Marketing Lessons Learned in Wine Country

As it turns out I do take my own advice... at least some of the time. I mentioned in my last post that you should take a vacation to help your creativity so I headed up to California Wine Country for a long weekend escape recently.

Sure enough while I wasn't expecting to think about marketing or work at all in wine country, I learned, or was reminded of, some marketing lessons that should be applied to your start-up that I wanted to share with you. Here are three of them:

Free Trial or Samples

As we checked in to our B&B, we got a package that included information about where we were staying, things to do in the area and a few coupons for free wine tasting at wineries that were close by. I believe it's safe to say that the majority of people who visit wine country will frequent a few wineries so why not make that visit free for them. It worked for us as we did go to one of the wineries with the free tasting and even bought a bottle from there so they made a sale because of this free sample. This may seem like an obvious lesson but does your start-up offer something for free or make it easy for someone to try your product? Think about how you can give away a trial of your product to interested users and I guarantee you'll move the sales process along and convert many to customers.

Special Events to Showcase Your Product

Each evening at the B&B, appetizers and wine was provided for all the guests to enjoy. It was a nice way to relax and regroup from your day before going out for dinner. I've seen this done before at many places but the B&B we stayed at also invited a winery to do a tasting of their wines during this time too. It was a great way for these wineries to get exposure and to meet prospective customers in a relaxed setting while not taking a lot of time, effort or money. Bringing your product to your customers so they can try it in a friendly environment definitely puts them at ease. For your start-up, you should think about how you can take your product to your customers by conducting a road show and hosting special events in a relaxed environment. Allowing your customers to touch and feel your product when there is no pressure and no distractions is a great way to take that relationship to the next level.

Appearances by the Founder

One evening while we were out for dinner, a winemaker from one of the local wineries came to our table and offered us a sample of his wine and explained a little bit about his winery. We found out from our waiter that this was a regular feature in the restaurant on Friday nights. Again, we got introduced to a new wine and met the person who creates it as well. Now, some start-ups do this better than others, but do you use the "winemaker" for our product (i.e. founder of your company) in a similar fashion? It can be a very effective way to build credibility for your solution to let your prospective customers see the passion and genius of your founder. If that founder is also a thought-leader or industry luminary then you can't underestimate how successful these meetings can be to closing deals. It will be an honor for many to meet the person behind the product.

In the end, my trip to wine country was valuable for a few reasons: I got some time away to relax and recharge my creativity; I also learned or was reminded of some campaigns that start-ups can do to promote their company and sell their product; and, oh yeah, I got to taste a few good wines.

Comments

[Appeal of Italy II]

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[Christmas Tree]

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