The goal of this series is to connect with wineries and wine business that use Social Media (Twitter and Facebook) effectively. These interviews can serve as a catalyst to help other wineries and wine businesses to see the benefits (and pitfalls) of joining the social revolution. See all the wineries on Twitter posts here.

O Wines on Web – O Wines on Twitter – O Wines on Facebook

Interview Questions

How long have you been using Twitter?

Personally I’ve been on Twitter for almost 2 years.  We decided to set up the Twitter account for O Wines in January 2010.

What prompted you to dive in?

 We started the O Wines account to engage and interact with the people who love our wine and social cause. O Wines is unique in that it is a charity winery whose sole purpose it to fund educational scholarships for low income, high potential youth.  In fact O Wines donates 100% of net profits toward their cause.   People want updates on the scholarship recipients, new releases, and ways that they can be involved. It is a very social company and wine is social by nature.

What type of strategy or approach do you use when posting content?

Our strategy is to find ways for people to interact with the winery owners or come to tasting event where they can interact with other people.  We also try to post information about blogs that have been written about O Wines and other news worthy information.

What have been the benefits of using Twitter/Facebook? (increased traffic, increased brand awareness, customer connection, etc)

We think the most important part for using Twitter/Facebook has been staying connected to our customers.  Being able to interact with them and share our successes with them is important. Without our customers and fans we would not have a business and 29 young people would not be getting a college education right now. We also feel it is important to make sure you “own” your brand on line, be responsible to the things people are saying about you, and make sure to thank people for helping you out.

Is there a single success story that you can point to with using Twitter/Facebook?

There is no single success for us. Wine is social and it just makes sense to go where your customers are.

What do you think is the single biggest barrier to why we don’t see more wineries actively using Social Media tools?

Using Twitter and Facebook takes time. If you are busy trying to make, brand, and sell all by yourself it probably isn’t the right time for you. I was a volunteer for O Wines so it was easy for them to justify the time. Now that they see the benefit of all the followers and interactions they compensate me for it.

What advice would you give to wineries joining the stream or getting back into the stream?

Have fun! Don’t try too hard to “Get it right” we are all learning and this is just another way to interact with your customers.  We want to know about YOU, that is why we are following you. Share with us what you are up to, keep it simple. If we send you a message or publicly acknowledge you, please try to respond.

Briefly tell us about your winery, a new release, or something unique about you?

Stacy Lill and Kathy Johanson have made it their mission to donate 100% of net profits from the sale of O Wines to establish scholarship funds for low income, high potential young men and women. Each State they sell wine in provides for local scholarships.
The vision is much more…they want to eventually establish an academy for girls where they are safe to learn and experience their dreams of higher education. The model has already been established with what Oprah is doing in Africa. She has paved the way for others to follow. By establishing a similar infrastructure right here in Washington State we hope to encourage others in the United States to follow the lead and begin building for the future of America through knowledge and education.

What is your favorite rock band and why?

Depeche Mode, I am an 80’s girl at heart….