Last year, over $13 billion was spent on Valentine’s Day alone. But with all this money flying around, how can you ensure that St. Valentine will be blessing your business come February 14th? For advice on tilting the odds in your favor, we spoke with a couple Kinnek customers - the owners of of Trident Winery and WineGreeting.com to discuss promotional tactics and, of course, wine.

Ken and Dawn Levi of WineGreeting.com in San Diego, CA

Valentine’s Day is a very important sales day for Ken Levi of WineGreeting.com, a California winery that distributes personalized bottles online. In order to capitalize, advertising is key. He admits that marketing is one of the bigger challenges his business must overcome. Gone are the days of simply utilizing TV spots, radio ads, and direct mail campaigns. He advises, “it is no longer realistic to put one advertisement in a newspaper to get results - our marketing covers SEO (search engine optimization), social, PPC (pay per click), banner, display and email.”

Ken’s mission is to change the common perception of wine and promote custom bottles as the quintessential gift item. This year, Ken is promoting a 50% off sale on Amazon Local and offering new label designs for the occasion. His favorite part: “to see the bottles that our WineGreeters (customers) create... some of [them] are very inspiring.”

For Ray Stephens of Trident Winery, located in Pine, AZ, the challenge that Valentine’s Day presents is always one that is eagerly anticipated. Then again, Trident isn’t your “conventional” winery. Unlike most wineries, he and his wife, Julie, make wine year round. Their wine list has previously featured an eclectic variety of fruits ranging from strawberries to apricots to honeydew melon.

Each year, Ray tries to design a specialty wine for the occasion. This year, Ray concocted a Mandarin orange-chocolate wine. “Valentine’s Day is about lovers and chocolate wins hearts,” he says. Expect this wine to be dry, "very orange in flavor, with the aroma and taste of chocolate.” Ray advises that his wine will go “great with desserts, anything off the grill - especially fish and pork." 

Julie and Ray Stephens of Trident Winery in Pine, AZ

After all is said and done, Ray is ready to relax, even if only for a brief moment. His advice for recovery from the Valentine’s Day hangover: “drink a second bottle of my wine.”

Whether you end up needing a second bottle of wine after the holidays or just a nap from the extra hours, take a break and enjoy the boost in business during the holidays. From all of us at Kinnek, we wish you a happy Valentine's Day!

WineGreeting.com (see their Kinnek profile) is owned and operated by Ken and Dawn Levi of San Diego, California. They offer their customers the opportunity to design and send their very own personalized bottles of wine. Orders can be made on their website, WineGreeting.com, and on Amazon Local.

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