The last topic of the conference is “wine blog writing”:
How can wine bloggers better engage their readers?
There has been much debate as to how wine bloggers can better reach out and touch their audiences; however, it seems that many of us are still flailing in the wind wondering if we’re actually being effective. From winery profiles to tasting notes, it’s hard to know exactly what our readers are craving, and if we’re filling their bellies with nourishing information that is both dynamic and pertinent.
Questions come to mind as to whether we are simply regurgitating information, or are we digging deep with some solid investigative reporting? Are wine bloggers prone to pontificate, rather than approaching issues with a light hearted and comical nature? Are we interacting with our readers, or are we simply talking at them? Do we get stuck on issues such as cork taint and modern versus traditional winemaking, as opposed to branching out and looking at subjects not in the mainstream media? Is it worth our time to integrate more alternative approaches to wine blogging such as video, podcasting, photography, illustration, poetry and/or surveys? And finally, do wine bloggers all need degrees in journalism or a masters in wine to gain the respect and trust of their readers, or is personal experience coupled with good interactive content the key to your audience’s heart?
Clearly this is not an easy topic, but my sense is that we all tend to get stuck in a rut, using the same format, style and subject of information, not because it’s necessarily effective, but because it’s what we’re most comfortable with.
Check back here for links to the views of the conference participants or leave us your thoughts in the comments or the forum
5 responses so far ↓
1 Robert McIntosh // Jun 12, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I believe that the blog format is still misunderstood by many consumers; they may be using the internet more and more for research, but they are more confident with the Amazon model - big site, lots of reviews, buy there and then. I am not sure how many read around a topic, nor how many bother to check back regularly. Unless you know how to use RSS/feed readers, it is impossible to stay up to date with more than a few sites regularly.
I think bloggers should maybe agonise less over how and what they write and concentrate on what they want to achieve.
If all you want is a creative outlet (most would at least say this in public), then who cares? Just write!
If you want to be recognised as “the next big thing” and have loads of influence over people’s drinking and shopping habits, then you’ve got to chase fame. You need to shock tactics of Alice Feiring, or the OTT personality of GV. Build your ‘Personal Brand’ and stay on-message.
Finally, if you want to make money or have a commercial impact (for yourself or others), then target your audience, provide them with useful content and then be prepared to wait.
The question of what and how you write is all bound up in who you are and what you want to achieve.
What we do need to think about is how we might write at least certain portions of our content (tasting notes, winery reviews, etc.) in a way that can easily be shared and found. Search engine optimisation, hReview, etc. all fall under this heading. Would this not have better results and bring more readers?
2 ryan opaz // Jun 13, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I agree with Robert, though I also think that innovation will lead to a more engaged audience. I want to see more short videos, slideshows, audio, conversations…and the question for me is how. If the web is to be something different, then we should try to do something different, even if it’s just text and the style of writing. hmmm, need to stew on this a bit..
3 Craig Camp // Jun 13, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I always see blogs as more like columns in the OpEd section rather than news stories on the front page. It’s a mixture of opinion and journalism with a bit of criticism tossed in for good measure. By definition they’re personal. Until you can make a living from it, I think it’s going to be difficult to make it more professional and to implement standards.
4 Bernardo Silveira // Jun 13, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I’m glad to read things like these. The huge amount of work and study I’ve had last months has been keeping me away from writing seriously for the blog, but I’m pretty sure that I shouldn’t change the way I write just to get people’s immediate attention. I DO think, however, that producing content more accessible to anyone and experimenting on new ways to communicate like those suggested by Ryan might be very important for us to get closer to a much broader audience… By the way, I just read Joel Stein’s article on wine notes (as suggested by Vaynerchuck on Twitter: http://poprl.com/6Y) and I think it might be a very good reference for all of us on telling people about the wines we taste…
5 Mike Chapel // Jun 13, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I thoght about this a year ago, and I decided that I will write for me, and perhaps for my friends.
If somebody more would read me , to better, well.
And I write/colaborate in a blog that sell wine
But for me the best is the honestity what I write.
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