Over 80% of wine’s social media mentions go unanswered by wine brands. For most wine brands, that’s a massive fail. But those brands who do tap into the bandwidth of tech’s tools, data sets, and platforms are capitalizing on customer engagement, loyalty and, yes, sales.

Another interesting tidbit:

The top 20 wine bloggers have a combined audience that is larger than Wine Spectator online.

I love that wine is intersecting more with social and digital media, and it’s not just because I’m here experimenting with my own online writing. In my day job, I’m a digital editor at a news organization, so it feels like –  for the first time – wine is starting to enter my world a bit (whereas mostly, I’ve been dipping my toes into its world).  As technology constantly evolves, this will be a fun space to watch.

Seeing these discussions at events like the recent Wine Industry Technology Symposium and the upcoming Digital Wine Communications Conference really excites me. And I’m impressed to see – as noted in this Forbes pieces – how much mobile is part of the conversation. The best skill anyone can have in navigating the digital world is understanding how to take control and find the best ways to leverage each specific platform.

A Post Script… 

Also worth noting along side this story is  this speech by Vintank’s Paul Mabray. David White, over at Terroirist, shared it earlier this week. While not a short speech (it’s 74 pages), it was a great read – giving smart and easy-to-understand insight into how the wine industry should be using social and digital platforms.

Wine + Tech: Three Right Ways That Wine Brands Engage Online