Christmas in July?!
Not to freak you out about it, but future you will be SO happy if you do this now.
It’s July. You’re thinking about your upcoming harvest (if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, at least), not about the winter/gifting holiday season. And I hate to be that record scratch “holy shit, wtf?” for you, but… it probably should be.
Because I don’t want you to realize that you need bottle shots, email campaigns, Instagram carousels, and last-minute shipping deadlines all figured out while you’re literally knee-deep in syrah, pigéage-ing like your life depends on it.
Holiday marketing is notoriously hard for wineries to execute well because harvest is a beast and runs the show for, like, three months. When the fruit is coming in and your hands are full, planning, writing, shooting, and designing a marketing campaign probably doesn’t seem like a priority.
So consider this a gentle nudge to get ahead of it now.
If you need a little extra guidance, here are some past posts that might help you map things out:
“How Many Ways Can I Say It’s Pruning Season?”: (Or, How to Tell the Same Story Every Year Without Losing Your Mind)
“Turn Your Marketing Strategy Into A Helping Strategy.”: Building Trust and Loyalty as a Wine Brand During the Holiday Season
“Winery Emails That Don’t Suck” with Erica Walter of Email Mavens: A 30,000 foot view of winery email marketing.
Okay, now that you’re armed with some extra context, let’s get into it:
Here’s What You Can Do Now (So You’re Not Screaming Into a Macro Bin in November):
1. Map out your key promotions.
Are you doing a holiday shipping deadline campaign? A gift set (or series of gift sets)? Are you offering a corporate gifting program? A 12-Days of Christmas Campaign? Write down the big things you want to promote and roughly when you’ll want to share them.
2. Make a shot list.
Think about what kinds of images you’ll need for emails, social, and your website. Festive props? Gift boxes? Wine being poured at a holiday dressed table? Creating a list now will save you headaches later.
3. Order seasonal packaging early.
Order your branded gift boxes, ribbons, or printed inserts now. Holiday packaging delays are a bitch and will likely be even more challenging due to *ahem* tariffs. My friend, let me hold your hand when I say this: you do not want to be scrambling for these things in October.
4. Write rough drafts of your emails.
You don’t need to finalize every word today, but even outlining the subject line, the CTA, and a rough body paragraph for each email you’ll need (Black Friday/Cyber Monday, Gift Sets, Last Day to Ship, etc.) will save you so much time when things get busy.
5. Hire your creative team early.
Good photographers, designers, and copywriters book up, especially during the holidays. You don’t want to be emailing someone mid-October only to hear they’re fully booked through December.
Let Me Help
If you're looking for elevated, on-brand holiday visuals that actually help you sell wine, then hi! I’d love to work with you!
I offer lifestyle and bottle photography tailored to the kinds of campaigns that matter most during the holidays:
Bottle Shots with Personality
Lifestyle Shots for Context
Gift Packs that Sell
Let’s get your holiday marketing done before the first bunch hits your press. You can click here to learn more and get started, or reply to this email to talk through your ideas.
And hey, if you must wait until the holidays to hire me, let it be because you want me to photograph your beautiful wine club dinners and festive parties, not because you’re scrambling for bottle shots the week before your shipping deadline.
Future you will be so glad you handled this in July.
As an editor, this cannot be said enough. We're already planning/working on our November and December issues. If you pitch me Christmas content in November, you're too late!