a wonderful wine tasting was made possible by localized email marketing effort

This wonderful blog post was written a few months ago by Deanna McNeil (@deannie). We are so happy to finally have the opportunity to share it here.

How many times have you gone to a restaurant to enjoy a good meal and the server describes all these delectable specials and then follows that up with, “Would you like wine with that?” I always think, “I would love to have a single glass of wine but will it taste good? Will it mess up my dinner? I have no idea what to get!”  The Ashburn Wine Shop aims to help the average consumer experience a variety of wines by offering weekly wine tastings.

I had signed up to The Ashburn Wine Shop’s email list a while ago and had received an email invitation to an upcoming wine tasting. I whisked away a girlfriend and off we went to experience fabulous wine tasting adventures!

When we arrived at the wine shop, six wines had been set out. Jason, our host, started us on a white wine; we later moved along through all the other choices over the span of the 90 minutes.

At some point, when Jason was pouring out a glass of red wine, I noticed he poured the wine through this weird looking device. What was it? I just had to ask. “It’s a wine aerator. You know how you always hear that a red wine should ‘breathe’ an hour before you drink it. Let me show you the difference when you don’t let the wine breathe.” Jason poured a tiny bit of the red wine in a glass for me to sip. He asked what I thought it tasted like which, I shared, was rather tart.

Then Jason poured some wine through the aerator into my glass. Wow! I could actually taste a difference! The wine indeed tasted much smoother and the flavors seemed more blended and rich. I was amazed. “You see, if you only want one glass of wine, you can use this aerator and then save the rest of the wine for another evening because the bottle wasn’t aired so the wine won’t spoil as fast.”

What a great discovery!

As we tasted the different wines, we of course asked about all the different varieties and learned some cool facts about the vineyards. At one point, Jason pulled out one of the wines, known as “The Sum,” which had been highlighted in his original wine tasting email invitation. I remember this wine exclusively because it had been the wine’s very description which had caught my eye:

Here’s the wine’s email description that caught my attention several weeks ago:

This amazingly well endowed profoundly rich red wine must be smelled and tasted to be believed. The color is a rich, deep purple garnet and gives but a small hint as to what’s inside. The nose gives off soaring and wonderfully focused aromas of ripe stone fruit, vanilla, cherries, cedar cigar box, blackberries and cinnamon. In the mouth, there are layers upon layers of broad, sweet opulent fruit balanced by firm tannins, great acidity and oak. This wine truly showcases the potential of blending and is a must have.

I remember reading that email description for The Sum wine and calling Jason shortly afterward to order two bottles right away despite my hesitation over the price. However, now that I was there at the wine shop and could taste the wine at last, I admit it was indeed delicious. I ended up buying not only the two reserved bottles of wine but *also* the wine aerator and even another accessory: an air pump to seal wine bottles.

In summary, I ended up spending an additional $59 above and beyond the price of the two bottles of wine I had initially ordered.

When considering how best to engage with your customers, do not overlook the power of a well-written email. Here are three key things that, in my opinion, made this localized email marketing effort such a success:

1)  Delivery
I got the email; how many times have you signed up for an email list and never heard from them again?

2)  There was a secondary offer in the email
Using irresistible language that was more powerful than my initial concern about the price; remember I was hesitant about the price of each wine bottle but the content and wine description won me over.

3)  Simplicity
The message was not overwhelming and didn’t make me feel stupid. If you recall from the tale above, I’m hardly a wine connoisseur so the email’s language was easy to follow.

Bottom line: The regular weekly emails from The Ashburn Wine House meet my simple desire to learn more about wines and and pique my interest in trying new things.

When you combine a customer’s latent interest in the product with your enthusiasm and knowledge, it can lead to a customer’s showing up, creating a memorable experience everyone appreciates and returns to enjoy repeatedly.

Salud!