“Are You Talking to Me?”

That famous DeNiro scene in Taxi Driver could apply to so much of digital marketing today. Companies everywhere are trying to come up with natty subject lines for their emails that most likely have nothing to do with their target consumer’s interests. As a result, email open and click rates have been declining and are flat at best. 

Why is this happening and what can you do about it?

As an example of what’s wrong, I’ll use the wine industry and its  omnipresent email marketing as an example. There are many others including food and beverage, skincare and beauty, travel and tourism, etc. etc.. But back to wine.

I love wine. I enjoy buying it, drinking it and pairing it with food. I’ve worked with wineries all over the world to help them understand their customers. I am, what I guess you would call, a wine aficionado or wine geek, personally and professionally.

I subscribe to a lot of winery newsletters. I want to learn about them, see what they’re saying, possibly buy (although more likely in a wine store as that’s more enjoyable) and maybe get them as a client. I’m always interested in what they ask of me when I click that box that says “Yes, I’d like to receive emails from you.” 

They don’t ask much, usually just my email address. And that is the source of the problem because they don’t know anything about me. They don’t know what I’m interested in, what I’ve bought (because I haven’t bought anything from them yet), what my tastes are, my level of knowledge, my perceptions and most importantly, they know nothing about why I believe, buy or perceive anything. They know nothing about me, but they persist in sending me emails in hopes they’ll catch my interest.

I’ve identified eight types of emails that wineries send. I don’t think it’s different from any industry that’s trying to woo consumers. Here’s a sampling of what I’ve gotten recently from many, many wineries:

1. Seasonal – Count on emails announcing the perfect wines for any season and the urgency to buy them now:

• Capture a Wine Valley Summer
• A Season Worth Savoring
• Summer Sizzle: Your Favorites are Going Fast
• In the middle of autumn
• Countdown to the harvest
• Your Summer Party Has Range
• Coast-to-Coast Summer Seafood Pairings
• Summer Celebration Library Wines
• Time to Opt In for Our Bonus Summer Allocation!
• 93 Points of Pure Summer

2. Self-focused – Wineries seem confident that their interests are my interests:

• A national honor worth celebrating!
• The story behind our Zinfandel
• Every Bottle Starts Here
• What We’re Drinking Right Now…
• Silt & Stone & So Long
• It All Started With the Paris Tasting…
• Where craft meets character
• Our Regenerative Farming 
• Our Most Awarded Vintage Ever
• Expressions of Place
• A Personal Note from our winemakers
• The Quiet Work of Winter

3. Clever ideas or Turn of a Phrase – These seem to indicate that the writers behind these subjects really don’t know what might motivate me to buy:

• Great Wine Is Better Shared
• Pack the Wine, Make the Memories
• Fire Up the Grill
• Discover Our Next Expression
• Celebrate With Us
• A wine you can drink 90 to 100 years from now, mark my words.
• You play with your heart, you win with your soul
• Cheers to a Year of Great Moments and New Tastes!
• New vintage arrivals, curated for you

4. Wine specific: These are appeals to specific wines the winery is either proud of or wants to unload:

• Your Weeknight 94-Point Oregon Pinot Noir
• Zinfandel from Italy at 10.21% ABV
• 10.21% Italian Zin
• Chill This: Our 2025 Rosé Has Arrived
• Highlights from our Reservist listings

5. Events: These seem to go out without regard for where I or any customer lives:

• A night out with our winemakers
• Library Pre-Release Event
• A very Napa party
• Rock with us this weekend
• Take an Easy, Breezy Day Trip to NY Wine Country

6. Recipes and cooking tips: At least these are self-sorting and, hopefully, will capture home chefs’ interest. I looked at them.

• What’s On The Menu?
• Game Day Recipes to Score Big This Super Bowl
• Go Beyond Charcuterie Basics
• World Cup Recipes

7. Last chance; we’re running out fast: Emails that say you better get in fast as we’ll run out soon.

• Limited availability for our new release
• Last Chance to Hit the Bullseye
• The countdown is on
• Last chance for award winning Pinot Noir
• Don’t Miss Out! Selections from Our Most Awarded Vintage Ever
• 2 Days Left
• Selling till there is no more!!
• WINES TILL SOLD OUT!

8. If nothing else, our discounts will convince you – These seem a little sad to me as they both indicate some sales challenges and discounting is usually a race to the bottom:

• Our cellar sale is open: 20% off
•  Make It a Magnum This Month and Save 75%
• Make It a Summer of Sparkling with 20% Off!
• Last Chance for 20% Savings
• Final Weekend for 20% Savings
• Aim High. Save 25%
• You’ve earned a Summer Break 🎯25% off coming soon!
• Welcome! Enjoy $20 Off Your First Order

Keep in mind that I’ve never bought from any of these wineries but I’m probably on a list called “Signed up, Never bought”. Wineries have large groups of these people that they keep trying to convince. “Bought once, Hasn’t returned” is another challenging category and perhaps, worst of all, are people who started to buy and then became “Abandoned Cart” consumers.

The challenge for the marketer is when you know nothing about your prospective or one-time customers, how do you get them to buy? The answer is pretty simple, and one we employ at Oomiji:  

Ask about them. Learn something about their interests and cater to that.

It seems like it’s less of an issue if they’ve bought before because you know what they bought, when, what they responded to and about their demographics. But that’s less helpful than you think because you don’t know why they bought or what might trigger a purchase next time. Nor do you know what their interests, motivations and perceptions are, all valuable information when you’re trying to understand and build relationships with your customers.

So consider this: Consumers are at a peak level of interest when they sign up to get your emails. They’re telling you that they want to know more about you. It’s the perfect time to ask them about themselves. Ask what their primary interest is in wine (e.g. travel, pairing, understanding, etc.). Ask how knowledgeable they are? Ask whether they prefer to buy online, in-store or if it makes no difference. Ask whatever it is you think will help you learn their interests and needs. It’s all data you can use to segment your customers and do a better job of personalization. Not everyone will answer questions on a landing page but we’ve found that more than 90% regularly do.

Personalization is not starting an email with “Hi Jon” or even “We’ve got a great wine for our friends who live in New York”. It’s more like “Thanks for letting us know about your interests in ___________ (e.g. our vineyards, history, recipes, visiting, etc.) but you can’t do that unless you ask, respond and ask again. It’s how we all build relationships in every day life but forget when we’re using digital tools. 

It’s the same with so many products that consumers are interested in but they’re not going to become customers unless marketers show an interest in them. If you don’t show your curiosity to your customers, you’re likely to hear them asking “Are you talking to me?”

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