New Customer Acquisition Strategies for Wineries - Why Google Ads is a Tool Worth Considering
One of the questions I get most often from wineries is, “Can you help me attract and acquire new customers for my winery?” My answer depends on the winery and their specific circumstances. Before answering, I ask these questions:
Do they have a tasting room open to the public and do they require/accept reservations?
Do they have a customer/prospect database of size and substance that includes email addresses and wine club members?
How long has the winery been in business, and are they in 3-Tier distribution?
Based on the above, there is usually a customized strategy that can be executed utilizing a number of digital tools in our arsenal. One of my favorites is developing a targeted Google Ads strategy based on the customer acquisition goals that meet the winery’s targets for the “right kind of customer.”
When I first speak to clients about developing a Google Ads strategy alongside SEO, they often have a puzzled look on their face that says, “really?” From their personal consumer perspective as online shoppers and information seekers, they see Google Ads as much a nuisance as shopping or search ads. But the reality is that Google Ads are extremely powerful for targeting people with a predisposition to buy, visit, or learn. While we also employ Facebook ads, retargeting, email marketing, SEO, and other techniques for our clients, when it comes to new customer acquisition to drive traffic, we find Google Ads to be one of the best tactics.
And it’s not just us. Here are recent stats for advertising spend across all industries:
According to Forrester Research, 93% of online experiences start with search – Google accounts for 90.1% of this. Because of this, companies have turned to paid search (PPC) to supplement their organic efforts due to the growing competition on search engine results pages. Google Ads, in particular, dominates PPC advertising and is the largest platform available.
Unfortunately, the wine industry continues to lag behind other industries with online advertising, including PPC and SEO. A recent 2019 study published by Sonoma State University surveyed the wine industry on winery digital marketing efforts and illustrated the gap (see below). 36% of wineries surveyed execute no digital advertising and one-third of those that did spend less than $100 per month doing so. The statistics on SEO, a complimentary marketing tactic to paid search, were even worse with only 18% of wineries outsourcing to specialists and one-third of wineries not doing anything.
Over the past several years, we have successfully incorporated Google Ads, alongside SEO, into most of our clients’ digital marketing campaigns.
Case Studies
Winery A is in need of help driving more reservations for their personalized wine tasting experiences in Sonoma County that focus on highly rated Russian River Pinot and Syrah. By creating several ad campaigns targeting local search and same-day visitors within a 75-mile radius, and nationwide searches for future visitors, Google Ad campaigns that spent $17,000 drove over $95,000 in tasting room reservations and wine sales over a 9-month period. In addition, 60 of these visitors joined the wine club.
Winery B had a different problem. A producer of very high-end Napa Cabernet produced from prestigious, well-known Napa vineyards does not have a tasting room and offers allocation only. Their goal was to accelerate signups for their allocated wine list, and ultimately get conversions off this list when wines were released in Spring and Fall. While traditional Facebook ads failed to generate sufficient traffic, a highly effective Google Ads strategy was created around targeting consumers specifically searching keywords related to the prestigious vineyards themselves. Anyone knowledgeable about the vineyards was likely to be a candidate for their high price point wines, and so it proved out. Over 300 consumers signed up for the allocation; a 23% conversion rate in sales (70 customers) and an AOV of $1,200; projected LTV of $6,000, or $420,000 in total LTV of new customers. While the price per click of $4.50 was high in order to get a highly targeted customer, the conversions justified the 9-month spend of $18,000.
Winery C was a Napa winery that had a tasting room visitation problem. With their large property packed on weekends and ample room available on weekdays, the winery needed to find ways to get new customers to the tasting room Monday through Thursday. Utilizing an aggressive geo-targeted local Google Ads campaign that ran only on those 4 days for visitors already in the 75-mile radius of the winery, coupled with a national campaign that ran all week, the mission was accomplished. Weekday traffic increased by more than 10% over a three-month period.
Each of these wineries had a customized Google Ads strategy that was augmented with social ads, SEO strategy, and email marketing to maximize traffic to the website and conversions. Social media alone would not have had the same success. Incorporating Google Ads as part of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy is the best way to achieve winery sales and visitation growth by finding the “right kind of customers.”
