Wine Influencers

While in the past, the wine industry was mainly focused on quality to drive sales, the industry is becoming more and more of a brand-driven industry. Therefore wine marketing executives have been turning to some of the techniques, such as influencer marketing, that have been working extremely well for the traditional consumer brands.

There are two types of influencers that the wine industry uses. First, are professionals or experts in the wine industry such as sommeliers. These influencers are often followed by wine enthusiasts who have a mid or higher education level regarding wine. Usually, the messaging regarding this type of marketing is direct. The second type of wine influencers are lifestyle influencers which often are not experts in the wine industry but are looked to for the overall personal brand. These influencers often use more indirect methods of marketing the wine.

While many are unsure the role that influencers should be playing in the wine industry, some companies have successfully built their brand around social media and influencers. For example, The Whispering Angel has built a following around their brand's social media pages which highlight beautiful people traveling the world drinking their wine.



However, the question that many ask is does a social media following and  influencers impact the bottom line? This is the question that is still out as more and more wineries try this method of marketing to get a true representative perspective. However, the early hypothesis is that social media and influencers get the consumer in the door for his or her  first bottle of wine, but is not enough to keep the consumer around.  It is still the belief, that the quality of the wine has a larger impact on repeat purchases compared to social media and influencers.