Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers A Report on its Social Media Presence
Purpose:
Negativity surrounding the Master Sommelier Americas certification exam which resulted in the stripping of twenty-three member’s titles has required associations everywhere to conduct reviews on their practices and branding. The Board Members of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers(CAPS), have mandated this report to determine the strengths and gaps in their social media presence from which improvements can be proposed. Twenty-three members losing the highest accreditation in the world of wines is a devastating loss to the industry. Enhancements to the CAPS social media presence will assist in restoring trust in the accreditation process and recruiting new members to the profession.
Strengths:
Upon the initial visit to the Professional Sommeliers of Canada’s website, it was clear that provincial representation of members was recognized, by outlining (via homepage) contributions made by highlighted chapters in their respective provinces. This recognition is key when capitalizing on extending the social media reaches of this association.
The legitimacy of this association is shown by adding a section on the homepage entitled “News and Activities”. The News and Activities section does a great service to the association by allowing them to showcase their accolades.
The mention of National Sponsors on the homepage ensures future members and visitors to the website, that the Professional Sommeliers of Canada are recognized by other organizations as a reputable organization in their own right. Confirmation of an association’s legitimacy by other groups is one of the highest forms of acclaim.
The Listing of Board Members includes detailed accounts of the majority of the members professional accomplishments. Allowing visitors to view the board members credentials adds credibility to the association.
Weaknesses:
When searching on Google for the keywords “Canadian Associations," The Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers was found on the sixth search results page. According to Paul in his YouTube video on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a company’s presence is most impactful when they are found in the top results, preferably in the first three or four results. Backlinks to and from other sites is one of the most important factors in SEO, which may have helped this association appear higher up in the search pages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqg3F-8jBec
The name of the association is The Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers of Canada (CAPS). The website for the association is actually sommelierscanada.com. The discrepancy between the names of the association and the web address increases difficulty in the search quality and creates confusion as to whether the website and organization are one and the same.
‘The News and Activities’ section on the homepage of the website informs the reader of the association’s accomplishments. However, it provides no links within the body of the paragraphs allowing the reader to obtain more information about the award-winning businesses, sommeliers or wines. In a couple instances, there were links that were not in a ‘http’ format, which would have allowed for interaction.
The use of multi-media within the website is lacking. Other than the initial slideshow that introduces the affiliated provinces, there are no videos, interactive content, or audio.
The webpages are too text-heavy. Even in the presence of many bulleted points, there is still too much read-only content for the reader.
The CAPS social media pages (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) fall short in their ability to showcase the professional image that CAPS wishes to portray. The images are often formulated using an app instead of photographs, and do not present a cohesive image for the organization. See example below 1st image:
Educational links such as “How to become a sommelier” would be helpful to the reader. Being a profession that appreciates accreditation, one would expect questions in need of answers which could(potentially) lead to an increase in memberships. See example below second image:
Proposed Improvements:
The addition of past recordings of webinars or events on the home page would inform non-members of what events are offered by CAPS and invite them to become members in attempts to further future participation.
CAPS list its many sponsors and provides links to their websites; however, none of these sponsors provide a reference or link to CAPS from their websites. It is therefore recommended that sponsorship be revisited to ensure that wine consumers can become more knowledgable of CAPS and all offering by the association. Offering an additional perk for sponsors such as a “Winery of the Month” would be an equally beneficial way to build quality backlinks.
CAPS has over 60 listed members on its website with as few as eight of those members following the association on LinkedIn. LinkedIn should be one of the main social media sites the association should target to reach its key audience of professional sommeliers and students. LinkedIn allows for discussions and self promotion amongst peers and for the association to appeal to future sommeliers via online courses. Occasionally, members of the CAPS association appear as guests on well-known wine podcasts, resulting in opportunities for CAPS to develop its own podcast which would allow for more social media attention by way of ties to their other social media sites. Podcasts would provide an additional platform to which all questions from the public and any updated activity by the association could be addressed.
It is recommended that CAPS seek to enhance and polish its presence on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, potentially through hiring a marketing company known for revamping tired sites.
LinkedIn has become the top social media site for professionals with 500+ million users globally. Companies and Associations create discussion forums to learn what topics are trending in their industry as well as create online learning opportunities to build their brand as a leader in their industry.
Given their prevalence on the modern social media scene, it is imperative that CAPS improve its presence on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. As it is now, their pages on all these sites lack the professionalism that CAPS wishes to portray. Improving this presence would not only help CAPS’ image in the eyes of the general population, but may also help attract a bigger audience.
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