Word & Mouth Blog
Where food, hospitality, branding, and human behavior all crash into each other. I write about restaurants, wine, placemaking, customer experience, and the small details that make people talk about a business long after they leave.
For even more snarky takes on marketing, pop culture, branding, and the internet, visit my Substack, Burnt Popcorn & Branding: Substack
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A mix of hospitality, branding, customer psychology, hospitality culture, and internet behavior from someone who’s worked behind the scenes in marketing long enough to know what feels authentic and what feels painfully forced.
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Yes. Especially if your marketing currently sounds like ChatGPT wrote it.
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No LinkedIn thought leadership energy here. Just strategy, storytelling, and occasional side-eye toward trends, Chat-GPT written branding advice, and “disruptive” ideas that all look the same.
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People in marketing, hospitality, branding, retail, wine, or anyone who secretly judges restaurants by their menu design before reading the food list.
Your Wine Story Is Killing Your Sales
Stop using wine jargon that confuses customers. Learn why simple, human descriptions sell more wine than technical tasting notes. Real wine marketing examples and actionable tips inside.
The Wine Marketing Strategy in the Post-Brain Rot Era: What’s Next?
Wine marketing strategy still stuck in 2018? Consumers want real connection, not more content. Here’s how brands can shift from algorithm-chasing to authentic engagement post-brain rot era.
Top California Vineyards on Instagram, by Hashtags
For wine lovers, Instagram hashtags are the perfect place to discover new wineries, taste new wines and learn about the latest trends in the wine industry. More than just pretty pictures, the social network has become the go-to place to follow your favorite wineries and vineyards on Instagram.
Finding Trending Audio on Instagram Reels
Being able to find and use trending audio on Instagram Reels has become a big part of both Instagram Reels and TikTok. Trending audio (both trending songs & original audio that creators make) can help even small accounts grow their Instagram accounts. Here are tips on how to find trending audio on Instagram Reels to use for your social media marketing efforts.
My Favorite Non-Music Instagram Reels Ideas For Hospitality & Wine Marketers
For marketers that have business accounts without access to good music (yes, royalty-free music is there, but tbh it is pretty meh) there are two things you can do when it comes to creating Instagram Reels for wine social media marketers.
Why Instagram DMs Are the Key to Social Media Engagement
Connecting with customers (and potential customers) through Instagram DMs does mean you have to dedicate time to engage on social media. If you are a social media marketer, try to carve out time to focus specifically on engaging with your online audience.
Drinking Wine in Clubhouse
Clubhouse is an audio, invite-only app where participants can move around virtual rooms discussing arts and culture, from popular TV shows to the state of the music industry. A perfect excuse to grab a glass of wine and your headphones.
Should Brands Post About Juneteeth on Social Media?
Juneteeth is an important holiday and there are a few action items brands can do to show support on social media. Right now brands are looking to speak up, and I applaud that—but I also want to help friends realize that it is more than just a black square on social media. You must back up your voice, your claim to solidarity, with action.
Wine Country Membership Card Had to Pivot To Sell Wine Online
The series is called Pivotal - a Focus on Digital Marketing - because everyone I've talked to both for this series, and through social media, or over the phone, they have realized that what worked in the past, AKA February 2020, wasn't going to work anymore, even after their businesses are granted permission to open back up.
Tools For Creating Video For Virtual Wine Tastings
The experience of “wine” isn’t always JUST about the wine. Any winery that plans out virtual wine tastings should think about what core values they share with their customers and try to create video wine tastings that connect with their target audience and brings something else to the table. Here are some video tools to use to create better video quality for your virtual wine tastings.
Post-Shelter in Place California Business Will Be Different
California Governor, Gavin Newsom shared some of his plans to open California back up after the COVID-19 pandemic slows (still no official date until we see trends in hospitalization numbers flattening). The plan will be lifting SIP in stages. California Small businesses that rely on customers may need to rethink this business plan for life after the SIP orders are lifted - and get creative.
Small Changes to Pivot Your Small Business Strategy During COVID -19
For some, when we are put in situations where we have to adapt quickly -- we find a way to pivot our small business strategy. For other business owners or marketers, it isn't so easy to change how you do business, but there are things you can do to make small steps to pivot your marketing.
Restaurant and Winery Marketing Gets Creative While We Shelter in Place
With the shelter-in-place order, wineries and restaurants all over California are having to rethink their traditional model of people coming to them. Creativity tends to flourish during times of crisis, so I wanted to give a few shoutouts to brands that I think are doing a great job of embracing the horrible reality that we're dealing with right now.
Marketing Is Still Important—Even During a Crisis
For many of us in the hospitality industry, all of our marketing efforts were directed at getting people into the tasting room, restaurant or hotel, and letting our tasting room staff sell wine club memberships/wine/food, etc. And even though this crisis is temporary, the brands that adapt will be able to move forward stronger, and the brands that simply want to revert to the status quo will be left behind.
Work From Home Productivity Tips (How To Plan Your Day With Your Partner)
From years of working from home, as well as what we have been doing for the past week, here are some of our work from home productivity tips for planning ahead with your partner.
Define Your Brand Passions For Your Social Media Marketing
Take a look at the core brand passions that get you or the owners of your business up in the morning. Remembering your brand passions will help guide your content creation for social media marketing.
Top 11 Wineries in California on Instagram
My picks for top CA Wineries on Instagram are not based on who has the most followers, the prettiest pictures, or which wineries get the most Instagram location check-ins. While those are important, I chose these wineries based on their community engagement and unique brands… I chose wineries on Instagram that were true to their brand passions and connected with their target audience.
Roundup of My Favorite Sonoma County Articles of 2018
A roundup of my personal favorite articles I have written this past year about wine, food, social media, music and mom life in Sonoma County.
Wine Marketers – You Need to Engage on Social Media Over the Weekend
The Wine Industry’s busiest time is during the weekends. This when the most customers come in and out of your tasting room/hotel/restaurant/retail shop. This also means that this is when the most people post pictures on Instagram, tag your brand in their main images on the feed, or share pictures and videos on their Instagram Stories. This is also when a lot of people ask questions about hours, location, etc. on Facebook or other social media platforms while trying to figure out their itinerary for the weekend. You want to make sure to engage with them.
