As we enter 2025, wineries face an increasingly competitive market where standing out is more challenging than ever. With evolving consumer behaviors and shifting market dynamics, a well-thought-out marketing strategy is essential for success. Here are the top marketing strategies wineries should embrace in 2025 to drive growth and build lasting relationships with their customers.
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- Have a strategy.
It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Knowing what you need to achieve is only a start. Having a plan to achieve it – one that considers media, creative, offer, and more – makes it a strategy.
That’s where goal setting comes in. Consider the SMART method – are your marketing goals:
- S: Specific?
- M: Measurable?
- A: Attainable?
- R: Relevant?
- T: Time-bound?
Be sure to track and measure progress, but stay nimble – adapt strategies accordingly based on market conditions.
Goals and strategies are inextricably linked – the former are the desired outcomes, and the latter are the plans to achieve said outcomes.
- Prepare a marketing funnel.
Acquiring a new customer – not to mention keeping one – is no easy feat. No customer journey is alike. To ensure you’re reaching a prospective customer at every stage, it’s best to prepare a marketing funnel.
There are many iterations of the marketing funnel, but all share the same idea of helping marketers understand how people move through the customer journey and how to best reach them at each stage. The marketing funnel Bin 113 employs includes four stages – Awareness, Consideration, Conversion, and Lifetime Value.
Overlooking any stage can result in missed opportunities. If a prospective customer shows interest in your brand, are you retargeting them? If a once loyal customer slips into lapsed territory, are you investing in marketing efforts that will reactivate them?
By embracing the marketing funnel, you can turn missed opportunities into meaningful revenue.
- Maximize creative impact.
Creative can make or break your connection with your audience. With your creative, be sure to communicate your brand’s promise. Enhance and reinforce your brand positioning and stay consistent within your brand guidelines. Don’t confuse the consumer or give too many choices – you’ll have plenty of opportunities to promote all your messages. If you offer value, customers and prospects will want to hear from you.
Be sure to test and refine creative regularly – not all will perform equally well. Use A/B testing to compare different messaging, visuals, or designs. Continuously iterating on your creative will help you maximize ROI.
- Know thy customer.
In today’s world of data-driven marketing, knowing your customer is of paramount importance. An effective data strategy is crucial to growing your DTC sales. Understanding your database, or customer file, is key.
Performing regular data hygiene will make your marketing efforts more effective. NCOA (National Change of Address) and ECOA (Email Change of Address) maintenance will keep your file current. In addition, appending your database with permissioned, third-party data attributes will enable you to better understand your customers and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
Your data strategy should also include the data you capture yourself. Know what data you want to collect and set procedures and policies to capture data and update your database. In the end, lost data equals lost opportunity.
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Success in 2025 requires more than great wine—it demands a thoughtful, customer-focused marketing approach. The right marketing strategy will help your winery find more qualified prospects, convert those prospects to customers, and ultimately maximize their revenue and lifetime value.