For some time it’s generally seemed that Twitter has been a poor match for the wine world due to a myriad of reasons. But, according to a recent survey of 150 Catalan wineries by Enodata that was supported by INCAVI (the Catalan wine authority), Twitter is dead last in terms of usage by wineries and has been referred as very a “very bad” experience in general, thus confirming what has largely been assumed to date.
On a scale of one to five, Twitter scored a 2.15. This was very much in last place amongst the eight platforms in the survey which included: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Google Maps, and WhatsApp. The last of the group may seem odd to an American reader but in Spain, WhatsApp is extremely important for businesses. The poor score of Twitter admittedly wasn’t that far behind Facebook at 2.56 and while 79% of the wineries questioned say they have an active Facebook account, it’s only because “Instagram content can be duplicated there”.
Thus it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Instagram was #1 in the survey with 100% of wineries surveyed stating they have an account. Additionally, wineries stated that they think very highly of the platform and use it to promote no end of winery activities, including enotourism.
Twitter’s fall to being used by only 47% of the wineries surveyed shouldn’t come as a surprise given the more newsy, textual aspect to the service. Instagram on the other hand is very visual and able to replicate a sense of wineries in a much more pleasing manner. In asking, Albert Costa, the owner of Vall Llach, and a respondent to the service, what he still uses Twitter for he replied, “We don’t use it much. I mainly just look at news.”
The total of respondents was about 1/4 of all active wineries and those who responded are more likely to actively be using social media in general. There are many important wineries (such as Álvaro Palacios or Clos Erasmus) which have absolutely no presence. Thus while a smaller segment of just Catalunya, it speaks a great deal to social media at large. Despite this, it’s important to reach out to others in wine marketing.
In talking with Heather Daenitz of the excellent newsletter, “The Wine Marketing Field Guide” she started out by stating:
First, I think it’s important to remember that social media platforms naturally ebb and flow in popularity. Twitter has been on the decline for a few years now, and that trend accelerated after Elon Musk purchased the platform, resulting in a spike in toxicity there. People left (and are continuing to leave) in droves.
She’s been working with wineries for some time and on her newsletter, she offers up a great deal of insight into what does and does not work in terms of marketing wineries. It’s real world experience, not just some “Top Five”, TikTok-ish, off-the-hip commentary. This is why her follow-up comment offered even more details that echoed a great deal of what the Catalan survey found:
Setting aside the question of if people are there or not, though, I’ve always felt that not many wine brands are a great fit for Twitter’s format. Platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and Threads require a strong, consistent brand personality to get traction. They’re engagement-driven platforms — you have to actively participate in conversations, not just “post and ghost.” (This is true on all social platforms, but it’s especially true for Twitter.)
Most wineries I’ve worked with (especially here in the U.S.) already struggle with consistently responding to comments on Instagram, a platform where you can get away with posting more than engaging. Twitter’s rapid-fire, real-time culture demands monitoring and replying throughout the day simply to get noticed. That’s a heavy lift most wineries don’t have the staffing or resources to support.
As to whether there are any wineries that are/were doing Twitter well, Daenitz said, “The only wine brand I knew that did Twitter well (at least for a time) was Tablas Creek.”
In follow up with Jason Haas, owner of Tablas Creek, and a very active social media user (wine or otherwise), I asked him if they were still active on Twitter and if so, have they seen a decline in activity since the Elon Musk take over?
We are getting less than one-tenth the engagement that we were on Twitter before Elon Musk’s changes went into effect. We continue to post there because it’s just a few minutes a day to do so, and I believe that we should try to market ourselves wherever our fans choose to spend their time. But it’s effectively dead as a wine community both in terms of reach and interaction. I barely check it myself these days, and it used to be my favorite of the social media sites. [emphasis added]
Given the massive decline in what used to be the second-most popular social media platform, if wineries are looking to reach more people, how can they? Firstly, there are alternatives now. Also, while a group like the wineries in Catalunya are at 100% in terms of using Instagram, there were only 22% of the wineries surveyed who stated they’re using TikTok, but many were also very positive at the system and are looking to grow their activity there if anywhere.
Daenitz, knowing her field does think there’s room to use whatever platform works as long as a winery is realistic about it:
…I do think wineries could be successful on platforms like Twitter or Threads, but only if they prioritize engagement over broadcasting. They’d need to be extremely clear about who they’re speaking to and what type of content they’re creating. […] If a winery asked me today whether they should bother with Twitter, I’d probably say no, simply because the audience just isn’t there anymore.I might recommend Threads, but only if 1. their audience is there, and 2. they can realistically commit the time and energy to actually engage and not just post and hope for the best.
Haas has largely been moving on and despite using Typepad (one of the oldest blogging systems there is) for their excellent blog, he seems ready to try whatever new system comes along:
We have focused on Instagram and Facebook, and increased our presence on LinkedIn. I’ve been experimenting with both Threads and BlueSky, with Threads the more effective at reaching interested people at the moment. I go weeks without checking my BlueSky account. For now BlueSky is a pretty good place to get news (it’s got a lot of writers on it) but not a place to reach customers.
It’s interesting to note that no wineries seem to be taking to Substack despite its rise as a newsletter player and, more importantly, being free. Most seem to want to continue to pay for these services as newsletters continue to be such an important sales channel for wineries and it was interesting that this wasn’t somehow integrated into the Catalan survey.
But it seems that despite Twitter’s failings on most every front (and Facebook very close behind), the wine industry is indeed moving on and seemingly a great deal happier for it.
