Everyone loves a great time, especially one that involves wine and a gorgeous destination. So why not host an event to attract people to your winery? People who have never heard of your winery before may explore it and taste the wines. Others who already know and love your wine will join you for a celebration and feel more closely aligned with your winery as they enjoy an entertaining experience. Objectives for holding an event are to attract newcomers, retain existing customers, and to ultimately make some sales.
We will start with the simplest idea, which is when people come to the winery and the kind of visitor experience that you give them. Do you offer tours of your production facility or the farm property? Are there opportunities for hands-on experience? Allowing people to get a peek at your production and what you do helps them understand that you are working hard for your finished product; and then they have a greater appreciation for your wine.
Another idea is to hold a fundraiser at your winery for your charity of choice. Fundraisers are a win-win situation for everyone: the people attending feel good about where they're putting their money, you get people into your winery to see what you have (and ideally become a customer), and the charity that you choose benefits from your support and donation.
Host an event at your winery. Pictured here: Event at Blue Grouse Estate Winery
Throughout the year, themed parties are a favourite. Every season offers some fun reason to get together and dress up. From the Academy Awards in the winter, to a cupid’s ball, or a picnic-themed social, to a harvest party or Halloween bash.
For a more informative event, you can invite outside experts to your winery to give a presentation. This is an age of celebrity, so a well-known expert can attract and engage customers.
Hold a seminar. This is a classic way to get people to taste your wine while educating them. You can have a formal, instructional / tutored or guided tasting led by your winemaking team, or maybe a guest sommelier.
The kind of skill set required to coordinate an event is organized, detail-oriented and able to coordinate things in a calm manner. They should know how to budget and understand how to make sure that the cost of the tickets covers the cost of any rentals, wine poured, and staff that is going to work the event.
These are just a few ideas - what are your thoughts? Have we missed any ideas that have been successful for you in getting audiences engaged and attracting them into the winery?