Exhibit 4.

1 Implementation Plan Paper for Writing for Social Media Group Project
Running head: IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Simpson Spring - Part 2: Implementation Plan

Rob Converse | Colby Kingsbury | Dan Bertarelli | Troy Cheverie

3/28/2016

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Table of Contents
I. Abstract .............................................................................................................................. 3
II. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4
III. Content Strategy ................................................................................................................. 4
IV. Platform Development and Recommendations ................................................................. 5
a. Website .................................................................................................................. 5
b. YouTube ................................................................................................................ 7
c. Instagram .............................................................................................................. 10
V. Further Plans for Implementation .................................................................................... 13
VI. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 15
VII. References ...................................................................................................................... 16

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I.

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to provide recommendations for the implementation of further
social media efforts and the development of specific social media platforms. The
recommendations adhere to the goals of a successful content strategy in general, as well as the
goals of Simpson Springs marketing efforts. By further developing the website, YouTube and
Instagram, there should be attainable benefits that result. The recommendations regarding the
development of these platforms primarily consist of the benefits of photo and video content, as
well as their effect on the specific social media platforms. The plans to carry out our
recommendations should provide the most efficient and beneficial ways to develop these social
media.

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II.

Introduction
In todays uncertain and rapidly differentiating social media landscape, it is important

to support the needs of social media users that might become potential prospects for business
growth. Whether or not an individual user leads to quantifiable results, such as a sale, the
experience of each visitor of a social media platform needs to have their needs met and have a
satisfying experience. The degree to which a companys social media efforts meets individuals
needs and contributes to a satisfying experience, can ultimately lead to their success or downfall
as a whole. In order to capitalize on meeting the needs and satisfactions of viewers, there are a
number of recommendations that have been made. These recommendations not only meet these
goals, but they achieve to reach the goals of a well-developed content strategy and the goals of
your marketing efforts as a whole. While satisfying the current customer demographics of those
typically older than 40 years old, that live in or around Easton, Massachusetts, and consider
themselves, health-conscious, these recommendations also attempt to develop a younger
following for your business in order to potentially impact their future purchasing decisions as
adults. The platforms of social media that are recommended for further development include the
website, the YouTube and the Instagram pages, with a potential to use Hootsuite as a social
media manager. In order to further the development of these platforms, the specific plans for
content and for implantation will be detailed. These recommendations have the potential to help
your social media efforts and marketing communications become more efficient and effective,
while ultimately helping your business grow.
III.

Content Strategy

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The recommendations for implementation that will be discussed adhere to the goals of a
well-developed and successful content strategy. When creating content to be shared through
social media platforms, it is important to provide visitors with consistent messages that establish
credibility, strengthen the brand, and provide up-to-date, accurate information (Redish, 2012).
Since viewers are trying to acquire the information they are looking for, efficiently, this is
important because, especially on a website, if information is unorganized, it is tough to locate
what is important and desirable. People are drawn to a variety of social media content when they
think, or hope, that the information they are looking for is there, or if they come across
information that might be interesting or useful. They look for information that answers their
questions or helps them to complete a task, so it must be easy to find, easy to understand,
accurate, up-to-date, and credible (Redish, 2012). Essentially, the main goals of content strategy
adhere to the creation of conversation between viewers, efficiency, information gathering, and
the strengthening of the brand. The recommendations below reflect these goals for content
strategy, and should lead to positive results and benefits for your business.
IV.

Platform Development and Recommendations

a. Website
The first social media platform that we recommend for further development is the

website for Simpson Spring. One of the primary functions of a website for a business is to create
a presence on the internet that provides potential customers, employees, business partners and
investors quick and easy access to more information about the business (Knox, 2004). The
current website requires an extensive update for a variety of reasons, including, an outdated,
bland and boring design, which is not visually satisfying enough for viewers to be engaged in
consuming the content that is displayed on the website. In order to satisfy the goals for content

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strategy, mentioned above, the website should enable its viewers to simply find the information
that they are looking for, as efficiently as possible. To accomplish this goal, the website should
break text into short sections with clear headings, start with key messages, shorten the sentences
and paragraphs, provide lists and tables, create meaningful links, and illustrate the content
(Redish, 2012). These specific actions should be carried out by making the following
implementation of our prototype for a new website, displayed below:
Figure 1: Old Website (Homepage)

Figure 2: New Website (Homepage) - Prototype

In order to remain consistent with the goals of content strategy listed above, as well as the
primary goal of Simpson Springs marketing efforts, to provide education, the implementation of
our prototype is recommended. This prototype accounts for the weaknesses displayed by the
previous website for many reasons. The main reason is the organizing and more visually
satisfying display of information. While the old website currently has much of the important
information displayed on the front page, in an unorganized manner, with lengthy paragraphs and
a high difficulty in finding the information that one might be looking for, the new prototype
would account for these issues. It would provide tabs that are labeled by the specific information
that is being looked for, whether it is information regarding the spring itself, the history of the
company, news about the company or the products that are offered. Upon choosing a tab, the
information would be displayed according to the recommendations above regarding the layout

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design. Information would be broken up into shorter sections, with clear headings, starting with
the key messages, and if any information would be best represented by utilizing a list, table, or
illustration, then the information would be represented in that way. The front page of the website
should set the sites tone and personality and help viewers gain a sense of what the site and
business is all about (Redish, 2012). By doing so, people will be more likely to read the
information in its entirety, as well as find the information that they might be looking for,
efficiently. Making it easy for viewers to find information can keep them on the site, but most
importantly, it lead to satisfying them, increasing their chances of returning to the site (Redish,
2012). We feel as though the implementation of this prototype for a new website should also lead
to increased viewership, word of mouth advertising, recommendations and education of the
Simpson Spring brand, but of the positive benefits of spring water in general as well. Updating
the website would lead to many positive results regarding the development Simpson Springs
social media efforts and the business as a whole.
b. YouTube
In addition to our recommendation regarding a transformation of the current website, we
recommend that the YouTube channel be developed further as well. The usage of online videos
has many potential benefits, and YouTube is currently the most dominant platform for video
uploading, sharing and viewing. Since YouTube receives more than one billion unique visitors
each month, which is more than any other social media platform besides facebook, 64% of
marketers believe that it will dominate their marketing strategies in the near future (Trimble,
2015). The vast growth of online video has led it to become a primary means for satisfying
peoples information and entertainment needs. If small businesses, such as Simpson Spring, fail
to include online video in their current internet marketing strategies, they would be doing so at

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their own risk (Trimble, 2015). Due to these facts regarding online video and YouTube, as well
as your YouTube channel being underdeveloped, our recommendations for the development and
further use of online video should have a positive impact on your social media efforts, as well as
your business as a whole.
Our recommendations include the creation of a variety of different videos that would
show how the soda is made, how the water is prepared for distribution, how to make different
cocktails using Simpson Spring soda, promotions for the weekly market, educational videos that
include important information and a video tour. The videos that are created would be uploaded
on the YouTube channel, but could be shared on the various social media platforms. While
videos that are shorter than 30 seconds can be uploaded on twitter, and those that are shorter than
1 minute can be uploaded on twitter, uploading all of the videos on YouTube would provide an
extensive database of all the videos, which could act as a library for viewers to learn more. Along
with being posted on the YouTube channel, the videos regarding how to make the soda, cocktails,
and the process for distributing the water can be edited to be no longer than 30 seconds, so they
can be shared on all social media platforms. These videos could also be posted on the website
with the product information, showing potential customers how their products are made, as well
as ways to use their products for their own benefits.
Making videos that promote the weekly market would help bring more customers to the
physical location, as well as provide locals with information about the other businesses being
represented at the market. These videos can also be edited to be no longer than 30 seconds so
they can be posted on all social media platforms. Previously, when discussing the recommended
updates for the website, it was mentioned that information on the website would be represented
in a more efficient and engaging manner to benefit viewers. Key points of this information can

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be portrayed in videos that are uploaded on YouTube as well. These videos may be edited to be
put on all forms of social media, but an extended version, that would provide additional
information and possible education, can be placed in the specific tabs on the website that would
have this information in text. For example, when attempting to educate individuals about the
potential benefits of spring water, or the history of the company, these videos could provide a
more visually satisfying representation of the information.
Finally, the recommendation of tour videos is most significant. Not only would a link be
created on the website that would direct viewers to a list of tour videos, but these tour videos
could show people a lot about the company that they might not know unless they paid a visit to
the physical location. These tour videos would include a tour of the property, the store, behindthe-scenes footage of the machines and processes used, and a sneak peek of the museum that has
all of the historical assets. They should be filmed using a friendly voiceover and should portray
the values of the company that should attract viewers to come and pay a visit to the physical
location. The creation of these tour videos could encourage visitors who are interested in the
appearance of the physical location. They can also be shared by viewers to those who have never
been, to encourage a visit.
Figure 3: Example Tour Video (Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO3hMYBrxXM
This example tour video reflects the friendly nature and business values that are required to attract visitors.
Figure 4: How to Make Simpson Spring Soda
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEo7trFuVtC/
Videos should be made to reflect the steps used to make the soda.
Figure 5: Example Video: Making Cocktails
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQw5uqyOh_Y

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This example provides insight into how to make these videos that would provide recipes for cocktails, using Simpson
Spring products.

Along with recommending this variety of videos to be created for promotion on social
media platforms, they should be posted consistently, at a weekly rate. While some of them can be
posted to the website instantly, the engagement of viewers on various social media platforms
could influence their desire to share the videos. This would be more beneficial than bombarding
viewers with a plethora of content. The recommendation of these videos also helps to achieve the
goals of content strategy as well. Creating new videos would provide consistent messages to
those that are known, as well as accounting for outdated, inaccurate information. These videos
would also help people receive answers to their questions or help them complete tasks more
efficiently by making the information easy to find. If the recommended variety of videos are
created and shared on your various social media platforms, the shareability of them could lead to
positive results. This shareability may influence viewers to share the video with others, making
them spend more time on the website and interacting with the brand. For any social media
campaign, video is one of the best tools to utilize (Trimble, 2015). The development of the
YouTube channel would allow for the distribution of these videos on all social media platforms,
which would promote the content of these videos on a larger scale.
c. Instagram
Our final implementation recommendation for social media efforts is the development of
the Instagram page. The development of the Instagram page could result in many benefits
because of the growth that has been achieved in the Instagram community. Over the past five
years, it has evolved from a place to share filtered photos, to having many more functions and
uses. They have updated its look to reflect the vibrant and diverse stories that everyone has to
share (Instagram, Inc., 2016). Currently, there are over 400 million monthly active users, sharing

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an average of 80 million photos per day, and liking 3.5 billion pieces of content each day
(Instagram, Inc., 2016). These figures are too significant to not influence the development of
your Instagram page. They are representative of the fact that businesses, including 40% of the
worlds top 100 brands have developed an Instagram (Saurage-Altenloh, 2013). Visual content in
general has many benefits which have led marketers to invest in it. A study conducted by MDG
advertising was identified, which provides insight into why marketers should invest in visual
content. It found that, 94% more total views on average are attracted by content containing
compelling images than content without images and 67% of consumers consider clear, detailed
images to be very important and carry even more weight than the product information, full
description and customer ratings (Saurage-Altenloh, 2013). In addition to these statistics
regarding visual content on social media platforms, other benefits related to visual content
marketing include the fact that it makes information quick and easy to consume, while having the
ability to also show off products. By providing images, particularly photographs, potential
customers are able to see what is being offered without having to take someones word for it.
Because of this, visual content helps build an audience, attracting attention and drawing in new
viewers (Saurage-Altenloh, 2013).
Figure 6: Instagram Photo Examples

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Figure 6: (Continued)

The weight held by research regarding Instagram and visual content has proven why the
recommendations in our previous report has led to significant results. In Figure 6, it shows some
of the posts that were created as a result of our previous recommendations. These new posts have
led to an increase of 127 new followers, nearly doubling the amount of followers since the
previous report. The 21 new posts that were created have included high quality photographs of
products such as soda, water and t-shirts, as well as of historical pieces, such as machinery and
other antiques. The success of these posts indicates the potential for future growth with more
effort being placed in the development of the Instagram account. For further development, it is
recommended that along with these current types of photographs being posted, other forms of
pictures are posted too, such as educational graphics and fliers that would promote the weekly
market. Along with the specific content that is displayed through the pictures, the accompanying
information should become more conversational, in order to engage interest in viewers, as well
as the desire to share posts. It is recommended that, while this focus of development is placed on
Instagram, that the efforts are duplicated on the FaceBook page. Any piece content that is posted
on Instagram, can be posted on FaceBook as well. These recommendations reflect the goals for

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content strategy, as well as those for Simpson Springs social media efforts and marketing
strategy.
V.

Further Plans for Implementation

While plans for implementing these recommendations have been discussed throughout

this report, it is also recommended that a Social Media Manager is used to carry out certain
aspects of this implementation. The main focus of our recommendations has revolved around the
use of photos and videos to achieve goals. Videos can be initially uploaded on YouTube to create
a visual library for viewers to browse through if they would like, but shortened or preview
versions of these videos also be initially uploaded on the YouTube page, then shared on each
other form of social media. If each post to each platform of social media requires customization,
then it would be more efficient to individually post on each platform. However, if these posts are
intended to be the same, or similar, across each platform, then the use of a social media manager
would be beneficial. In this case, it is recommended to use Hootsuite. This social media
management system provides users with the capabilities of managing all platforms of social
media and schedule messages for future posting with a Social Media Calender. Additionally, it
allows its users to learn about their audiences by providing analytics with an in-depth view of
how well each social media effort is received (Hootsuite Media, Inc., 2016).
Figure 7: Hootsuite Social Media Dashboard and Analytics Viewer

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Figure 8: Example Social Media Calender

If you choose to implement Hootsuite as a social media manager, we have proposed a

schedule for posting, that could be used to post through Hootsuite, or that can be followed
separately. In the schedule displayed above, it provides time for each specific social media goal
to be carried out. On Mondays, you can spend the day preparing for the week of posting. You can
develop a plan that would outline the goals for the week, and the goals each specific post, as well
as their content. You can set a day for the specific goals, as shown above, or you can carry out
multiple goals in a given day. As long as by the end of the week, goals are being planned and
carried out, regardless of results. While this is the schedule that is recommended, it can be altered
to better adhere to your goals. One way to alter the schedule to do so is through analytics.
Hootsuite provides analytics for each social media page that is being managed. As shown in
Figure 7, the analytics received from a FaceBook page can collect many different types of data
and display data in numerous ways. Upon displaying the results, users can see which social
media efforts are successful and those that are unsuccessful. It can provide insight about what
course of action can be taken in the future or if efforts should be placed elsewhere.

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In identifying the staff whom will carry out and maintain these recommended social
media efforts, Dan Bertarelli, a member of our group as well as an employee of Simpson Spring,
has these capabilities. Since Dan manages and posts all of the social media efforts made by
Simpson Springs, he may use his best judgment to discern the methods for implementation that
are most efficient and beneficial for the company. While the social media efforts are discussed
with the owners, Dans parents, Dan has the authority to make final decisions regarding the
content and posting of the content. The analytics provided by Hootsuite would allow him to
choose the necessary actions that are most beneficial. The recommendations that have been made
are not final, so Dan has the ability to evaluate and judge whether or not specific
recommendations are necessary. While this is true, whether or not they are accepted, our
recommendations have the ability to be seen into action because of Dans capabilities within the
company. We hope that the implementation of these recommendations lead to benefits for
Simpson Spring.
VI.

Conclusion
If the research that supports the need for development of the aforementioned social media

platforms, then the recommendations that were made should lead to positive results in social
media efforts, marketing communications and the success of the business in general. Since Dan
Bertarelli has hands-on capabilities in spearheading social media efforts for Simpson Spring, the
results of our recommendations can be easily reported and commented upon. He may seek
further recommendation and insight into their social media efforts through maintaining contact
with this group of social media consultants. These recommendations should lead to further
development of the current customer demographics, as well as the development of a younger

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generation of customers. It will be interesting to see if these recommendations lead to significant

results, as the research supports the reasoning behind them.
VII.

References

Hootsuite Media Inc. (2016). Hootsuite lets you do more with social media. Hootsuite.
Retrieved from: https://hootsuite.com/
Instagram, Inc. (2016). Stats. Instagram. Retrieved from:
https://www.instagram.com/press/?hl=en
Knox, T. W. (2004). Why you need a website: Even if youre not planning on selling online, a
well-crafted site is essential for any business. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/65204
Redish, J. (2012) Letting go of the words. Waltham, MA: Elsevier, Inc.
Saurage-Altenloh, S. (2013). Social studies: Instagram. Saurage Marketing Research. Retrieved
from: http://www.saurageresearch.com/social-studies-instagram/
Trimble, C. (2015). Why online video is the future of content marketing. The guardian.
Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jan/14/videocontent-marketing-media-online