XChateau is a podcast about all things wine, from vine to your glass. We tackle the business of wine and keep you up to date with new and exciting developments in the wine industry.In this episode, Robert Vernick and Peter Yeung interview Taylor Wilson (Instagram: @thiswaywithtay) about becoming a full-time wine influencer on Instagram from a career in real estate. Robert and Peter discuss how Taylor’s mother’s love of wine inspired her to learn more about it, wine education, building an 18,000+ IG following in one year, and how certain clothing choices can help engagement. Other topics covered in this episode include:Inspiration of wine love from Taylor’s motherWine Education - WSET 2 at Napa Valley Wine Academy - enabled her to ask winemakers more educated questionsStart as a travel blogger while a real estate agent with a degree in fashionOther social platformsTried TikTokWants to expand into Pinterest, YouTubeAbout to launch a blogFocus on food and wine pairingNow full-time InstagramContent creationWrites captions the morning of posts to harness more creativity and authenticity, not as pre-plannedSpends ~20 hours/week on InstagramEngagement with wine brands~10 brands / day reach out on DM~50% for samples / ~50% for business requestsNobody asks to post for free anymoreWine Access relationshipThey are looking for more awarenessAt the beginning - pay per post + $/new customerUsed link in bio and swipe up to trackAlso did a discount code for trackingLouis JadotGiveaway for 1 year IG anniversary2 Zalto glassesHierarchy of paid relationshipsLowest - posts for free productsStoriesGiveawaysPaid postsMost successful partnershipsWine Access - longest runningBurgundy - going to do a new, big campaignLove Jadot giveaway - best 1 postSends stats a week later to brands, wants to track more statsDetermining wine brands to work withMust be authentic with brand / IGMax 2 things / week goal -> story must be about Taylor’s wine journeySays no to a lot of things and free wineOften tries the wine first before agreeing to promotions# giveaway / contest - IG blocks the promotionUses brands’ contracts now, but will develop her own soonMedia KitShows pricing, demographics of followers, engagementChanged pricing 5-6x in the last 4 months -> as followers grew, one of the highest engagement in the industryFollowing18k+ followers65% male, 35% female25-54 years oldUS (NY, Seattle, W Coast), London, ParisUS, Italy, France, UK, BrazilBuilding a following18k in 1 yearBeing consistentPosting regularly - didn’t post for 1 week, took 2.5 months to get back Comment on every commentFinding like minded people in the community - other wine blog girls, etc…Replying to DM’s (IG loves this)HashtagsUsed hashtag generators at the beginningMade a list of relevant hashtags by size (small - up to 65k, med - up to 200k, large - 1M+ posts) - pulled a few from each sectionUsed to used 30, now 20, some say magic number is 7-14Mistakes - not replying after posting, not posting for a whilePosting as creative outletCan make borderline inappropriate captions in postsThe “Tay” poseAdvice for brandsEmail influencers, DMs are fullA lot goes behind postsInfluencers are a great tool, people trust usIf you loved this episode, we would love for you to subscribe, rate and review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, cheers! Get access to library episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.