Are you interested in evaluating the social media health of a winery? If so, this blog post is for you.

A new tool was recently launched called The Winery Social Index, which helps wineries measure their online social media efforts.

The index is still in beta, released by VinTank, the software company for social media monitoring and social CRM for the wine industry. VinTank also brought us Social Connect, the only social media listening platform focused on the wine industry.

Social Connect has measured more than 200-million conversations about wine, across 6.5-million social wine consumers. And listen up, my friends in the wine business: the basic tool is free, and the “lite” version is only $35 per month.

In the name of transparency and full disclosure, I am on the Board of Advisors for VinTank. The position marries my two passions, as a wine enthusiast with an expertise in social media measurement.

I speak about social media measurement at many conferences, ranging from BlogWorld to the Canadian Marketing Association. Next month, I am giving a presentation on social media influencer identification and measurement in Dublin, for AMEC, the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication.

This is the first time since my blog launched in 2007 that I have written about my speaking engagements. I only do so now to explain that I am deeply involved in the world of social media measurement. And I recommend The Winery Social Index, regardless of my position on the BOA of VinTank.

The index provides you with an understanding of engagement, activity, fan growth and ranking across the wine industry. The index changes daily and is measured over a running 30-day period.

It is important to note that The Winery Social Index goes beyond so-called vanity metrics of fans and followers, which is a key differentiator. Instead, the index rankings are mainly based on the level of engagement a winery has with customers in social media — in other words how many fans or followers are interacting with online content by liking, commenting, replying and tagging.

“Primarily the index is a measurement of what we feel is proper engagement ratios and healthy fan growth,” explains Paul Mabray,  VinTank CEO. “We feel the score should be a key performance indicator of your winery’s social media efforts.

“Anyone who talks about your brand is some sort of customer – they may not be a direct customer – but they’re someone who bought your wine at a retailer, or in a restaurant – in market. Servicing them is a key component of brand loyalty and brand awareness.”

If you are a winery involved in social media, you can find more information about The Winery Social Index on VinTank’s website. And while you’re there, spend a few minutes reading about  Social Connect.

Earlier this month, VinTank also released a new feature — Social CRM — to keep track of fans whom you’ve talked to on Facebook. I’ve always encouraged my friends in the wine business to think of social media as an extension of the tasting room. Think of Social CRM as the way you track your customers specifically on Facebook.

So yes, I’m a member of VinTank’s BOA. More importantly, I’m a major fan, supporter and advocate of The Winery Social Index, Social Connect and Social CRM.

Cheers!