I came across a post by Joe Roberts, discussing Social Media and Wineries. While I am new to the wine industry, I am not new to social media. I have been working at a social media company for the past two years.
I agree with Roberts, social media is important for wineries (well any business, really) and I especially love how he refers to social media as "engagement". That is what social media is "engagement." It is reaching out and communicating. But, social media can be scary, it is really putting yourself out there for everyone to see and to comment on. In fact, it sometimes feels like high school.
How do you get past those initial reservations and get started? Start slow, only participate in outlets that you can do 100% – so if you are not interested in Facebook or Twitter, don't create an account that you will never use or update. This doesn't help. Know that it will take a little time to gain momentum.
Think of social media and engagement like old-fashioned client development, but now with a tech twist. Social media is like "word-of-mouth" advertising only now in 140 characters or less.