SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDEBOOK

CREATED BY MICHAEL COSTE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction

..3

Situation

Analysis

.4

Facebook

Instagram

..6

Social Media User

Guide

..8

Facebook

..10

Instagram

.12

Changes Made for

SMB.

16

Ready, Set,

Go

.19

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References

.20

INTRODUCTION

Social media are a communication method that uses mediums

such as social networking sites as platforms for online exchanges.

These social media interactions exist between users accounts, which

can be created for personal use, businesses, animals, etc. Social media

give the user freedom to create an account that reflects the persona

the user desires. Because of this freedom, social media can be

powerful tools for businesses to connect with both current and

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prospective customers. According to Ashlee Humphreys (2016), social

media are a communication method rather than a communication

platform, which is what it is commonly referred to. Its the practice of

communicating with and meeting others via media. Humphreys (2016)

argues that individuals use social media to gratify certain needs.

Although Signature Mobile Bottlers (SMB) social media presence is

used to communicate business-to-business, this theory is relevant

because businesses use social media to gratify certain needs as well. A

business in need of bottling assistance could use social media to

gratify its needs and hire SMB. Successfully connecting with customers

stems from a consistent, defined voice that treats the customer as a

friend. This voice may promote products or share unique pictures that

teach the audience about the company, but the voice must reflect the

consistent, friendly persona that the business strives to portray.

Success in this area will lead to a successful social media presence.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

SMB is based in Clackamas, Oregon, and is a mobile wine

bottling and labeling company that relies on its mobile trucks to serve

its clients. These large trucks are moved to various wineries to bottle

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and label wine. SMB is typically sought out by wineries that dont have

the proper equipment to bottle and label the wine on their own. SMB is

used around the Willamette Valley by various wineries. The demand for

SMBs services is high; the company is constantly busy. However, SMB

would benefit from social media because of the relationship-building

and exposure opportunities.

A strong social media presence will help make the owners

desired growth possible. The companys website is sleek, clean and

easy to navigate. But the company does not support its website with

social media. By connecting SMBs website with social media, it can

pull traffic from social media to its website, and vise-versa. It does not

have a Facebook presence, and its Instagram presence is relatively

new, with fewer than 20 followers and fewer than 10 posts. An increase

in followers and engagement is the goal, and this can be positively

affected by posting often, and interacting with other users often.

These two social networking platforms will be the focus of this

guidebook, as they are widely used by not only the public, but by

winery owners and managers as well. Because of the various options

for promoting and sharing messages, social media are beneficial to

businesses. By the end of this project, both accounts will be activated

and refreshed. From there, this guidebook will aid the management of

said accounts.

FACEBOOK

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 Facebook is a social networking site that is used by 1.86 billion

users as of December 2016 (Statista, n.d.). Facebook provides its users

with various options for its use: users can post pictures, videos, status

updates, current locations and more. Users can also post live videos,

chat with other users and customize their profiles. These posts are

visible on the users profile as well as on the timeline feed, which

features recent activity. From a business standpoint, this platform is an

effective way to connect with users because of its wide array of uses.

Businesses can share information in various ways through a single

post; for example, a location can be tagged, hashtags can be used to

categorize the post, and better yet, the post can be promoted. Some

beneficial uses include posting status updates, posting status updates

with pictures, posting pictures, posting videos, sharing current

locations, customizing the companys profile, and messaging current

and future clients. All of these forms of sharing can be used to promote

products/services or connect with clients through relationship building.

Along with promotional posts, Facebook offers its users the

option to boost their posts. In other words, users can pay to promote

their posts to a larger audience that may not have seen the post

beforehand. This can be especially useful to businesses since Facebook

allows the user to pick its audience based on gender, geographic

location, age, etc. Even a small Facebook promotion investment of $20

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can be effective because of the large audience it can help the user

reach.

INSTAGRAM

This social networking sites focus is picture sharing; every post

must contain at least one photo or video. Users can upload their

pictures and videos to the site, edit them and post them on their

profiles along with a caption and hashtags to provide context to the

post. These pictures will appear on other users timeline feeds for a

certain amount of time after the pictures or videos are posted. Users

can like and comment on each others photos and videos via the

timeline feed, and via the profiles of other users. According to Statista

(n.d.), as of December 2016, Instagram had 600 million monthly active

users. The majority of these users, in the U.S. particularly, are between

the age of 18 and 29 (Statista, n.d.). Because this age range is fairly

low, social media provides business owners with an advantage.

Instagram serves as a strong public relations tool from a business

standpoint because of the potential audience reach. This is beneficial

because many customers share their feedback with companies via

social media. This can take the form or a direct message, review or

status update.

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 Like Facebook, this social networking site provides users with a

variety of options for sharing media. In addition to posting pictures and

videos on Instagram, users can also tag their location and hashtag

words. This means that users post a descriptive word that both

categorizes the picture and adds context. For example, one may post,

#wine in the caption of a photo of wine. Both of these features are

beneficial for a business because they categorize pictures based on the

geographic tag as well as on the hashtag. When users search these

hashtags or geographic locations, the pictures will appear in said

category, which allows your message to travel beyond your accounts

followers to others who may be looking for SMBs services.

Instagram differs from Facebook in that it offers extensive photo-

editing feature, which allows users to crop a picture, make a picture

clearer, and add an appealing filter to a picture. This aspect of

Instagram can enhance the beauty of the original picture.

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SOCIAL MEDIA USER GUIDE

Because Facebook and Instagram are widely used by the general

public and businesses alike, they are appropriate for SMBs social

media presence. Both sites have various media-sharing features and

can provide businesses with potential for growth both on social media

and as a company.

Below are some guidelines that will contribute to a successful

social media presence on both Facebook and Instagram:

Post consistently.
o Its important to schedule a time to post media on your profile,

whether its daily or weekly. Remember, the users that follow

your business are doing so to see your content, so share often.

Create a voice for your company.

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 o Its important to use a tone that is relatable to your target

audience, whether that is a humorous tone or a more formal

tone. Once this tone is established, consistently post using this

tone.
Use hashtags.
o Its important to add relatable hashtags to each photos caption.

If used correctly, the photo will be categorized (by the hashtag)

in a way that will make it visible to a large portion of the target

audience. For example, one caption could include the hashtags,

#Wine, #WineBottling, and #MobileBottlers. If these three

hashtags are used, the photo will be visible to any user that

searches these hashtags regardless of whether the user follows

your account.

Follow and interact with clients and other users involved in the

wine industry.
o As stated earlier, its important to follow other users, and like or

comment on their photos/videos. This will contribute to

relationship building, and ideally, it will help build a following.

These comments should be positive, and include a compliment

about the picture or the product in the picture.

Post a variety of pictures.
o Your business followers likely want to see more about its

services. Post pictures that include people, machinery or

finished products. Posts that feature people tend to gain more

interaction. This will be discussed further later in the guidebook.

o Ensure that these pictures are high quality, and edited

strategically using the features provided.

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 o These pictures should alternate between promotional pictures,

informational pictures, and wine industry-related pictures.

Respond to feedback as soon as possible.
o Users often use social media as a channel to connect with

businesses to express both positive and negative feedback.

Despite the nature of the feedback, reply quickly. It will help

your company recognize where its successful as well as where it

is lacking.
Do respond politely and acknowledge the customers

feedback.
Do respond as fast as possible, and more importantly,

always respond, because your respond rate is viewable to

the public.
Dont argue with the customer. Try your best to give the

customer what he/she wants to the degree of whats

reasonable.

Consider the tips listed above when posting on the business

social media accounts in order to improve their potential for social

media growth . In addition to these tips, there are images below that

explain how to use the basic features of both Instagram and Facebook.

In addition, each section will make recommendations tailored to SMB

and its social media needs.

FACEBOOK

SMBs Facebook page is accessible via the administrators

personal account. In this case, David Scholtz (administrator), can

access SMBs page by clicking on the bottom right button seen

on the main page. Once you press that button,it will take you to

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 the menu pictured below. This menu allows the administrator to

switch back and forth between his personal page and the

business page.

Whether its a picture, written post, video or a check-in, its

important that that something is posted on a regular basis (daily,

weekly, etc.). For SMB, I recommend posting at least two wine

bottling-related pictures each week. Your customers would likely

also enjoy a video of the bottling process at some point as well.

Dont be afraid to get creative with your social media content.

Utilize different features such as Facebook Live videos and

instant messaging. Here are the buttons used to create a post:

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 When posting, its beneficial to tag your location. This will attach

your picture to the tag, which will make your post viewable to

anyone who searches for the location. For SMB, I recommend

tagging a location in every post.

Its important to like and comment on others photos, particularly

those of your clients and prospects, because this helps build

relationships. This can be done by commenting a compliment on

a winerys picture, for example. Whether its a winery that has

hired SMB before or a prospective client, it is beneficial for SMB

to join the wine conversation; it will build your brand.

Utilize your dashboard, which shows your pages activity, and

where you can respond to direct messages from other users.

Heres what it looks like (keep in mind that the mobile version

[shown here] is different than the online version:

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 Promote posts in specific areas to the desired market by

boosting. This shares your posts with users that like your page

and those that dont. The benefit of boosting posts is the amount

of control Facebook gives the page administrator. You can create

an ideal target market that is based on age, gender, geographic

location, etc. Because SMB is using social media to connect with

other businesses, it would be logical to create a large geographic

target range (with an older age range) that covers the Willamette

Valley in order to reach as many as winery owners as possible.

INSTAGRAM

Similar to Facebook, its important to post consistently (daily,

weekly). For SMB, I would recommend posting two pictures or

videos a week at least. As stated in the Facebook section, posts

videos every now and then. Your audience would likely enjoy

videos of the bottling process. This could include updates on

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 bottling projects, pictures of final products and information about

the company. Heres how:

When posting, be sure to tag your location and use hashtags to

categorize your photo. For SMB, I recommend using hashtags

like, #Wine, #Winebottling, #Mobile. The goal is to use

relevant words that add context to the picture in the caption.

Heres how to tag your location:

Its important to take advantage of Instagrams extensive photo-

editing options. Cropping, light balancing, sharpening, and

adding filters are all techniques that may improve the quality of

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 your photo. Be careful that the photo isnt overly edited; simple

changes ensure natural, appealing photos. I recommend using

light filters at a low strength, which will ensure the photo isnt

overly edited. Heres the editing page. The filter button is seen in

the bottom left corner, and the edit button is seen in the bottom

right corner:

Take advantage of the insights feature on Instagram. This tool

gauges user interaction with your posts, which can help assess

which posts are successful, which arent, and why. After a post is

published to your profile/timeline, there will be an insights

button below that leads to the information. If you notice larger

audience reach on certain posts, evaluate what was done, and

how future posts can be equally as successful.

Similar to Facebook, promoting posts can be beneficial to a

business. This feature can be used to extend your posts reach to

unique, chosen audiences. If a post isnt promoted, the

promote button will appear next to the post. If you would like

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to promote a post, click on the button and follow the instructions.

Facebook gives users the freedom to promote as little or as much

as possible. I recommend starting with a $20 promotion,

assessing its success, and adjusting accordingly. Choose a broad

audience to begin with, such as the Willamette Valley.

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CHANGES MADE FOR SMB

For this project, I made changes to the Instagram account, and

created a Facebook page. In this section, I will explain the changes I

made, as well as the reasoning behind creating a new social media

account.

FACEBOOK

A Facebook page was created titled, Signature Mobile Bottlers.

A profile picture, banner, and posts with

pictures were added to the page to

create an identity for the companys new

profile.
o The pictures that were

added to the Facebook page are

the same pictures used for the

Instagram page. This consistency is important for brand

recognition, but taking advantage of each channels unique

features is important as well. In other words, each site

offers different sharing options, so its important to use

those and reach the right audience in the most strategic

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 way. Such as checking in at locations, tagging other users

and hashtagging.

INSTAGRAM

The biography section was updated, which provides visiting users

more information about the company, and which type of content

this profile contains. Most noticeably, the account was previously

named after its creator. Ideally, changing the name will clarify

the companys name.

o Before:

o After:

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 Each original picture was updated with a new geographic tag,

and new captions that include hashtags.

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READY, SET, GO

This guidebook was intended to inform SMB about the

importance of social media, and the best practices for managing them.

Take the information provided above and experiment with social

networking sites and their features. Its a learning experience, but its

worth the time. Users will get out of it what they put in.

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REFERENCES

Humphreys, A. (2016). Social media: Enduring principles. New York:

Oxford University Press.

Statista. (n.d.). https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-

monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/

Statista. (n.d.) https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-

monthly-active-instagram-users/

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