Expert Insights on Winery Digital Marketing

Discover proven digital marketing strategies for wineries. Explore SEO, email, ads, and more to grow your DTC sales and brand visibility online.

Jim Morrison driving classic car with words reading Riders on the Storm

Riders on the Storm: How Smart Wine Brands Are Surviving an Existential Crisis

This article is adapted from a talk originally presented by Polly Hammond and Michael Bourne at the Wine Sales Symposium in December 2024. It has been gently edited for clarity and flow in written form, while preserving the core insights shared live with wine industry leaders. Introduction: What Happens When the Old Playbook Fails? Imagine…

Graphic reads: the Wine Marketer's Radar, CRM 3.0, Abuelas & Anti-AI Campaigns, #SocialOffSocials and the Digital Video Surge

CRM 3.0, Anti-AI Campaigns, and the Digital Video Surge

Welcome back to The Wine Marketer’s Radar, where we decode the most important business, marketing, and consumer stories outside the wine world—and connect the dots to what they mean for your brand. This week, we’re talking about a shift in loyalty marketing, a breakout brand campaign that ditches AI in favor of abuelas, the continued…

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How to audit your winery’s digital marketing spend: Stop wasting money and get real results

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.” This quote may be more than a century old, but for most wineries today, it still hits uncomfortably close to home. At a time when wine marketing is becoming harder every day, and customer acquisition costs are rising,…

Graphic reads The Wine Marketers Radar, Abandoned cart videos, TikTok travel inspo, better personalization & a phone case that flips when you say “cheers.”

Wine DTC Trends: Cart Videos, TikTok, Personalization & Play

Alright, this week we’ve got a lot to talk about — from AI-powered storytelling and social-first travel behavior to YouTube’s media dominance and what personalization actually looks like in 2025. Let’s dive in. Let’s start with a campaign that’s equal parts brilliant and borderline dystopian. Abandoned Nights by AB InBev AB InBev — the world’s…

Graphic reads Data overload kills strategy, influencer budgets soar, Coke revives personalization, the funnel is dead.

Wine Marketing Trends: Data Overload, Influencers & Funnels

Today, four timely updates from outside the wine world, each with real implications for how we plan, influence, and connect with today’s wine buyers. First up from the Drum… Data overload is killing strategy. This is super important for wine. Too often, wine marketers have thought that data equals reports and dashboards. We track open…

Dark Background with Text reading The Art of The Brief

How to Write a Winery Digital Marketing Brief That Works

Why Wineries Need Better Marketing Briefs Editor’s note: What follows is a full transcript of our video, “How to Write a Winery Digital Marketing Brief That Works.” It has been lightly formatted for clarity, but all content reflects the original recording. In a digital landscape where every detail counts, the difference between a successful marketing…

A pink flower seen through a magnifying glass with grass in the background

How To Find a Wine Marketing Company You’re Sure to Love

Here’s a familiar scenario: a winery hires a marketing agency, months of work go by, and then the project falls flat. That’s where we often come in—called in to untangle what went wrong and set things back on track. And let me say, we’re sympathetic to both sides. Agencies generally want to do great work,…

Young blond woman with bright red lips, wearing an orange strapless dress. She is looking up at camera and surrounded by glasses of wine.

The New Rules of Influencer Marketing for Wineries

As influencer marketing for wineries evolve, brands face high stakes in balancing authentic engagement with strict compliance. Here’s what every winery needs to know.

close up of red grape vines along wood post

How Do I Find the Best Wine Marketing Agency for My Winery?

If you’re in the wine business, you know that creating exceptional wine is just half the battle. Getting it into the right hands? That’s where a wine marketing agency comes in. But with so many agencies claiming to be wine marketing experts, how do you find the best wine marketing agency for your needs? Obviously,…

Tired of paying for non-subscribers in Mailchimp? Us too.

Managing a large email list in Mailchimp can be costly, especially when you’re paying for non-subscribers who can’t receive your emails. This is not only a waste of money but also an unnecessary burden on your marketing team. Where do these “non subscribers” come from? In the case of our winery clients, these contacts are…

Wine Bottle Photography: Beyond Pack Shots to Beauty Shots

Here at 5forests, we spend a lot of time assessing how winery photography actually works in the wild: on product pages, in ads, on social, in emails, in search results. Done well, your photography goes well being “looking nice.” It should clarify, seduce, and support the entire customer journey. This article walks you through how…

How to Sell More with Better Winery Photography

In this article, we delve into the power of lifestyle photography for wine brands. We’ll (briefly!) explore compelling research that highlights the impact of lifestyle photography on consumer behavior and helps you get this investment across the line. We’ll discuss how emotional connections, subconscious influences, and storytelling through images can significantly enhance your brand’s DTC…