of your business are most photogenic and interesting to them. They’re basically storyboarding your content for you!

2. Turn a frequently asked question into a carousel or Reel

If Reddit taught you anything last week, it’s that people are very comfortable asking questions they’d never DM you directly.

Take one of the FAQ you found and make a simple carousel or Reel:

• The question on slide or clip 1

• Straightforward answer on slide 2 (or video clips 2-4)

• A final slide or clip with a call to action

An example could be:

• A video clip panning across your tasting room with the question “Are you dog-friendly?” on top.

• Multiple clips showing dogs in your tasting room with text that says, “obviously”

• A final clip showing a dog high-fiving the camera with text that says “make a reservation for you and your pup today!”

In the caption, you could put more details about any specific rules you have about having dogs in your tasting room.

3. Use guest language in your captions

Did you notice certain words or phrases popping up in posts about you?

“Relaxing,” “friendly,” “romantic,” “laid-back,” “welcoming,” “Instagrammable,” “small but mighty,” whatever it is, borrow it! Mirror it back.

People respond really well to hearing their own language reflected in your content.

4. Highlight a review or user-generated post you loved

Share the post to Stories and add a little commentary! Talk about why you loved it, what it captures about your winery, and what people can expect if they visit, or simply say “thank you for visiting!”

A bonus tip here is to leave a comment on the post and/or send the person a DM to say thanks and ask them questions about their experience (Who was your host? What was your favorite part about the tasting? Did you have a favorite wine from your visit?)

This not only builds a deeper connection to the person who originally visited you, but it also shows future visitors what “a good time” looks like at your place. People tend to prefer seeing how regular people are enjoying their experiences versus taking the word of the business that is literally using social media to market to them.

5. If there is a team member or team members who is/are mentioned in posts, reviews, etc frequently, show them in your posts more frequently

There are certain staff on my clients’ teams who get mentioned significantly more frequently in reviews and posts than others so I know that when I post about those team members or even just include their faces (with their consent, obv) in a social media post, it’s going to perform well.

This tip may take a little longer than five minutes, but it's well worth the extra effort!

Writing is thirsty work. Buy me a beverage! (Disclaimer: Funds may also go towards purchasing film for my cameras and the occasional breakfast burrito.) Thank you for supporting my work here!

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Go on Instagram, TikTok, and/or Reddit and search your winery name and then search your region.

I say this because there are a lot of folks who use social media but either forget to tag us or don’t know we have an account (or, maybe we really don’t have an account), but people are still talking about us!

During a recent website overhaul with one of my clients, I learned that when asked “how did you hear about us” new guests overwhelmingly said they learned about that client on TikTok. This was surprising news to me, because at that point, that client did not have a TikTok account at all. So that evening, I went on TikTok, searched that client’s name, and found over fifty posts mentioning them going all the way back to 2019.

I immediately made a TikTok account for them, pulled some old videos we’d made for Instagram, and posted them to the TikTok, and then started engaging with everyone who had mentioned them in their posts. By the end of the week, we had 29 followers, which I know doesn’t sound huge, but it was a start, and if nothing else, we were at least now part of the conversation.

Here are some things you want to look out for when you’re doing your search:

1. Look for consistency
Are there particular photos or scenes that customers really like? Are there team members who are mentioned frequently? Are there certain words that are often used to describe your experience or your wines? Any frequently asked questions? All of this is really valuable information for future marketing. It can literally give you the language and content your target audience wants to see from you.

2. What conversations are happening about your region?
Reddit, in particular, is a gold mine for hearing what real customers think about you (or if you’re even being mentioned). I did this recently for a couple of clients and found that people were recommending one of my clients for luxury experiences, whereas the other client was being recommended for casual, laid-back experiences. This isn’t news to us, as those are the experiences those respective clients aim to offer, but it was still good to know that our messaging and actual experiences are aligned.

Note: Reddit may also offer you some insight into how you can improve your experience. The conversations that are happening over there are far more unfiltered and candid than those that are happening on social media. Most people posting to TikTok and Instagram do so only if they had a good experience, but folks posting to Reddit are ready to share the exact experience they had, good or bad.

3. Are you showing up on lists?
If someone is talking about “best wineries in [your region]” and you’re not showing up in that conversation or showing up infrequently, then that is a signal that maybe there are some improvements to be made. If you aren’t showing up (often or at all) on those lists, pay attention to which wineries are being mentioned frequently and figure out if there is some aspect of their wine or experience you can emulate in your own way.

Again, I really like Reddit for this versus looking to publications because there is much more honesty/candor on Reddit than in a publication that may be a pay-to-play situation going on.

Try it today, and then let me know what you find!

P.S. Writing is thirsty work. Buy me a beverage! (Disclaimer: Funds may also go towards purchasing film for my cameras and the occasional breakfast burrito.) Thank you for supporting my work here!

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So much so that a lot of little things that can help whatever promotion you have going be successful can get missed. So today’s tips are a check-in to: 1. see how you’re hanging in there, and 2. go through a checklist to make sure you’re getting the most out of this big marketing push.

Also, I want to remind you that even if you are doing all of these things and your sales still aren’t where you hoped they would be, don’t beat yourself up too much.

There is *a lot* of noise around this time of year, and a lot of people are choosing to opt out of consumerism this year, for financial, personal, or political reasons. As a small winery, it’s hard to compete with the louder voices in every other industry but that doesn’t mean you can’t wiggle your way into people’s brains with repetition.

Hence today’s 5-minute tip:

Your 5-Minute Task: Make Your Sale Impossible to Miss

Pick one of these (or, if you’re feeling really wild, you can do all of them!):

1. Update your bio link on your profile to your Black Friday offer.

I recommend skipping the LinkTree if you can and instead linking directly to the sale. The fewer distractions and clicks your customer has to make, the better. You can go back to using the multiple links once the promotion is over.

If you DO choose to use a LinkTree or Instagram’s multiple-link feature, make sure it is the very first link on the list.

Bonus: If you pay for Meta Verification on Instagram (or have a paid LinkTree account), you can add photos to the links and make your primary link stand out:

2. Pin a post about your sale to the top of your Instagram grid.

Pin whatever post you’ve already made about your promotion so it’s easy to find. This is the easiest thing on this list to do, assuming you’ve already made the post! Just tap the three dots in the upper right-hand of the post (or long-press on the post from your Instagram grid) and select “Pin to main grid” from the menu.

3. Add your sale to your Instagram Story Highlights.

This helps people who don’t check stories in real time or even folks who are binging your content or searching for you. If you don’t already have a highlight created for your wine specials, just go to the plus sign on the upper right of your profile and select “Highlights” from the menu. Or if the Story is live, just tap the “… More” in the bottom right of your story and select “highlight” from the menu.

4. Make your homepage banner painfully clear.

If someone lands on your website today, they should immediately know:
—what the sale is
—how long it lasts
—what to click
—how to get the discount (if it’s not already applied at checkout)

5. Put your promotion on your homepage above the fold.

People don’t scroll as much as we wish they did. If there’s something you want them to buy today, put it at the top of your homepage (yes, literally replace your “Committed to Excellence” “Learn More” b.s.—which, by the way, is not a compelling headline, but that’s a topic for another day—with your primary call to action.)

Why this works

On Black Friday, people are overwhelmed and getting hit left and right with Black Friday deals. They want the path of least resistance, so your job today is to remove at least one friction point for them!

Today’s five-minute task is to put that into practice on one recent email or post (if you’re feeling spicy, do both!)

Your 5-Minute Task

Set a timer for 5 minutes and:

1. Pick ONE email from the last 30 days.

Open your email platform and choose:

• Either your most important promo

• Or the email you felt weird about (underperformed, or surprised you)

Then answer these three questions in a notebook or Notes app:

1. What was the goal of this email?
   (Examples: sell Pinot, fill an event, get club signups, remind people we exist.)

2. Did the numbers support that goal?
   Look at:

   • Open rate (did people care enough to open?)

   • Click rate (did they know what to do next?)

   • Actual results (did you make more online sales or get wine club sign ups, etc from this email?)

3. Try to determine why it performed the way it did (good or bad)
   Timing? Subject line? Segmented (or not segmented)? Chaos in the news? No clear CTA? Broken links? etc

2. Pick ONE Instagram post from the last 30 days.

Go to your Insights and choose:

• A post you were excited about

• Or a post that “flopped” in your mind

Answer the same style of questions:

1. What was the goal of this post?
   (Reach new people, nurture members, sell an event, tell a story, etc.)

2. Did the numbers match that goal?
   Check:

   • Reach (did enough people see it?)

   • Saves/shares/comments (did it land?)

   • External Link Clicks

3. Again, try to determine why it performed the way it did (good or bad)
   Did you have a really good photo (or bad photo)? A good enough hook? Posted at a dead time? Too salesy? Not salesy enough? Was the news distracting?

3. Make ONE tweak for next time.

Based on what you just discovered from your data, decide on one tiny change you’ll make next time. For example:

• “Next promo email: subject line will be benefit-driven”

• “Next IG post about events: I’ll put the date + call-to-action in the first line.”

• “Next wine promo email: I’ll exclude anyone who already bought in the last 30 days.”

You just:

• Looked at your data

• Gave it context

• Turned it into an actual decision

Boom. Analytics!

P.S. Did you do last week’s 5-Minute Friday task? If not, why not? If you did, how long did it actually take you?

We are kicking this series off with one of the highest-impact, lowest-effort things you can do for your winery’s marketing:

Update your automated welcome email. Or, if you don’t have one yet… create one.

Why this matters

Your welcome email is statistically the most opened email you will ever send and it’s when your leads are the hottest (they are literally just waiting for you to ask them to buy something so they can hurl their credit card at you).

A good winery welcome email says, “Hey, thanks for being here! Here’s who we are, what you can expect from us, and what we would like you to do next!”

What to do (in five minutes…-ish)

1. Find your automated “Welcome” or “Signup Thank You” flow in your CRM Platform (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Wine Direct, Commerce 7)
   If you don’t have one, create an automation triggered when someone joins your mailing list.

2. Check for three things:

   • Is it branded to your winery with updated logos, imagery, and voice?

   • Does it tell people what they can expect from you? (How often they’ll hear from you, what kind of content they’ll get from you, etc)

   • Does it offer a next step? (see below)

3. Add one clear call to action. Things like:

   • Book a tasting

   • Shop your newest release

   • Become a Member

Take it to the next level with a Three-Email Welcome Sequence (The Easy Version)

If you’re happy with your welcome email or have a little extra time on your hands, you can take this concept a step further by creating a three-email welcome sequence, like these:

Read more

You know marketing matters. You want to send better emails, show up consistently on social, blah blah blah… You simply do not have the time.

But something I’ve learned in my fifteen years in the wine industry is that sometimes all we need to make a difference in our marketing is five minutes.

That’s where this new weekly series comes in.

What is 5-Minute Fridays?

Every Friday morning, I’ll send you one tiny, super-duper actionable task you can complete in about five minutes.

While our regular conversations are where we unpack the big stuff and the podcast dives into case studies, 5-Minute Fridays are for the quick, actionable things like:

• Updating your Facebook cover photo seasonally

• Checking whether your online checkout actually works on mobile

• Adding or updating your “welcome” email for new subscribers

• Updating your tasting room hours everywhere they appear online

• Responding to recent reviews on Yelp and Google

Paid Subscriber Perks

Free subscribers get the weekly tip + the why behind it.

Paid subscribers get helpful tools like checklists, templates, and swipe copy, plus occasional deep dives for when you want to go beyond the five-minute version and really dig deep.

Become a Paid Subscriber

See you tomorrow for your first 5-Minute Tip!