Drive Success with Distribution for Breweries, Wineries, Distilleries, and All Craft Alcohol Makers

Craft alcohol has experienced an incredible surge in popularity in recent years, with passionate makers creating unique and flavorful beverages that captivate our taste buds. But here’s the thing: crafting exceptional products is just one part of the equation. A very important one, no doubt. However, to truly thrive in this competitive industry, it’s crucial to master the art of distribution. We can’t tell you how many craft alcohol makers we work with who put all of their energy into securing distribution, thinking that once that’s done sales will start flying in. And then, they end up being disappointed with results and disillusioned with distributors who aren’t doing as much as they hoped they would for their brand. So, let’s make sure that doesn’t happen to you! 

The focus of this presentation is packed with valuable information, tips, and tricks to help you drive success with distribution for your brewery, winery or distillery.

05:18 – Understanding Distribution Today
07:53 – Distribution Myth Busting
16:15 – Tips & Tricks to Secure New Accounts
26:34 – Trade Marketing Tactics to Drive Results

The content for this presentation comes from our more in-depth Craft Alcohol Marketing Bootcamp course on Distribution for breweries and all craft alcohol makers. Learn more about how to grow your craft alcohol brand with our distribution specific course or any of our courses in our 10-course Craft Alcohol Marketing Bootcamp

Let’s dive in to learn how to drive success with distribution for your brand…

If you have questions, comments, or would like more information or marketing support for your brand, leave a comment below!

Ready for better results marketing your craft brand?

Good thinking!

Our Craft Alcohol Marketing Bootcamp covers everything you need to know to to help you market your craft alcohol business efficiently and effectively. It covers everything from social media strategy, to tasting room traffic, to paid advertising.

Read the Transcript

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Welcome everyone to the second webinar this
year for our 2022 Wine Marketing Webinar Series.

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I’m Nicole Eilers with the Iowa Wine Growers
Association and thank you so much for jumping

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on this webinar over your lunch hour with us
today. Today’s webinar is going to focus on

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distribution and I think this one is going to be
really interesting and exciting for Wineries and

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just such a key topic especially since wineries in
Iowa do self-distribute, so like we were talking

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about Dorothy wineries you know the the staff
at wineries owners they wear many many hats

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and so that’s just one of the things that falls on
the list. Here to talk about distribution today is

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Suzanne Henriksen and Evan Rothrock from the
crafting Cask which is a media and marketing

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consulting company that works exclusively with
craft alcohol producers to create refine and

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tell their story in order to grow their brands and
the categories they play in. Suzanne has 12 years

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of experience in consumer insights marketing
and customer service and this broad marketing

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expertise enables her to develop effective
marketing strategies and tactics along the entire

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customer journey and Evan has spent 10 years
bringing craft alcohol enthusiasts to wineries

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distilleries cider houses and breweries on tours
with Max Napa Tours as a certified sommelier.

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Insider professional, he has deep knowledge that
he’s passionate about sharing in a way that is

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engaging approachable and fun and prior to his
work in Wine Country Evan worked in the restaurant

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and bar industry developing deep knowledge of
all things service sales and alcohol. So, we’re

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really excited to have Suzanne and Evan with us
today and as a reminder this is part of our 2022

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Wine Marketing Webinar Series which runs through
the end of the year and is sponsored by the Iowa

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and if you are interested in these types of
webinars our next one coming up will be Tuesday

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July 19th and we’ll cover marketing specifically
to gen Z and Millennials so with that I’ll turn

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it over to Suzanne and Evan. Awesome, thank you
Nicole. All right, I like that marketing to the

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younger generation yeah that’s critical for
Wednesday it is critical for wines these days.

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All right, so Nicole just did a great job
introducing us I did want to take a second to

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um give you a little bit of information
about us. So as she said The Crafty Cask,

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you know we’re all about celebrating and
supporting craft alcohol makers just like you

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so that is why I founded this company was you know
traveling for years and years talking to craft

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makers as we tend to do that’s how we travel we
go and explore the food and the drink of the local

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area and we just kept hearing time and time again
that they were so passionate about what they did

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but they were really having a hard time with some
of the marketing and sales kind of components of

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it and given that marketing is my expertise and
Evan has lots of years in the industry and has

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expertise there as well we decided to kind of jump
in and help and so some of the ways that we do

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that is through education like this so we have a
whole 10 course craft alcohol marketing boot camp

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that really teaches people to go from kind of Soup
To Nuts from building your Brand Story identifying

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who your target consumer is all the way to down to
specific tactics like distribution building your

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website social media all of that fun stuff and
then we also have a free private Community for

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craft makers to talk all about marketing so that’s
the space where we are talking to a lot of our

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students who are in the boot camp and encouraging
them and helping them learn but it’s also a space

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for craft makers to just ask questions of each
other and kind of say hey we just are working

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on this ad right now do you what do you guys
think can you take a look at this what do you

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know and really get some real-time advice from us
as experts but then also from each other because

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you all have a wealth of knowledge yourself and
have all experienced things you know throughout.

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The next I guess yeah hour or so that we’ll be
talking with you first off thanks for being here

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we’d like to thank Iowa Wine Growers Association
for hosting us today this webinar we want to make

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sure that you’re aware of two upcoming webinars
as well that we’ll be hosting in September and

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November the first one is all about making the
best of social media organic social media and the

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second is focused on driving tasting new traffic
and conversions so we hope to see you there

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today we’ll be focusing on four areas and those
areas with regard to distribution are the state

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of distribution today distribution myth busting
some tips and tricks to secure new accounts and

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trade marketing tactics to drive results at
any time if you have questions or comments

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please put them in the chat. I think we’ve got a
pretty small group today so in fact if there’s a

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pause and you want to just jump in and ask your
question feel free to unmute yourself and do so

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and if we see them in the chat and we see them
I guess an appropriate time we can jump in and

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answer them right away or we’ll go back to
them at the end of the of the webinar yeah so

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if we don’t answer your chat questions right
away we saw it don’t worry we will answer it

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um but yeah feel free to throw them in
as you think of them so you don’t forget

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All right so while we know most of
you are in Iowa and self-distributing.

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I want to take a minute to make sure you’re aware
of the distribution landscape today and in fact

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how fortunate you are to have the ability
to self-distribute this also is important

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for any of you who are considering
working with a distributor directly.

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So, first off with regard to understanding
distribution there’s a shift in the sheer volume

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of Wineries and Distributors unfortunately in the
opposite directions as recently as the 1990s there

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were less than 3 000 wineries in the U.S and
over 3,000 Distributors that’s right nearly a

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one-to-one ratio which means wineries were getting
a good amount of attention from their distributors

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furthermore at that time most craft wineries
had a highly focused portfolio usually not

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much more than five to six wines primarily
from grapes that were grown in their region.

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Fast forward to today and there are more
than 9,000 wineries yet fewer than a 1,000

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Distributors so that favorable one-to-one
ratio has dropped to nine wineries for

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every one distributor and Winery portfolios
have gotten more complex with many winemakers

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now bringing in grapes from other regions or
focusing on single vineyard expressions to

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expand their portfolio in addition to
that the craft beer and craft spirits

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Industries have also exploded in the last
30 years and with many Distributors covering

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multiple categories of alcohol that means even
more makers are vying for their attention.

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So, what does that mean for you? Distributors
are often spread way too thin which means they

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often make promises that they can’t
deliver on especially if marketing

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isn’t their core expertise, which for
many Distributors it simply isn’t.

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Keep in mind that Distributors are highly
extended brands with big budgets and big

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margins so as a small craft anchor it can
be even harder to get their attention.

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Long story short working with a distributor is
not a be-all-end-all to increasing your sales

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In fact we would say you’re at an advantage
focusing on self-distribution since in today’s

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reality even if you work with a distributor
you as the winery are primarily responsible

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for most activities to actually turn that
distribution into sales as shown in this table.

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So by owning the whole process, you are much more
likely to succeed distribution is just the first

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step selling to the right accounts creating
a marketing push and pull for your brand and

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developing relationships is the key to success
which is what we’re going to focus on today!

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As we get into specific tactics on how to make
the most of your distribution we’re going to

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frame them up in the context of these five common
myths that hold marketers back when it comes to

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distribution sales and marketing. As JFK said
for the great enemy of Truth is very often not

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the LIE deliberate contrived and dishonest but
the myth or system persuasive and unrealistic.

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As we bust each myth and talk about the
reality we’ll also touch on some of the

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trade marketing tactics to employ to ensure
that you’re living the reality and bringing

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it to life for your brand common tactics used
to drive sales at on and off perms locations

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generally fall into one of four categories
designated based on the time effort and cost

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required to implement these strategies as well
as the impact they are likely to have on sales.

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First, The Sweet Spot which is ideally where you’d
like the majority of your activity to be because

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it’s lower effort and higher impact. Next, go in
counterclockwise we have a needle in the needle

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in a haystack those activities that indeed do
require more effort but are worth it because

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they have higher potential for driving sales. Then
there’s the danger zone which is the area that you

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want to really be careful about and be selective
in since they are high effort for lower impact.

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Lastly, we have the comfort zone this one is
tempting because it’s low effort and includes

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activities that we’re often more familiar
with and feel easier for us to take on

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but it’s risky because the impact is low here
as well so this is the area that can trick

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you into thinking you’re doing good work
because you can check those items off the

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list as we all like to do but then leads to
frustration and disappointment with results.

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Here are some common trade-focused marketing
tactics and where they fall on this chart.

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I’m sure all of those things on the left-hand
side of the chart are pretty familiar and

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possibly even cover most of what you’re doing
today but we’re not here to be comfortable.

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We’re here to push ourselves to learn how
to date use today’s modern tools and be more

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efficient and effective driving sales through
the accounts we have or want placement in.

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As we walk through the distribution realities

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we’ll be focusing on these five
specific trade marketing tactics.

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Let’s pause for a second any questions any
thoughts anyone want to kind of jump in at all?

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We’ll try to pause occasionally we’re really
good at just like talking talking talking we ask

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questions and then immediately start talking again
after like a second like like we probably just

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did. So I wanted to sort of speak from experience
about the unique challenge of being a winery and

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introducing myself to a store or new potential
retailer as a distributor they kind of don’t know

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what we do. You know I have to keep saying \ I’m
a distributor so that they direct me to the right

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person in that store that has the authority to
bring me in and add our UPC codes to the store.

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Getting over that education of who we are and what
we can do is it can be challenging you know we’re

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kind of outside of their box of understanding
how the three-tier system works you know so

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um I just wanted to say that it’s a
special challenge that I think we face

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yeah that’s valuable Insight because you know it
is I feel like a relatively unique situation that

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um you get to enjoy the benefits of but certainly
there’s a challenge in creating recognition

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and understanding um so I guess a question of
follow-up would be when you do approach a store

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or a restaurant um do you generally tend to ask to
speak to their their buyer or um you know who who

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do you ask to talk to yeah it definitely oh you
just muted Yourself by mistake there I think sorry

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um it definitely depends on who the retailer
is so um if I’m going into a new grocery

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store um I asked to speak to the store manager
typically start there and then he may refer me to

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um a grocery manager depending
on the size of the store sure

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um I also have experience getting our wines
into Target and Walmart which is a whole other

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um you know level thank you and um and
and that and so and I’ve been having a

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lot of difficulty building relationships with
people in Bentonville and in Minneapolis where

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um those are where the people who punch in our
UPC code so we can actually sell wine at their

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stores uh are located and I’ve been very uh
challenged with developing relationships with

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those people yeah yeah absolutely um I and I think
you know I worked at Clorox for 12 plus years and

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so working with Target and Walmart was a big part
of kind of what we did and honestly even as a huge

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company it’s challenging so take a little bit
that doesn’t help you but take a little Solace

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and like they are very protective of the people
in their headquarters and who they get to talk to

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and what they get to do and so you know that is
something that is a challenge across the board I

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also would mention you know I think it’s common
sometimes for when we first introduce ourselves

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we introduce ourselves in the way that we are
most proud of that you know and so it’s probably

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comment to introduce yourself as a winemaker
or as a winery and I think just like leaving

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that out at first and really just like putting
your distributor hat on and just introducing

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yourself is like I’m a distributor with this
representing this Winery and then you know you

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can get into the Nuance after but it because it
does confuse people it is confusing and especially

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Liz if you’re talking about these national
accounts that aren’t just based in Iowa I would

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imagine the iowa-based accounts understand this
a little bit more because this is where they are

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um but with the national accounts it’s super
confusing and their number one priority is

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making sure they are legally compliant so it
probably just makes them nervous even talking

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to you directly as a winemaker or representative
of the winery and not a distributor in their eyes

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yes it’s an education process yeah
for sure thank you for sharing

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so first up the myth uh that you need
High accounts sold to be successful

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you hear other wineries bragging about
how many accounts they’ve sold feel

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envious I think this is a clear indicator
of success think again let’s talk a little

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here about wide and thin distribution
versus deep and thick distribution

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okay so let’s understand the difference
between these two distribution strategies

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wide and thin distribution strategy this suggests
that the more accounts are better even if they’re

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subpar accounts positives risk is spread
over many accounts right that feels great

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the negative though is that many more accounts
to pay attention to to call on and to help Drive

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sales to meet minimums and then you’re kind of
hoping that the more successful accounts can

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carry the underperforming ones the deep and thick
distribution strategy however uses the 80 20 rule

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to focus your precious resources on a smaller
number of curated accounts that really match your

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target market so the positive when you’re taking
this approach is that these accounts work harder

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for your brand saving you effort and increasing
your potential the negative here is that all of

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your eggs are in fewer baskets which does make
it riskier if not done correctly and a lot of the

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things we’re going to talk about today will kind
of help you think about how to do this correctly

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um to dive in a little bit more on this deep
and thick distribution strategy you want to

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spend eighty percent of your effort selecting
and building the 20 of your of your accounts

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that really have the potential to matter and to
be even more effective with your limited resources

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don’t spend any time cultivating relationships
with the bottom 30 of your accounts as the

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middle 50 and top 20 grow with your passion and
your influence the bottom thirty percent will

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either get the clue and grow of their own
accord and begin to talk about your brand

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and your products or miss out on your success
entirely be okay with the natural streamlining

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because remember it’s not about the number of
accounts it’s about the quality of accounts

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so now that we have you focused on the top 20 of
your existing accounts how do you find new high

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potential accounts maybe even ones that would be
a better fit than your existing top 20 percent

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we’re going to walk through these five key
identifiers to assess new accounts against

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so first there’s customer traffic just like
you would like to think about this when

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opening up your own Tasting Room the more foot
traffic or potential for new customer visits

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um your account has the better it is
for your brand this is especially true

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of on-premise locations who can help Drive
trial for your brand with by the glass sales

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and on-premise is something we’re going to talk
quite a bit about today because we alike and

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we’ll talk about this later a lot of winemakers
kind of focus on off-premise and on-premise has

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a lot of potential there and some of the things
that are listed on this slide kind of give you

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some indicators of you know restaurants and bars
with more foot traffic if they have outdoor space

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hotels even right so only about 40 of a hotel
bar and product offering are like mandated by

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corporate whereas the other presenters are kind of
up for grabs and getting your product in front of

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Taurus is a great idea and that obviously exists
in retail locations easy as well as Liz just

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mentioned um with respect to getting the placement
of a local product in Target or in Walmart

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I just want to say it’s not easy I think it took
me two years to get into the Walmart in Davenport

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um and it took me a year to get into the
target so it’s yeah it’s constant go back

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in and visit them do I have the right name at
corporate getting them to bug corporate yeah

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it’s not easy yeah it’s definitely not easy
luckily we’re seeing more and more nowadays

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bigger retailers focusing on local and focusing
on Craft which is great it at least gives some

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dedicated shelf space to some of those things
um Trader Joe’s is a great example they often

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in most of their stores nowadays have a whole set
that’s like local craft beer or local wine um but

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you’re right it’s not easy and to be clear as
we’re talking through all of this stuff if we’re

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making it sound easy we know it’s not easy um so
we’re just we’re trying to simplify it all for you

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guys but we know that it’s hard to put this stuff
into practice all right next up um How likely is

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your target consumer to visit this account if
you don’t know your target consumer deeply yet

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then it’s time to do that work what we have on the
slide here is the target consumer Persona template

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that we use in our consumer-centric marketing
course in our craft alcohol marketing boot camp

00:18:50,940 –> 00:18:56,160
if you’re looking at it and feeling like you have
no idea how you’d fill this out about your target

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consumer I’m sorry to say but you have some work
to do because without this Insight you will always

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have a high proportion of waste in any marketing
you do including your distribution efforts this

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is a common common myth that a lot of craft
makers and small business owners have where

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they just think I want to get my name and my brand
out to everyone and anyone who drinks wine in this

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instance there is so much waste in that strategy
instead of figuring out who are the people who

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really would resonate with your brand and your
wine and focusing your effort on them and then

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trusting that some of those other people that Halo
will work for you so similar to our deep and thick

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strategy for distribution you want to focus 80 of
your resources and efforts marketing specifically

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to your ideal Target consumer so once you know
your target consumer well you have to think

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about them when choosing accounts are your is your
target consumer high-end and hip are they low-key

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and Casual are they family oriented are they
single and dating focus on accounts accordingly

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00:20:00,360 –> 00:20:05,160
now that you’re focused on the fit for your
Target consumer it’s similarly important to

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focus on the accounts fit for your brand and this
is where it’s imperative that you have a deep

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understanding of your own Brand Story what makes
you unique and stand out from other Iowa wineries

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00:20:17,040 –> 00:20:21,660
um and you know it’s not solely about your wine
that’s a big part of Brand Story differentiation

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it’s about you and how your Winery came to be what
drives you what inspires you uh will also Inspire

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others and help to form lasting Partnerships
if you find the right accounts so keep in mind

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you’re looking for win wins not something that’s
a force fit or anybody that will just say yes

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I’m sorry I forgot to sorry everyone I forgot
to change my slide here we’re just we know our

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we know our our presentation so
well we’re just talking forward

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so yeah that’s the kind of the recap of what I
was just describing there the the fit for your

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brand as well as knowing your target consumer um
yeah a couple of helpful points there under the

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second bullet um yeah what we’re just talking
about the local beer spirit so like if they

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if they’re focusing on local neighborhood
spirits but they’re not doing that online

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yet they’re probably interested in maybe doing
that right so thinking about things like that

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all right so now it’s time to shift gears
and put yourself in the account shoes

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um just like it’s important to understand
your own brand and consumer it’s important

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to truly understand your accounts so
before you even decide if you want to

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approach that account do some research try
to identify their wins their challenges the

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opportunities they may have and understand
their Brand Story and their target consumer

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lastly think about your ability to build
real relationships with this account

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this is a time consuming tactic but so worth it
if they care about you and you make it clear that

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you care about them and their success the rewards
will be significant in both directions people care

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about people they don’t really care about products
as long as the quality is there so as long as the

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wine is good it’s the people and the stories and
the relationships that you convey and bring forth

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00:22:09,720 –> 00:22:14,760
that will set you apart and lead to your success
do you like the people that work at this account

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00:22:14,760 –> 00:22:20,220
can you imagine hanging out with them getting
to know them better if so it’s likely a good fit

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so the example shown here is from someone I
consider awesome at this strategy she knows

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everyone at all of her local accounts personally
regularly visits their spots as a guest not just

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when on a sales call and regularly hosts
trade appreciation events to get to know

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them better and showcase new products in a fun
way that they enjoy this quote here says it all

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00:22:42,060 –> 00:22:48,000
I think the most important thing is to just be
genuine they get hit up by 10 different people

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00:22:48,000 –> 00:22:53,400
trying to sell them something every hour so
genuinely getting to know them caring about

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00:22:53,400 –> 00:22:59,100
them learning what they care about and asking
how they’re doing this summer I threw a party

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for all of my trade contacts I have developed
relationships with we had a volleyball pool

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party and it was epic and I know for a fact
that she was mixing up cocktails with her

250
00:23:07,380 –> 00:23:11,400
sip song spirits and getting everyone to try
some of her fun cocktail Creations as well

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so again time consuming but the foundation
of any success in business is relationships

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um let’s pause again just here for a minute or
two if anybody has any comments or questions

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before we move on to our next myth yep

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one other tip for my other Winery friends

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um I like to say that I shop there so
for both Walmart and Target for example I

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um I do my personal shopping there and I really do
try to run into the person who brought us in the

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store so she can see me with my full shopping cart
yeah absolutely I weave that into conversations

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00:23:53,040 –> 00:24:00,780
yeah and continuing to do that not just yourself
but your friends letting them know hey uh I know

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00:24:00,780 –> 00:24:06,420
you like my wine you’re a friend of mine it’s
being carried at this bottle shop go in there

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please let them know that you know me and you’ll
appreciate my brand and ask for it specifically

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because that’s something that the buyer that
decided to make a placement of your product is

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going to love to hear they makes them understand
that they made the right decision yeah absolutely

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um all right myth number two focusing heavily on
trade product knowledge the belief underlying this

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myth is that spending a ton of energy educating
trade will lead to a big payoff in sales of course

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anyone representing your brand should know the
basics of your product but that is only half

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of the puzzle for a few reasons one think about
how much time a bartender or waiter or clerk at

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a store has time to talk to you as a guest do they
often proactively suggest brands or products and

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00:24:55,200 –> 00:25:01,200
even when you ask how does it go especially during
you know busy peak hours when most customers are

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00:25:01,200 –> 00:25:07,920
out and they’re running around crazy uh and then
second while product details and quality are

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very important consumers connect with and remember
stories and people so if you’re primarily focusing

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on educating trade on your products you’re missing
out on the most important elements for consumers

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and not giving trade that information that would
be most helpful in selling on your behalf when

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they do remember have time or get asked think
about heart versus head kind of a like am I

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speaking from my heart right now or am I speaking
from my head and getting stats and information

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reality number two to counter this myth is that
push and pull marketing are the key to success

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so focusing primarily on educating trade
while important is a push marketing strategy

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equal energy should be applied to a poll marketing
strategy meaning consumers are asking for your

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00:25:57,840 –> 00:26:03,900
brand product or at least are asking for craft or
local wine that’s part of your job too is to get

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consumers to care about craft and local wine and
stop buying big booze everywhere they go right

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um and so thinking about these things
and driving awareness and sales through

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00:26:13,800 –> 00:26:18,060
consumers directly showcase shows your
accounts that consumers want products

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like yours like Evan was just saying
right if you have people who are going

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in and asking for your brand or asking for
a local Iowa wine that is great for you and

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it demonstrates that you’re working to drive
sales for them versus solely relying on them

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00:26:32,040 –> 00:26:42,060
hmm so educate trade about craft in general wine
in general and your brand remember people remember

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00:26:42,060 –> 00:26:47,400
stories and people it’s human nature so put some
of your resources into telling the story of craft

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00:26:47,400 –> 00:26:54,660
what it really means to you why drinking local is
important and what makes your brand unique bring

288
00:26:54,660 –> 00:27:00,780
it to life visually with captivating anecdotes and
stories uh help consumers and the trade understand

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00:27:00,780 –> 00:27:06,720
the value without selling them anything and kind
of romance them uh give them sound bites that are

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00:27:06,720 –> 00:27:12,480
easy to remember tools and tips and help them
make sense of labels and what’s out there today

291
00:27:13,500 –> 00:27:19,200
um you know in my years before doing Wine Tours
I was a small a in a restaurant um and getting

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wrapped up and learning about wine I find myself
standing next to a table talking to them until I

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00:27:23,880 –> 00:27:28,560
was blue in the face about the flavor profile of
this Pinot Noir and its acid structure and how it

294
00:27:28,560 –> 00:27:33,720
would pair really well with this duck dish that we
have and they didn’t care it wasn’t until I told

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00:27:33,720 –> 00:27:38,820
them a fun quip about the name of the winery or
the name of the vineyard site that the grapes were

296
00:27:38,820 –> 00:27:45,180
sourced from that they began to connect with the
wine and as soon as I learned that my wine sales

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tripled and it was really a powerful thing for
me to understand and it really demonstrates I

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think how important that concept is that you
need people to connect with who you are and who

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00:27:58,080 –> 00:28:04,140
your brand is and what you represent uh to make
lasting sales and to build loyal you know loyal

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customers and to be clear we are not saying the
product details don’t matter of course not like

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00:28:12,120 –> 00:28:18,000
very important but start with the stories
start with the people start with the and then

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you get them to taste your wine and then
they start asking like oh interesting this

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00:28:22,860 –> 00:28:26,460
is higher alcohol than I thought maybe it
was is this higher alcohol or like is this

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00:28:26,460 –> 00:28:30,240
age a new friend Joker right like then they
start asking questions about the problem yeah

305
00:28:30,240 –> 00:28:33,960
a quality product is not a right to win
it’s basically the barrier to entry yeah

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00:28:36,240 –> 00:28:42,120
all right myth number three it’s all about the
product and quality like we just were talking

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00:28:42,120 –> 00:28:47,220
about um so the belief underlying this myth
is that if you have an amazing product that’s

308
00:28:47,220 –> 00:28:51,660
all you really need to succeed right it’s
that if we build it they will come kind of

309
00:28:51,660 –> 00:28:56,040
thinking in today’s world however it’s important
to remember that when you’re talking to consumers

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or trade that a well-made wine is the cost of
Entry not the right to win as we just said so

311
00:29:01,380 –> 00:29:07,740
um plenty of Brands even from renowned regions
like Napa that fail despite making high quality

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00:29:07,740 –> 00:29:14,520
wine so if your social media feed for example is
full of bottle shots and details about your wine

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00:29:15,360 –> 00:29:19,320
it’s time to start shifting your thinking
and telling more of your story to Consumers

314
00:29:19,320 –> 00:29:24,720
showing your more personal side yourself as
the winemaker getting in front of the camera

315
00:29:24,720 –> 00:29:30,180
right and I know we don’t all love that but it
really does help yeah so yeah the reality is

316
00:29:30,180 –> 00:29:35,880
focus on your brand key differentiators not the
products people connect with stories and people

317
00:29:35,880 –> 00:29:42,360
as we said not scores gold medals percentage of
new French Oak so in order to develop loyalty

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00:29:42,360 –> 00:29:47,520
people need to know and care more about what’s
simply in the bottle why did you decide to make

319
00:29:47,520 –> 00:29:53,640
wine when did you decide to start a winery uh
what is it about your wine business Journey or

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00:29:53,640 –> 00:29:58,740
your personal wine experiences in your life that’s
distinct from other Wineries and other wine makers

321
00:29:59,700 –> 00:30:05,940
um on the screen here now is uh similar to the
Target consumer template if you’re looking at

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00:30:05,940 –> 00:30:12,180
this brand story template and have no idea how
to fill it out time to spend some time and do a

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00:30:12,180 –> 00:30:18,000
little deep dive on your brand story and how
to bring it to life best and Travis for you

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00:30:18,000 –> 00:30:22,620
um since you told us you’re kind of early in the
stages of getting started here this is the kind of

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00:30:22,620 –> 00:30:28,500
stuff that as you’re learning as you’re building
your brand consumers love to see that Journey they

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00:30:28,500 –> 00:30:32,640
love to see the behind the scenes of even like
that you’re attending a webinar today to learn

327
00:30:32,640 –> 00:30:37,020
about this thing that you’re tasting some wines
to figure out what you want your wine profile

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00:30:37,020 –> 00:30:42,540
to be like right that is awesome content to be
using in advance to help build your brand get

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00:30:42,540 –> 00:30:46,860
people curious about you before you even have
a product to sell yeah you know they often say

330
00:30:46,860 –> 00:30:52,680
that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago
and the second best time is today yeah absolutely

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00:30:54,660 –> 00:30:58,020
all right so let’s bring this to life with
a little bit of a personal example here a

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00:30:58,020 –> 00:31:02,340
Spirits one in this case um so a few years
ago Evan and I were at a bar in San Francisco

333
00:31:03,240 –> 00:31:05,880
um sitting at the bar chatting
with the bartender as we often do

334
00:31:06,660 –> 00:31:10,920
um and since it was a slow evening we asked him
if there were any new craft spirits that we maybe

335
00:31:10,920 –> 00:31:14,940
haven’t tried or that he was excited about
um and he immediately brought out a couple

336
00:31:14,940 –> 00:31:20,160
of bottles from Leopold brothers in Colorado and
started to enthusiastically tell us their story

337
00:31:20,160 –> 00:31:25,440
he went on and on about how they have a molten
floor at their Distillery and rattled off some

338
00:31:25,440 –> 00:31:29,940
unique products they made in addition to kind
of the standard Spirit lineup his excitement

339
00:31:29,940 –> 00:31:35,700
about this brand was palpable and his excitement
about the people who worked there Shone through

340
00:31:36,300 –> 00:31:41,580
so it likely comes as no surprise that about a
year later when we were in Denver for a conference

341
00:31:41,580 –> 00:31:46,560
we remembered these stories because these are the
things that people remember they remember stories

342
00:31:46,560 –> 00:31:51,180
there’s a reason we all love to watch movies
we love to read books right storytelling is

343
00:31:51,180 –> 00:31:56,580
like one of the earliest ways of communication so
we remembered these stories and made sure to plan

344
00:31:56,580 –> 00:32:01,980
a visit ourselves we had a great time at Leopold
brothers Distillery getting to know the brand and

345
00:32:01,980 –> 00:32:06,780
tour their facilities and lo and behold we came
home with a few bottles to add to our home bar

346
00:32:07,320 –> 00:32:12,240
this is the magic of brand storytelling
especially at on-premise accounts in action

347
00:32:12,240 –> 00:32:17,520
but it is a long game right like this was
a year in the making of us getting bottles

348
00:32:17,520 –> 00:32:21,600
to our home and that’s why it’s so important
to be doing this stuff constantly and early

349
00:32:24,360 –> 00:32:31,800
all right so uh myth number four traditional
sales calls and lots of them are required

350
00:32:32,460 –> 00:32:35,580
the belief underlying this myth
is that you need to be constantly

351
00:32:35,580 –> 00:32:40,920
pitching and calling on accounts sure
for important accounts it is critical

352
00:32:40,920 –> 00:32:46,620
if you’re following our 80 20 rule then you
have fewer accounts to call on making regular

353
00:32:46,620 –> 00:32:51,360
sales calls a little bit more feasible but in
today’s market there are even better ways to

354
00:32:51,360 –> 00:32:57,300
approach account acquisition and ongoing support
that can lead to better results for Less effort

355
00:33:00,120 –> 00:33:04,680
so the reality to counter this myth is that you
have to use technology and modern marketing to

356
00:33:04,680 –> 00:33:10,200
your advantage marketing activities and campaigns
should also be created with a focus on reaching

357
00:33:10,200 –> 00:33:15,660
trade members remember they are people just
like consumers and this is something that we

358
00:33:15,660 –> 00:33:22,560
find time and time again distribution has such
like deep roots in our country because of the

359
00:33:22,560 –> 00:33:27,960
three-tier system because of all of this that
so many people are just thinking about this the

360
00:33:27,960 –> 00:33:33,660
way it was 20 years ago 30 years ago 50 years
ago because it is so deeply ingrained in our

361
00:33:33,660 –> 00:33:40,500
industry and so if you can be one of those makers
that breaks out and really starts to use modern

362
00:33:40,500 –> 00:33:45,660
marketing modern technology in order to help your
distribution efforts things like lead generation

363
00:33:45,660 –> 00:33:51,480
Facebook advertising landing pages email marketing
trade events if you’re doing those things you are

364
00:33:51,480 –> 00:33:55,800
immediately putting yourself A Step Above of I
would say 80 of the people in the industry yeah

365
00:33:57,180 –> 00:34:01,620
so let’s talk here for just a little bit
about Facebook lead generation ads what

366
00:34:01,620 –> 00:34:06,660
are they so they look like regular ads
but upon clicking through the user sees

367
00:34:06,660 –> 00:34:10,800
a form that’s often partially filled out with
info that they previously shared on Facebook

368
00:34:11,460 –> 00:34:17,220
additional requested info can be inputted into
the forum or it can be submitted as is and this

369
00:34:17,220 –> 00:34:22,320
indicates the user’s interest in whatever it is
you’re offering in that app in doing so they are

370
00:34:22,320 –> 00:34:26,820
opting in to receive information on what you’re
promoting be it a download event information

371
00:34:26,820 –> 00:34:34,260
sales sheets a portfolio tasting a Vineyard
visit so for these ads it’s important you offer

372
00:34:34,260 –> 00:34:38,940
some them something in of value in exchange
for them providing you with their information

373
00:34:42,720 –> 00:34:46,200
I know really advertising to trade

374
00:34:46,980 –> 00:34:53,700
yes so using lead ads you don’t have to personally
call on every potential Wine Bar restaurant Bottle

375
00:34:53,700 –> 00:34:59,760
Shop Right remember the staff at your target
accounts are people too marketing to them works

376
00:34:59,760 –> 00:35:04,020
just like marketing with consumers when done
right they’re on Facebook they’re on Instagram

377
00:35:04,020 –> 00:35:09,900
they are subscribers to mailing lists so this
approach Fosters awareness and interest in your

378
00:35:09,900 –> 00:35:15,480
brand in a more efficient and less intrusive
way it gets you away from kind of cold calling

379
00:35:15,480 –> 00:35:18,300
right it gets away from like calling them up
and being like can I come in and showcase you

380
00:35:18,300 –> 00:35:22,260
my portfolio and build a relationship with them
in the way that they build relationships with

381
00:35:22,260 –> 00:35:26,580
other brands in every other part of their life
it also allows you to vet potential accounts

382
00:35:26,580 –> 00:35:31,320
before spending time on relationship building
in person which saves you time and energy and

383
00:35:31,320 –> 00:35:35,820
so as a result you’re more likely to reach the
right people with less time and fewer resources

384
00:35:39,900 –> 00:35:44,400
now that you know what lead ads are and how
they work how do you go actually about actually

385
00:35:44,400 –> 00:35:49,320
identifying your target trade audience this is
critical and using the targeting tools available

386
00:35:49,320 –> 00:35:54,900
with Facebook advertising allows you to Target
effectively these are three smart ways to Target

387
00:35:54,900 –> 00:36:01,380
with lead ads on Facebook first is the basic core
audiences using Facebook’s plethora of information

388
00:36:01,380 –> 00:36:07,560
that they have on everyone um to find Targets
that are exactly who you want for trade think

389
00:36:07,560 –> 00:36:13,860
about demographics like job titles such as a bar
manager or a restaurant owner a bottle shop owner

390
00:36:14,760 –> 00:36:20,400
um even businesses uh I’m sorry even behaviors
like being a Facebook business page admin

391
00:36:21,300 –> 00:36:25,560
um next there are custom audiences these take
existing customer lists that you already have

392
00:36:25,560 –> 00:36:30,840
think of things like your mailing list your
wine club members tasting your visitors um or

393
00:36:30,840 –> 00:36:36,180
in the instance of trade existing trade account
contacts and essentially finding them on Facebook

394
00:36:36,840 –> 00:36:40,800
now you might be asking yourself why would you
need to advertise to people that you already

395
00:36:40,800 –> 00:36:45,360
have in your database and already are aware of
your brand well one reason is to bring us to our

396
00:36:45,360 –> 00:36:50,280
third marketing approach I’m sorry third targeting
approach which is incredibly powerful and often

397
00:36:50,280 –> 00:36:57,060
underutilized look-alike audiences essentially
this allows you to take existing audience who you

398
00:36:57,060 –> 00:37:03,120
already have in your database that respond well to
your messaging your brand and expand your Audience

399
00:37:03,120 –> 00:37:08,040
by finding look-alikes or people that have similar
demographics interests and behaviors to Target

400
00:37:09,000 –> 00:37:13,020
let’s pause here for a minute because there’s a
lot of information and it’s a little Technical

401
00:37:13,020 –> 00:37:19,440
and things that some people may not be doing
any questions concerns thoughts on this here

402
00:37:23,580 –> 00:37:24,120
okay

403
00:37:27,300 –> 00:37:31,080
all right so once you have your
lead ads running it’s important

404
00:37:31,080 –> 00:37:34,500
to have an email marketing plan
for leads and accounts in place

405
00:37:34,500 –> 00:37:39,540
a good CRM system lets you keep track of accounts
and contacts within each account to see where

406
00:37:39,540 –> 00:37:43,920
they are on your lead funnel and ensure you’re
nurturing them continue them on to the next phase

407
00:37:44,520 –> 00:37:49,440
meaning you can update their status input
information about their preferences track

408
00:37:49,440 –> 00:37:54,840
meeting notes and outcomes interests and even
personal details so that you can talk to them in

409
00:37:54,840 –> 00:37:59,460
a more relevant and personal fashion both through
email but also when you talk to them in person

410
00:38:00,240 –> 00:38:05,400
and it’s imperative that you have the ability to
run drip email campaigns with your CRM meaning

411
00:38:05,400 –> 00:38:11,460
automated emails triggered by specific actions or
timing that you set in advance otherwise you’re

412
00:38:11,460 –> 00:38:16,800
constantly having to create and send unique emails
one by one when you get new leads and no one’s got

413
00:38:16,800 –> 00:38:23,520
time for that so this combination of lead ads and
email marketing is incredibly powerful it moves

414
00:38:23,520 –> 00:38:27,600
you away from the old school account management
approach of rolodexes and spreadsheets and let

415
00:38:27,600 –> 00:38:31,680
you keep track of and engage with accounts in
a personalized way and in an automated fashion

416
00:38:33,900 –> 00:38:40,260
so I want to spend just a little time talking
about on-premise accounts eighty percent of all

417
00:38:40,260 –> 00:38:44,520
wines sold on premise is sold by the glass
and this is a remarkable thing because of

418
00:38:44,520 –> 00:38:51,180
its low-cost point of entry um there’s a lot of
common complaints among Distributors and I would

419
00:38:51,180 –> 00:38:57,240
imagine among the wineries that self-distribute
with regard to the sticking of your product

420
00:38:58,020 –> 00:39:03,780
um how much time it takes to develop those
relationships um but the overlooked benefits

421
00:39:03,780 –> 00:39:09,480
I feel like are worthwhile to give it a second
go if you’ve kind of given up on on premise

422
00:39:10,260 –> 00:39:14,760
um that low-cost Point eventually encourages
experimentation and trial and it strengthens brand

423
00:39:14,760 –> 00:39:20,820
recognition um the main thing that I would I guess
caution or advise is that when you’re talking to

424
00:39:20,820 –> 00:39:27,540
on-premise accounts remember that service is
Paramount uh in all of them and they expect the

425
00:39:27,540 –> 00:39:33,780
same level of service that they deliver to their
guests so the bullet points there are on the right

426
00:39:34,440 –> 00:39:39,540
um just kind of briefly underscoring some of
their importance uh respect their time when you

427
00:39:39,540 –> 00:39:45,840
do your homework and you know their list before
you call on them you can be aware of potential

428
00:39:45,840 –> 00:39:50,220
products that you offer that could supplement
their list essentially holes in their list

429
00:39:51,120 –> 00:39:58,080
um focus on their needs don’t pitch your wine go
in there and ask questions and going back to the

430
00:39:58,080 –> 00:40:01,920
first point don’t ask questions you should already
know the answer to if you’ve done your homework

431
00:40:01,920 –> 00:40:04,260
but by asking questions you can
help them get what they need

432
00:40:05,280 –> 00:40:11,040
um be accessible I can’t tell you how many times
we were out of a product or the distributor was

433
00:40:11,040 –> 00:40:16,320
out on a product when I was a wine buyer and I
would call other Distributors and the first one

434
00:40:16,320 –> 00:40:21,420
that answered the phone got that got that sale
for that week and maybe going forward so jump

435
00:40:21,420 –> 00:40:27,120
balls go to the first person to answer the phone
um if you promise a case of wine to be delivered

436
00:40:27,120 –> 00:40:33,900
on Friday make sure it is even if it means that
you’re taking a drive and next don’t run out of

437
00:40:33,900 –> 00:40:38,160
product there’s an exclamation point next
to that because it is pretty important uh

438
00:40:38,160 –> 00:40:42,600
inventory is a tiny fraction at on-premise
locations compared to retailers each of them

439
00:40:42,600 –> 00:40:48,000
you know and not a stock item in a restaurant
is just like taking money out of their pockets

440
00:40:48,600 –> 00:40:55,320
additionally reprinting 300 menus because you
sold 20 cases of wine to a retailer and now you

441
00:40:55,320 –> 00:41:00,540
don’t have enough of that product to last until
the release of the next vintage and that means

442
00:41:00,540 –> 00:41:05,760
that when that next vintage is released it’s not
going back on the list there neither are any of

443
00:41:05,760 –> 00:41:12,720
your other wines ever so be aware that if you have
an on-premise uh especially if it’s by the glass

444
00:41:14,220 –> 00:41:20,280
don’t sell that wine in in excess anywhere
else make sure you know the depletions at that

445
00:41:20,280 –> 00:41:24,840
on-premise location and build a relationship
that way follow up after the sale you know

446
00:41:24,840 –> 00:41:28,440
especially if it’s a new account make sure that
they don’t have any questions about your product

447
00:41:28,440 –> 00:41:35,280
or are curious about anything else and then uh the
price is the price um don’t quote a price and then

448
00:41:35,280 –> 00:41:39,000
invoice for a different price it’s probably
less common when you’re self-distributing but

449
00:41:39,000 –> 00:41:44,580
it happens way more frequently than you would
ever believed is possible uh with Distributors

450
00:41:45,660 –> 00:41:49,620
um and it’s a great way to guarantee that your
placement will be fleeting and service after

451
00:41:49,620 –> 00:41:53,040
the sale I just want to double down on that for
a second it’s important right I feel like a lot

452
00:41:53,040 –> 00:41:59,340
of people are like yes I got in at this restaurant
done and then they walk away go there for dinner

453
00:41:59,340 –> 00:42:03,540
right tell your friends to go there for dinner and
have your want and ask for your wine go just get

454
00:42:03,540 –> 00:42:07,620
a glass of wine at the bar when you know it’s a
slow afternoon and get to know the bartender get

455
00:42:07,620 –> 00:42:11,640
to know the people who are representing your wine
in a casual way so that you can kind of help this

456
00:42:11,640 –> 00:42:17,160
like these are customer service professionals
right like they really relate to good customer

457
00:42:17,160 –> 00:42:21,420
service and so if you can provide that you’re
going to stand out and especially because remember

458
00:42:21,420 –> 00:42:27,000
you were competing against big boos and big booze
has a lot more resources than you do so they have

459
00:42:27,000 –> 00:42:31,500
a whole team of people whose job is to do have
this kind of stuff and provide great customer

460
00:42:31,500 –> 00:42:35,220
service and make sure they’re answering the phones
and all of that and so you have to make sure you

461
00:42:35,220 –> 00:42:39,180
level up your kind of service game in order to
compete and that’s where the 80 20 rule comes

462
00:42:39,180 –> 00:42:44,160
back into play if you’re just focused uh you
know on three or four on-premise accounts it’s

463
00:42:44,160 –> 00:42:48,360
a lot easier than trying to do two dozen um you
can only go out to dinner so many places service

464
00:42:48,360 –> 00:42:53,280
after the sale and other fun kind of anecdote
when I was a wine buyer there was a rep that

465
00:42:53,280 –> 00:42:57,960
um got a placement on our list and he wanted
something by the glass but his offerings were

466
00:42:57,960 –> 00:43:02,340
a little high-end and couldn’t swing that and he
would come in and sit at the bar probably once a

467
00:43:02,340 –> 00:43:06,300
week and order a bottle of his wine pour
himself a little glass and then wait for

468
00:43:06,300 –> 00:43:11,160
somebody else to come and sit down next to him
and he would start talking about his wine and

469
00:43:11,760 –> 00:43:15,960
pour it for them he didn’t talk about the fact
that he was Distributing it or that he represented

470
00:43:15,960 –> 00:43:20,340
it he’s just talking about how much he liked it
and frankly I liked it a lot too and he shared it

471
00:43:20,340 –> 00:43:24,840
with people and they liked it and then they they
would sit down at their table and lo and behold

472
00:43:25,440 –> 00:43:30,600
you know a ticket would come through for a bottle
of wine to go to that table um yeah you were you

473
00:43:30,600 –> 00:43:37,680
the your own best marketer for your brand for sure
all right our last myth here is that marketing

474
00:43:37,680 –> 00:43:41,880
comes after distribution Travis you are already
ahead of the game here and I’m proud of you for

475
00:43:41,880 –> 00:43:46,980
that um so the belief underlying this myth is
that you need to have a product first distribution

476
00:43:46,980 –> 00:43:51,540
second and then you’ll start marketing your brand
because what’s the point of marketing if there’s

477
00:43:51,540 –> 00:43:57,780
nothing anyone can buy right wrong marketing
is a long game and it takes a while to move

478
00:43:57,780 –> 00:44:02,580
consumers and accounts through the ever important
consumer Journey building a brand and creating

479
00:44:02,580 –> 00:44:06,060
demand via marketing is something that should
start before you even have something to sell

480
00:44:08,040 –> 00:44:12,780
so imagine you’re a buyer and a winemaker comes
into your business telling you that they’re brand

481
00:44:12,780 –> 00:44:21,000
new and full of excitement and information what
is this buyer here nobody knows you uh there’s

482
00:44:21,000 –> 00:44:26,280
a huge risk here that despite perhaps loving your
wine and your story that your product will sit on

483
00:44:26,280 –> 00:44:32,220
their shelf collecting dust now imagine you’re
a buyer and a winemaker comes in and tells you

484
00:44:32,220 –> 00:44:37,560
that they’re new and but they have a local
following of 2 000 people on social media uh

485
00:44:38,520 –> 00:44:45,360
2 000 people on Instagram 2500 on Facebook and
a mailing list of 500 people and they get four

486
00:44:45,360 –> 00:44:54,360
inquiries a week asking where consumers can buy
their wine as a buyer this shows me that you are

487
00:44:54,360 –> 00:44:59,760
a Savvy business owner who’s doing the work and
therefore is have higher probability of success if

488
00:44:59,760 –> 00:45:05,400
you can share your marketing plan and show these
accounts how it will help them and provide assets

489
00:45:05,400 –> 00:45:11,340
for them to use in tandem with your marketing
efforts all the better you know the second example

490
00:45:11,340 –> 00:45:16,140
is definitely someone I would prefer to partner
with so our successes can be shared absolutely

491
00:45:18,660 –> 00:45:23,100
all right so as you start gaining accounts
a great marketing tactic to focus on that

492
00:45:23,100 –> 00:45:27,120
is a win-win for you and your new account
is suggesting a co-hosted maker feature

493
00:45:27,660 –> 00:45:31,800
these can be winemaker dinners tasting events
educational evenings game nights and more

494
00:45:32,460 –> 00:45:36,960
I know many wine makers like to stay behind
the scenes but whether you like it or not

495
00:45:36,960 –> 00:45:44,220
your winemaker is your best asset for drawing in
and creating loyal fans now on the other hand I

496
00:45:44,220 –> 00:45:48,060
know some winemakers love to be kind of out
in front of everyone and those are the ones

497
00:45:48,060 –> 00:45:56,520
who are chasing these types of maker features
down but maker features can only be successful

498
00:45:56,520 –> 00:46:02,160
if they are highly targeted otherwise they are a
giant waste of time so make sure again like we’ve

499
00:46:02,160 –> 00:46:06,840
been talking about this whole presentation about
how to make sure it’s the best fit for your brand

500
00:46:09,000 –> 00:46:13,200
now also when it comes to designing events you
want to think about the big picture and focus

501
00:46:13,200 –> 00:46:18,540
on relationship building and of value so this
can mean even teaming up with other wineries

502
00:46:18,540 –> 00:46:23,280
to have an event that focuses on a particular
wine style and that’s the marketing power of

503
00:46:23,280 –> 00:46:29,520
all the brands involved bring consumers in win
win win and I know a lot of people are reticent

504
00:46:29,520 –> 00:46:33,000
to kind of partner with other brands because
they want to get the consumer like don’t think

505
00:46:33,000 –> 00:46:37,920
that way Rising Tides lifts all boats um and it
really especially in the craft industry is true

506
00:46:39,540 –> 00:46:45,000
yeah now it’s also important as with any
marketing tactic um to Define your success

507
00:46:45,000 –> 00:46:50,100
criteria before the event itself are you hoping
to sign up mailing list members get people to

508
00:46:50,100 –> 00:46:54,240
join your wine club or simply get people asking
about where to buy and about your tasting room

509
00:46:54,240 –> 00:46:59,280
for a more qualitative measure of that night’s
success knowing what success looks like will help

510
00:46:59,280 –> 00:47:03,600
you prepare for it and more likely to achieve it
with any maker features that you participate in

511
00:47:05,760 –> 00:47:09,720
some thoughts to leave you with here uh
keep in mind it’s important to research

512
00:47:09,720 –> 00:47:13,200
and be highly familiar with both
Federal and State tide house laws

513
00:47:14,760 –> 00:47:20,760
it sounds like you know Dorothy you’ve got
a leg up on others perhaps in this category

514
00:47:21,660 –> 00:47:26,760
um so whether whenever you’re considering
including any account in advertising um

515
00:47:26,760 –> 00:47:33,120
public advertising versus like a one-on-one email
or email marketing even if it’s free like a social

516
00:47:33,120 –> 00:47:39,960
media post it’s always considered a thing of value
thing of value yeah in many states uh mentioning

517
00:47:39,960 –> 00:47:46,200
less than three retail outlets in a marketing is
prohibited unless it’s tied to ticket sales for an

518
00:47:46,200 –> 00:47:55,140
event so simply saying go buy my wine at XYZ store
is oftentimes illegal I mean even the whole like

519
00:47:55,140 –> 00:47:59,580
we just got a new account and now we’re being
carried at this store like look it up for your

520
00:47:59,580 –> 00:48:04,080
state it varies state by state but it’s very risky
and people get big fines when they they do it

521
00:48:05,400 –> 00:48:12,300
um it’s also important to have a little empathy
for yourself here we know this is a lot yeah

522
00:48:12,300 –> 00:48:16,680
um but if you keep in mind the distribution is
only one part of the marketing ecosystem and

523
00:48:16,680 –> 00:48:21,300
find marketing Partners you trust that you
can lean on uh so that you’re not tackling

524
00:48:21,300 –> 00:48:26,820
and thinking about all of this in a silo by
yourself it really helps remember we have our

525
00:48:26,820 –> 00:48:31,140
free private craft makers marketing Community
uh where you can chat with fellow winemakers

526
00:48:31,140 –> 00:48:36,300
and get real-time advice uh it’s just one of
the many options available to you uh or make

527
00:48:36,300 –> 00:48:39,540
friends with other local wine makers as
we were kind of just discussing and talk

528
00:48:39,540 –> 00:48:45,300
about distribution and teaming up and marketing
your wines uh so that you can get wings and uh

529
00:48:45,300 –> 00:48:48,900
you know create and build support
and loyalty in your communities

530
00:48:52,080 –> 00:48:56,640
so just to remind ourselves again of these myths
and the realities I’m not going to walk through

531
00:48:56,640 –> 00:49:00,660
them one by one because I want to make sure we
leave a little time at the end for questions but

532
00:49:00,660 –> 00:49:05,760
these are the five myths we hope that these myths
are kind of banished from your brain and now you

533
00:49:05,760 –> 00:49:10,020
have embraced these new realities and are willing
and excited to start learning what you need to

534
00:49:10,020 –> 00:49:14,100
learn and like especially with the technology and
tools and kind of modern marketing available to

535
00:49:14,100 –> 00:49:20,580
you to be one of the Distributors who is living
in this kind of new modern world of distribution

536
00:49:22,500 –> 00:49:30,600
and in summary um when it comes to distribution
even if you are a distributor your Mantra should

537
00:49:30,600 –> 00:49:36,840
be if it’s going to be it’s up to me you’re
responsible for building distribution you’re

538
00:49:36,840 –> 00:49:41,040
responsible for generating demand you’re
responsible for Learning and welcoming

539
00:49:41,040 –> 00:49:46,500
Innovative tools to help Drive distribution
and sales more effectively and efficiently and

540
00:49:47,280 –> 00:49:53,580
most importantly perhaps remember you and your
team are the best people to Market your brand make

541
00:49:53,580 –> 00:49:58,140
the most of the opportunity to self-distribute
that’s really cool or work with a distributor

542
00:49:58,140 –> 00:50:02,580
who learns with your goals distribution in and
of itself though is not valuable getting the

543
00:50:02,580 –> 00:50:07,740
consumer sales is what the end goal is and we hope
what we share today will help you do just that

544
00:50:10,620 –> 00:50:15,480
all right thank you again Iowa wine growers
association for hosting this um there’s a

545
00:50:15,480 –> 00:50:18,900
reminder of our upcoming webinars as well we
hope to see some of you there and how you can

546
00:50:18,900 –> 00:50:23,760
stay connected with us here at the crafty cast but
otherwise let’s open it up to questions and we are

547
00:50:23,760 –> 00:50:29,640
happy to stay an extra few minutes if anyone else
wants to um but yeah the floors the floor is yours

548
00:50:31,380 –> 00:50:36,000
go ahead and unmute if you have questions we
have a smaller group so it’s fine to do that

549
00:50:39,960 –> 00:50:49,260
one thing I found interesting was the um targeting
to your uh like retailers on Facebook I mean most

550
00:50:49,260 –> 00:50:55,500
wineries know how to Target to Consumers um but
I guess I never really thought that many would

551
00:50:55,500 –> 00:51:01,020
be targeting to retailers yeah and it’s it’s
true a lot of people don’t think of that and

552
00:51:01,020 –> 00:51:05,040
it’s actually something I learned from someone
else in the industry who has like 30 plus years

553
00:51:05,040 –> 00:51:11,040
of distribution and sales kind of marketing
expertise and this is one of his biggest

554
00:51:11,040 –> 00:51:15,720
recommendations is that like put your marketing
hat on and the way that your marketing consumers

555
00:51:16,260 –> 00:51:21,240
think about how you can do all those things with
trade and it really can supercharge your results

556
00:51:21,240 –> 00:51:25,380
yeah much of his time was spent with a little
company you may have heard of called constellation

557
00:51:27,480 –> 00:51:33,480
so they’ve they’ve figured it out and it is a
you know an interesting paradigm shift but it’s

558
00:51:33,480 –> 00:51:40,740
remarkable to see that like we were saying trade
members were people too um and tweaking that that

559
00:51:40,740 –> 00:51:45,240
messaging just a little bit can be just as
effective as talking directly to Consumers

560
00:51:48,840 –> 00:51:55,800
any questions I was going to comment about the
storytelling portion because we are in Iowa

561
00:51:55,800 –> 00:52:01,500
and a few not everybody um has like a small farm
background but I know a few of the wineries do and

562
00:52:01,500 –> 00:52:06,420
I know that that’s going to be a heavy portion of
my marketing getting started is telling that story

563
00:52:06,420 –> 00:52:12,480
like I have a small Vineyard planted out there
now um but going forward that’s something that I

564
00:52:12,480 –> 00:52:19,260
think is a tool that a lot of us could utilize um
as far as connecting with customers and yeah and

565
00:52:19,260 –> 00:52:22,680
it’s hard to do for a lot of people so I always
joke that a lot of times you know whenever I

566
00:52:23,460 –> 00:52:27,720
remember my clients are thinking about taking on
potential clients or new students or whatever you

567
00:52:27,720 –> 00:52:30,780
go to their website they go to their
social media feeds I kind of look at

568
00:52:30,780 –> 00:52:37,740
them and I can’t tell you how often the about us
is either missing which like blows my mind that

569
00:52:37,740 –> 00:52:45,420
there’s no about us or it’s like so direct
and to the point I’m passionate about wine

570
00:52:46,860 –> 00:52:54,120
I decided to start a winery you know and and then
I’ll have a chat with them and especially if we

571
00:52:54,120 –> 00:52:58,920
have a chat over a drink and as we’re talking
I’ll be asking some proving questions and all of

572
00:52:58,920 –> 00:53:02,580
a sudden I get these little nuggets of like yeah I
went on this trip to France when I was in college

573
00:53:02,580 –> 00:53:07,080
and it really you know seeing all those Vineyards
everywhere and all of a sudden these little

574
00:53:07,080 –> 00:53:12,000
details come out and I’m just like those are the
parts of your story that is going to make people

575
00:53:12,000 –> 00:53:17,640
connect with you but when it’s yourself you think
your story that everyone else has a similar story

576
00:53:17,640 –> 00:53:21,780
and it’s nothing special and it’s no big deal and
you have a hard time pulling that out so it often

577
00:53:21,780 –> 00:53:25,680
is really helpful what we teach in our our class
on this that’s all about building your Brand Story

578
00:53:26,340 –> 00:53:30,060
um what we teach in this class is like
to really a you have a whole series of

579
00:53:30,060 –> 00:53:33,540
questions to ask yourself and then to have
some conversations with other people right

580
00:53:33,540 –> 00:53:37,140
and and tell them some of your stories
and ask them what they think is compelling

581
00:53:37,680 –> 00:53:40,800
um and it really makes a big difference
but it can be hard to do sure

582
00:53:45,660 –> 00:53:47,040
any accommodation questions

583
00:53:51,780 –> 00:53:56,940
all right well we thank you for joining yeah
yeah we hope you you learned something new today

584
00:53:57,960 –> 00:54:02,400
yeah thank you so much for um this
great presentation Suzanne and

585
00:54:02,400 –> 00:54:07,800
um Evan I think it was really helpful um
as a reminder well it is being recorded

586
00:54:07,800 –> 00:54:11,160
so we’ll share that with you as soon as
we have it and there’ll be a short survey

587
00:54:11,940 –> 00:54:16,020
um as well if you could take a few minutes to
complete that we would really appreciate it so

588
00:54:16,620 –> 00:54:22,020
if any questions do happen to pop up after we
hop off here um please note that you can email

589
00:54:22,020 –> 00:54:27,240
either of us simply at Evan at the craftic ask
or Suzanne with the crafty cast yep we are here

 

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