Search Engine Advertising for Wineries

Recently, a client asked us, “What advertising channels can wineries leverage to grow our business?” It was an interesting question that sparked this blog post around the various advertising channels available to the wine industry.

The wine industry is a unique one, with strict regulations around compliance and advertising. This limits the advertising channels wineries can leverage to grow their business. But fear not – there are still plenty of advertising options available that adhere to these regulations.

Across all advertising platforms, it’s important to note that advertising must comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and other standard industry requirements such as age-gating, prohibiting the promotion of excessive consumption, and responsible drinking messaging.

So, what are the advertising platforms that have the least regulations and largest ad inventory for winemakers to leverage to grow their business? Search engine advertising, specifically Google and Microsoft.

📢 Search Engine Advertising (Google & Microsoft):

Search engines allow the promotion of the sale of alcoholic beverages where customers can be directed to purchase on your destination site. Winemakers can leverage Shopping, Search, Video & Image ads to promote their business.

Let’s dive deeper into each advertising campaign type and how winemakers can leverage them to promote their business:

🛒 Leverage a “Shopping Campaign”:

• Display your product images, title, price, store name, and other relevant information to potential customers who are actively searching for similar products to buy.
  • These ads give users a strong sense of the product you’re selling before they click the ad, which gives you more qualified customers visiting your website who are ready to buy.

🔎 Leverage a “Search Campaign”:

• Promote wine tastings by creating ad campaigns that target users searching for relevant keywords related to wine tastings in your area.
  • Keywords to consider include “wine tasting near me”, “local wine events”, or “wine tours”.
  • Layer in your wineries geo-targeting to find customers searching for your services with the right message at the right time.
    

Ex. Robert Mondavi Winery

📹 Leverage a “Video Campaign”:

• Create an engaging and informative video that showcases your winery, vineyards, wine-making process, and the unique features of your wines. On Google, this campaign type is known as a “YouTube Campaign” vs. a “Video Views Campaign” on Microsoft.
  • On Youtube, target relevant placements, such as food and wine channels, wine review channels, wine publication channels, and more. YouTube is great for building brand awareness to attract new customers to their winey based on users who actively show interest on YouTube channels related to wine.

• • On Microsoft, the “Video Views Campaign” is in beta and does not offer as granular of targeting as YouTube. You’re limited to audience targeting around companies, industries and job functions. My advice is to test on YouTube first and scale to Microsoft based on the performance of your YouTube video campaign.

🤳 Leverage an “Image Campaign”:

• Showcase visually appealing images to promote new products or releases to new and existing customers. On Google, this campaign type is called a “Display Campaign” vs. an “Audience Ads Campaign” on Microsoft.
  • Target specific audiences based on demographics, interests and behaviors, such as people who are interested in wine, foodies, or luxury good shoppers.
  • Include a call-to-action that encourages customers to click through to your website to allow users to easily explore, engage, and purchase your products directly on your website.
  • Watch your eCommerce website traffic soar and consider a retargeting campaign based on users who have already visited your website.
    
    

The image ads below clearly highlight the brand, product and strong call-to-action (i.e. “use coupon code”):Ex. TenPercent Wine

While these campaign strategies are great options for advertising, it’s important to keep in mind that compliance is key. All advertising must adhere to relevant regulations, including age-gating and responsible drinking messaging.

Overall, search engine advertising provides a wealth of options for wineries to grow their business. Need help getting started? Our team would be happy to guide you through your first campaign launch. Reach out to us below to learn more.