Big Ideas, Big Data, and What Gives Me the Jitters
If there’s anything that energizes a startup, it’s spending time with people who GET what you’re trying to do.
Even if they don’t understand all the details, it’s energizing that they understand how you’re trying to do something different, that it takes time, that there are gallons of elbow grease involved, and that now and again it’s nice to hear encouragement and reinforcement.
It’s even nicer when those same people challenge you to go further.
That’s been the situation these past two weeks, as I’ve traveled to the coast of Portugal for the provocative and invigorating MUST: Fermenting Ideas conference last week, and now on to southern France for the Fine Minds 4 Fine Wines gathering, which starts today.
I don’t know what to expect exactly, and I certainly don’t know what the outcome will be, either short-term or long-term.
Here’s what I do know: Count me in.
Count me in for being challenged and energized, and for being in the room with the people who convene these conversations, and with the people who keep them going.
I’d love for you to be part of that conversation too.
So in last week’s post I shared the start of the presentation I offered at MUST, on how wineries can use the tools and platforms that are fueled by big data in order to sell more wine online. The first 6 suggestions channeled 3 of our data partners with the largest footprints, and the 4 suggestions I’m sharing today round out a “to do” list that, I sincerely hope, generates some useful brainstorming and applications.
Here goes, with tips 7 through 10 on how data can help to sell more wine online.
7. The Rest of the Internet. The tip for wineries: get to know Google Trends, and use it thoroughly and creatively.
A little context: the mission of Enolytics from the very start has been to tap into wine-focused platforms in order to build a more comprehensive picture of consumer behavior and sentiment than has ever been seen before. This is our WHY. If there is an “Enolytics 2.0,” it is to also tap into wine consumer behavior expressed everywhere else, that is, by the people who organically search for wine information on engines like Google.
Moonshot? Heck yeah. Possible? Absolutely, especially with what we already know about machine learning, and the relationships we’re building with incredibly smart people who do exactly that.
8. Wild Cards, by which I mean “Let’s think creatively about the platforms that are tailored to meet my winery’s specific goals.”
Want to increase your presence on social media? Look into #Winestudio, run by sommelier Tina Morey, whose month-long programs generate 13.2 million timeline deliveries and 2200 tweets via a network of 200 contributors.
Want to benefit from the increased traffic generated by wine tourism? Platforms like Winery Passport in the U.S. and Canada, and Visit Vineyards in Australia were literally built to do just that. They already have the data that will be useful to you.
And etc. And etc. And etc!
9. Visualize a Winery’s Own Data. Let’s say a winery gives us access to several years’ worth of their anonymized DTC data. We can build an interactive dashboard for them that is customized according to the priorities that the winery sets out, such as visualizing their performance year over year, month over month, and according to sales channel, such as Amazon versus their wine club. The dashboard is interactive and reflexive, and immediately adjusts to updates and field selections.
10. Vigilance. Yes, it can be useful for a winery to implement these steps. But that usefulness is delimited by how often and how vigilantly it executes. It’s great to do it, but it’s imperative to do it regularly and carefully.
How can we be helpful to you? How can you also join this conversation? Can we brainstorm a strategy? Maybe put you in touch with partners who can provide detailed information?
We’re glad to do any of those things, and to hear what you have to say about things we haven’t even thought of yet.
As always, thank you for reading –