What about Guerrilla Marketing for my Wine business ?

[Veronica Woolridge]

Hello guys,


I'm planning to start a commercial winery business in Chicago. I know that marketing is an inevitable part of every business. But when thinking about the cost of marketing, I don't know what to do. Anyone who is new to the business and wishes to run a successful wine firm will have to focus on several aspects including professional input, deep pockets, long-range vision, a thick skin and a solid belief in the end results.

I searched for many cost-effective and more impactful methods of advertisement and marketing in the Google and I found guerrilla advertising as a good option.One of my business partners suggested to go for a company offering guerrilla advertising in Chicago.

What's your opinion about guerilla marketing? Will that works best for our winery business? Is there any other cost-effective marketing techniques that you have tried and succeeded recently? Please let me know your comments and suggestions.

Thanks in advance
.

 

[meadmaker1]

I live less than 45 min from 10 differant wineries ranging from tiny little mom and pop, to the castle at king eastates.
What gets my attention here is the events they hold for charitable causes. Locks of love was one I went to last year. Google it. Folks want to help kids agree kids need help and I get to drink wine while feeling like im helping. Radio stations promoting like its a competition, much of yhe cost covered by thier public service announcement requirement.
gets a pile of folks to your venue.
You give up wine for auctions. Rong toss. Gift baskets, ect.and host the event, get food truck venders to join their few ad dollars maybe a local better than a gargae band music group would even volunteer for the cause.

A little guy could cause a big too do.

 

[Veronica Woolridge]

Wow..Nice suggestions.....I feel that all these will really work for me....Thanks a lot my friend. I will let you know my further plans. Expecting valuable guidance.

 

[JamesGrape]

I’m sure you know you can use social media yourself for no cost other than your time, or you can put some money into it. You should both “listen” and “speak” fo0r your b8sniess on social media platforms.

There is even an e-book about using Pinterest to market a wine business. I downloaded it but have not read it yet - so I can’t comment on its value. It’s called “grow your wine business: learn Pinterest strategy”. It was free for me on Amazon with my kindle unlimited account - not sure if it’s free for all..

One of my favorite exam0les of Guerilla marketing was an award-winning effort from a company in NYC. From memory - If I were to adapt it for you in Chicago as an example - you would make quarter-sized stickers saying money off purchases at your winery (you decide what promotion is right for you). You stick them on quarters and then walk affluent shopping areas and/or your winery neighborhood and have fun dropping quarters on the sidewalk. I believe the thinking was that many people won’t stop to pick up a penny or a nickel, but will pick up a quarter. The statistics of hits and ROI were better than some other forms of advertising. this is also an example of something creative that could probably be tested for small money. I’m not trying to recommend this specifically - but to offer an example of creative Guerilla marketing.

I’ve done advertising in newspapers, yellow pages, and television, etc. for my own businesses in the past. I learned that the more creative you get, the more controversial it can be. For a furniture biz I did an ad campaign called “cheap chairs for cheap butts”. I saw an increase in sales - and I also had someone go out of their way to call and say they would never do business with a place like mine. (I was in a conservative area and believed if one person was offended enough to call, there likely others were offended who didn’t pick up the phone). But other people coming into the store would mention that they loved the ad. The takeaway is that with creative marketing - you just play your hand and roll with it. If you get some blowback, taking money to the bank is a comforting affirmation.