Early Bird Tickets for the January 17-18 Conference Available Until December 13
November 2, 2023 – The DTC Wine Symposium has announced Workshop Sessions for the 17th annual conference taking place in-person January 17-18, 2024, at the Hilton Concord Hotel in Concord, California. Presented by and a fundraiser for Free the Grapes!, the DTC Wine Symposium is where business leaders can converge to learn new perspectives and network with likeminded leaders with the goal to drive profitable growth.
Participants can expect thought-provoking keynotes, useful workshop sessions, and Town Hall-type discussions on a variety of current topics as well as a tradeshow of the industry’s leading suppliers.
In particular, Workshop Sessions provide practical solutions to common challenges and complement thought-provoking keynote addresses from leaders within and outside the wine industry. This year, the Steering Committee received an unprecedented number of proposals that covered not only buzzworthy topics plaguing the wine industry today, but also will provide participants the tools to put learnings into action after attending the conference.
Confirmed Workshop Sessions so far include:
- Selling to Extravagant Tastes: The Art & Science of Luxury Wine Marketing – Wine is one of the oldest luxury products in the world, but connecting with luxury, or high-end, wine consumers in a DTC environment can be a challenging proposition. This session, hosted by Dr. Liz Thach, will dive into the world of luxury consumers and provide you with a guide to reaching this audience segment. From learning the demographics and characteristics of these consumers, to understanding why they’re attracted to wine, you’ll leave with 2 to 3 luxury wine marketing methods to implement as part of your DTC strategy.
- Eventually We Grow Up: Navigating the Evolving World of Events – While events can be a valuable component of a winery’s marketing strategy, changing customer expectations and market dynamics are challenging wineries to innovate, adapt and engage to remain competitive. This session provides a new guide to marketing and events strategies designed to attract consumers and their evolving expectations, and you will learn how social media and content creation, as well as adapting new technology, can uplevel your events and tastings strategy.
- Digital Marketing Today: Ramping Up for 2024 – In this panel discussion, we present a comprehensive guide on crafting your own digital marketing strategy, especially tailored for the year 2024. Our agenda includes an exploration of current cutting-edge website practices and essential digital tools. Additionally, we’ll equip you with actionable knowledge, allowing you to efficiently implement and play with these tactics, all within the unique context of the wine business.
- You’ve Got Mail: The Five Emails Your Winery Should Be Sending – Do you need a step-by-step guide to taking your winery’s email marketing to the next level? We’ve got the panel for you. In this session, attendees will learn the foundations of a successful email marketing program; essential segmentation strategies, automated email campaigns that nurture prospects into wine club members, and winning frameworks to send emails to your audiences that convert to engagement, sales, and beyond.
- AI and the Winery: Learn the Technology to Enhance – Not Replace – Human Interaction at Your Winery – With the rise of sophisticated technologies, wineries can harness the power of artificial intelligence for the various design elements involved in marketing, packaging and so much more. At the end of this session, participants will learn how to use AI to optimize marketing campaigns, website and blog content with the goal of increasing online sales.
- The True Power of Social Media: Building Community Through Authentic Storytelling – Authenticity is key to attracting – and keeping – your audience engaged. First, you need a strong brand story, and this session will arm you with all the tools you need – from learning how to craft your story, capture customer stories and best practices for creating shareable content – to authentically build your brand
More sessions, as well as information on topics and speakers, will be added to the event website as they are finalized. https://dtcwinesymposium.com/
For more DTCWS updates, subscribe to Free the Grapes! newsletter at https://freethegrapes.org/ and follow the DTC Wine Symposium on LinkedIn, https://linkedIn.com/company/dtc-wine-symposium
About the DTC Wine Symposium
The DTC Wine Symposium is presented by and a fundraiser for Free the Grapes! The event has funded the Free the Grapes’ PR campaign and the Coalition for Free Trade’s legal work (CFT “retired” in 2014 after achieving its goals). Free the Grapes! works closely with industry lobbyists and regional associations to streamline onerous shipping regulations and to increase the number of legal states, which have grown to 47 and represent 98% of the US population. But the organization’s work is not done: three states ban all shipments, and seven states allow shipments but with major restrictions. The conference is the primary fundraiser for Free the Grapes!, which executes state-specific advocacy campaigns encouraging consumers to write to their legislators and works with media and advocacy groups to keep the issue alive in the media in support of favorable legislation. https://dtcwinesymposium.com/
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Media Contact: Ashley Kraynak, Benson Marketing Group, 917.633.6002
