“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, profitable digital marketing is business-critical. And yet, far too many wineries are spending money on campaigns without a clear understanding of what’s working, what isn’t, or why.
This isn’t just about spreadsheets or dashboards. Validating your winery’s marketing spend is about making sure that every tactic, platform, and budget line is contributing to the goals that matter: more qualified leads, better engagement, and stronger conversions (online and off).
In this article, we’ll walk through how wineries can audit their digital marketing spend, identify underperforming investments, and reallocate budget for maximum return. If you’ve ever wondered whether your paid ads, email marketing, or SEO are really pulling their weight—this post is for you.
Contents
What exactly is a digital marketing audit?
A digital marketing audit is simply a structured, practical review of where your winery’s marketing budget is going, how effectively it’s working, and where improvements can be made. Think of it as an annual health checkup for your marketing: a way to ensure your investments actually align with your business goals, not just “marketing-as-usual.”
Why your winery needs a digital marketing spend audit
It’s easy for digital marketing efforts to become routine, and with too many other tasks demanding immediate attention, marketers (and some agencies) default to a set-and-forget approach. Digital marketing inefficiencies go unnoticed without a deliberate audit process. When you regularly audit your marketing spend, you’ll quickly identify wasted dollars, spot underperforming channels, and refocus your resources on efforts that genuinely build your business.
In short, an audit helps you:
- Increase overall marketing effectiveness
- Clarify your budget priorities and spending decisions
- Base your marketing strategy on facts, not assumptions or gut feelings
Key steps to audit your winery’s digital marketing spend
Step 1: Reviewing your marketing goals & strategy alignment
First things first: what exactly is your winery trying to achieve with its digital marketing? Maybe your goal is growing ecommerce sales, driving tasting room visits, or increasing brand awareness. Whatever your objectives, every dollar spent should directly support them.
During this first step, take a clear-eyed look at your current marketing plan and ask:
- Do our current digital channels and campaigns align directly with our goals?
- Is our budget allocation proportional to these priorities, or are we just spreading spend evenly across everything?
Step 2: Channel-by-channel spend review
Next, break down your spend channel-by-channel to see where your money actually goes and how effective those channels are.
- Social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok): Review not just follower numbers, but actual engagement and conversions. Are these channels genuinely driving customers to your door or your site or just creating noise?
- Google ads & PPC: Examine cost-per-click (CPC), conversion rates, and total ROI. Is the money you’re spending resulting in profitable sales, or is it barely breaking even—or worse, losing money?
- Email marketing: Dig deeper than just open rates. Consider click-throughs and actual sales resulting from emails. Are your email campaigns profitable, or just a routine you’re going through?
- SEO & Organic Content: Audit your website traffic and conversions from organic sources. Are your investments in content marketing and SEO strategies paying off, or is traffic minimal or irrelevant?
Step 3: Analyzing campaign performance data
Now, go deeper into the data. Review critical KPIs—especially Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), Cost-per-Acquisition (CPA), Conversion Rates, and actual sales revenue generated by each campaign.
Warning signs to watch for:
- High spend with very few conversions
- Strong clicks or traffic but low sales or inquiries
- Campaigns producing only vanity metrics (likes, impressions) without real business outcomes
Step 4: Identify wasted spending & quick wins
At this point, it’s time to call out waste. You’ll probably discover campaigns, platforms, or strategies that simply aren’t performing, yet still consume significant budget. This step is about honesty and decisiveness. Cut or drastically reduce spend where returns don’t justify the investment.
Simultaneously, look for quick wins—small changes or reallocations that instantly improve results. Maybe shifting budget from ineffective social media ads to Google Search campaigns quickly boosts ecommerce sales. These quick wins prove the value of auditing almost immediately.
Step 5: Benchmarking against industry standards
Finally, benchmark your winery’s results. How does your spending and performance compare with industry averages or best practices?
For example, wineries often ask us:
- “What percentage of my total revenue should I spend on marketing?”
- “What’s a good ROAS for Google Ads?”
- “What email marketing metrics are considered good in the wine industry?”
Having clear benchmarks helps you see if you’re underperforming, overperforming, or right on target—and makes strategic budget adjustments easier to justify internally.
How to act on your digital marketing audit
An audit is useless unless you put it into action. Once you clearly see where your marketing spend is succeeding and failing, it’s time to make strategic changes. Create a straightforward action plan based on your audit findings. Shift your budgets to channels and campaigns with proven results and cut back on ineffective spending.
Crucially, communicate these changes clearly to your team or stakeholders. Help everyone understand the reason behind shifts in budget priorities? Often, demonstrating clear data from your audit is all it takes to get buy-in from even the most skeptical decision-makers.
Common pitfalls wineries face when auditing digital marketing spend (and how to avoid them)
Before you dive into your audit, beware of common traps:
- Not defining clear objectives: Without clear goals, you won’t know if your spend aligns strategically.
- Being seduced by vanity metrics: Likes, views, and impressions feel good but don’t automatically equal sales. Focus instead on metrics tied to actual business outcomes.
- Inconsistent auditing practices: Auditing once and forgetting about it won’t help. Regular, scheduled audits (quarterly or bi-annually) keep your strategy sharp and data-driven.
Putting it all together
Auditing your winery’s digital marketing spend is one of the smartest, simplest things you can do to stop waste and boost profitability. It helps you realign your marketing budget around your real business goals, gives you confidence that your money is working as hard as possible, and ensures you never again wonder if your marketing is truly effective.
Ready to optimize your winery’s marketing spend and stop leaving money on the table? Explore more digital marketing strategies tailored for wineries.
