Winery marketing consulting and coaching
Winery marketing consulting is for wineries that want to run their own marketing and do it well. I review your sales, customers and channels, build a wine marketing strategy with you, then coach you or your team as you put it to work.
“I want a clear plan and someone to keep us on it.”
- For
- Wineries selling direct
- Where
- UK, France and USA
- First step
- A free 20-minute call
What's included
- A review of your direct sales, trade sales, website, email list and visitor numbers
- A wine marketing strategy: who you sell to, through which channels, and what comes first
- A plan for the year built around your releases, your events and your budget
- Regular coaching sessions with you or the person running your marketing
- Feedback on emails, web pages, ads and social posts before they go out
- A second opinion on agencies, tools and spending decisions
How I work
You keep the work and the decisions. I bring the strategy, the second opinion and what I've learned selling wine direct. Each session ends with a short list of what to do next.
When consulting is the right fit
Consulting suits you when the work can stay in-house and the direction needs a senior eye.
| Your situation | What we work on |
|---|---|
| You’re the owner and you do the marketing yourself | A short list of priorities that fits the hours you have |
| You have a marketing person who needs senior backup | Strategy, coaching and feedback on their work |
| Sales have flattened and the cause isn’t clear | A review of your channels to find where the growth is |
| You’re launching a vineyard, a wine or a tasting room | A launch plan before the budget gets spent |
| You’re selling into a new country | How buyers in that market shop, and what to change for them |
| You’re working with agencies and want a second opinion | What to ask for, what to pay for and how to judge the results |
How it runs
- We start with your numbers. I look at where your sales come from, who buys, what your website and list do today and what you spend. The marketing audit can form this first step.
- We build the strategy together. You leave with clear decisions on your customers, your channels and your priorities, and a plan for the year laid out around your releases and events.
- I coach you through the work. We meet regularly to review results, solve what’s stuck and set the next steps. Between sessions, you can send me a draft for feedback.
- We adjust as the year goes on. A short vintage, a quiet summer or a sold-out release all change the plan, and we change it with them.
What a wine marketing strategy covers
A strategy is a set of decisions you can act on. Mine fits on a few pages and answers these questions:
- Who are your best customers, and where do you find more of them?
- How much should you sell direct, through the trade and through export?
- What makes your wine worth choosing, in words customers would use?
- Which channels get your time this year, and which can wait?
- How should your prices, offers and allocations work together?
- What will you measure each month to know it’s working?
What I need from you
Your sales figures, split by channel if you have them, and access to your website and email reports.
An honest view of the time and budget you can give this. A plan that fits one afternoon a week beats a bigger one that sits on a shelf.
And one person who owns the work between sessions, because coaching pays off through what gets done.
Who this suits
Owners and teams who like being hands-on and want a wine marketer in their corner.
It suits you best if someone at the winery has time to do the work, or will have soon. If the time isn’t there, my other winery services put the same thinking to work with me doing the delivery, and we can move between the two as you grow.
How you will know it is working
The numbers we pick together in the strategy, reviewed at every session: direct sales, repeat orders, list growth, visits, or whatever matters most to your winery.
You’ll also notice a change in how the work feels. Decisions get quicker, your team knows what comes next, and you spend your budget with a reason behind it.
I spent eleven years in California learning how direct wine sales work, and I trained as a winemaker in Angers. You get both in every session.
Further reading
- Winery marketing ideas that sell more bottles direct Twelve winery marketing ideas that turn one visit or order into repeat direct sales: email capture, release calendars, club tiers, gifting and more.
- How to choose a wine marketing agency: what to ask before you sign What wine marketing agencies do, the questions to ask before you hire one, how they charge, and how to tell which UK wine marketing company fits your winery.
- Winery email marketing: what to send and when A year-round winery email plan: the automated emails every winery needs, a month-by-month campaign calendar, and how to measure what sells.
Questions
- What does a winery marketing consultant do?
- A winery marketing consultant works out where your best sales opportunities are, sets a strategy and a plan to reach them, and guides the people doing the work. You keep control of the marketing and gain senior wine marketing advice whenever you need it.
- Do you advise on winemaking or vineyard management?
- My consulting covers marketing and sales: your customers, your channels, your direct sales and your brand. I trained as a winemaker, so I understand what happens in the cellar, and I bring that understanding to the marketing.
- How is this different from hiring you to do the marketing?
- With consulting, you or your team do the work and I guide it. With my other winery services, I do the work myself. Plenty of wineries mix the two, keeping social and events in-house and handing me the website or email.
- Who attends the coaching sessions?
- Whoever runs your marketing, which at many wineries is the owner. Family members, tasting room managers and new marketing hires are all welcome, and sessions run by video call in English or French.
- Can you help us plan a launch?
- Yes. New vineyards, new wines, a first tasting room and a first move into direct sales all gain from a strategy before the money gets spent.
- Can you help us sell into another country?
- Yes. I work across the UK, France and the US in English and French, so I can guide a French domaine selling to UK customers, or an English vineyard looking at France.
- How do we start, and what does it cost?
- It starts with a free 20-minute call, where we work out how much support makes sense for your winery. I then send you a quote for that scope.
Tell me where you'd like some guidance
A free 20-minute call with me about where your sales could grow, in English or French.