5-Minute Friday | Go Search Yourself
A quick exercise that reveals what people actually say about your winery online.
Here’s a quick assignment that will absolutely give you better insight into how people actually talk about your winery online:
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!
Great hack for wineries and winemakers!