Small Wineries, Big Results: Crafting a Smarter Marketing Plan
July 2025 | 3 min read
🍇Are you spending on marketing .. and just hoping it works?
In today’s challenging business climate, many small winery owners are cutting back wherever they can. But when it comes to marketing, the stakes are high: cut too much, and you risk losing momentum. Spend without a plan, and you may as well be tossing cash into the vineyard wind.
Too often, I see owners relying on what I call “hope marketing.” They send out an ad, launch a promotion, or host an event—and hope it brings in more customers or wine club signups.
It’s a bit like planting a vineyard without knowing your soil, climate, or varietals. You spend the money, put in the work, and pray for a great harvest… but you’re not set up for consistent success.
And then there’s the temptation to copy what big wineries are doing, thinking it must be the “right way” to market. So they hire an expensive marketing consultant—one who’s used to working with large companies—and end up hearing nothing but crickets. It’s like planting Cabernet in a region better suited for Pinot Noir: just because it worked for someone else doesn’t mean it will thrive in your unique conditions.
The good news? As a small winery, you actually have an advantage the big players don’t: you’re nimble. You’re closer to your customers. You can test and tweak your marketing on a small scale without wading through layers of approval or bureaucracy.
So how do you use that advantage wisely? Start with a simple, clear marketing strategy.
✅Four Questions to Build a Smarter Marketing Plan
Think of your marketing like tending your vineyard—each activity should have a purpose, be tracked, and improved over time. Ask yourself:
How much will this program or project cost?
What’s my expectation? Am I aiming for more tasting room visitors, wine club signups, or something else?
How will I measure it? What numbers will tell me if it worked?
How can I tweak this to improve next time?
This doesn’t require fancy software or complex dashboards. Think of it like checking your fermentation: you don’t need a lab full of scientists—you just need a hydrometer and regular tasting to stay on track.
📊Tracking Sales: Your Financial System as a Marketing Tool
Here’s where your financial system can help you make smarter marketing decisions.
One of the Fundamental Five steps in our QuickBooks system is tracking sales by “class.” Many wineries only track two: Distribution and DTC (Direct-to-Consumer). But lumping all your DTC sales into one category is like saying “red wine” without specifying Cabernet, Pinot Noir, or Zinfandel—you lose important detail.
Instead, create sub-classes for each DTC channel: tasting room, online store, wine club, events, farmers markets, etc. That way, you can see clearly which efforts are paying off and where you might need to prune your efforts.
I worked with a winery that broke down their DTC sales like this for the first time. They discovered their local farmers market booth—something they thought of as a “side project”—was outperforming their online store. With that insight, they shifted resources and doubled their wine club signups in one season.
🌱Small Winery, Big Advantage
The beauty of being small is that you can try things on a modest scale, track your results, and adjust quickly. Large wineries might need a year to change course. You can do it in a month.
But here’s the catch: to make smart decisions, you need good data. That’s why tracking and reviewing your results is so crucial.
It’s like winemaking—tasting at every stage helps you adjust before the wine goes into the bottle. Marketing is no different.
🍇Ready to Get Smarter About Your Marketing?
Your financial system can do more than track expenses—it can help you understand what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus your energy.
👉 Learn more about our Fundamental Five system
Because hope is not a strategy—but a smart, simple plan can get you real results.
