The Business Case for Social Media.
“….The multiplier effect is also working overtime for Kiwi company Misha’s Vineyard. In world terms, it’s a small operation producing just 10,000 cases of wine per annum. Yet on Twitter Mishas’ Vineyard is rated number 29 in the most influential wineries worldwide and the 40th most followed winery.
Director (marketing) Misha Wilkinson says, “As a result of our use of social media we have:
– Developed one-to-one relationships with wine journalists around th world – many of whom specifically request to visit us when coming to New Zealand;
– Connected with wine distributors in several countries which has resulted in several offers of distribution into various countries;
– Had wine reviews on our wines (and we have some great reviews) retweeted out to thousands of potential customers by our followers;
– Driven hits to our website each week when we post new blogs, wine reviews or press releases and send the links out on Twitter and Facebook;
– Established one-to-one Twitter and Facebook relationships with many restaurants, wine retailers and influential sommeliers – creating demand for our wines; and
– Been able to monitor other winery activities, see event reviews and follow trends.
Anyone that says they don’t have time for social media is just ignorant of what the benefits are” says Wilkinson. “I was sceptical at the outset but tried it so that at least I could make an informed decision”.
Wilkinson says that as a small vineyard Misha’s can’t afford not to use social media as an avenue to build its brand by establishing connections with the media, the wine trade and interested consumers.
“It really is a ‘no-brainer’. There is no cost associated with social media – you just need to put enough time into it initially to figure out how it works and then slowly join the interactive community”.
