Expanding Social Media Tops Plans Of Moss Adams Survey Respondents

Social media expansion tops the list of longer-term strategies planned for the next three years by respondents to the 2013 Wine Industry Financial Benchmarking Report from accounting firm Moss Adams LLP.

“Almost 70% of participants said they plan to expand their use of social media,” said Rick Boland of Moss Adams. “This isn’t surprising given the emphasis on making deeper connections with wine consumers via Facebook and Twitter as part of a larger direct-to-consumer sales focus by wineries of all sizes.”

Boland noted that “nearly a third of participants are focusing on selling wine in emerging markets such as China or buying a vineyard. For the past several years, we’ve observed a growing interest in selling wine into emerging markets such as China as a new and potentially lucrative sales channel.

“Given the high concentration of family-owned and operated wineries, developing a succession plan received an approximate 25% response rate,” he concluded.