Social media for wine shops and off-licences: a practical guide for 2026

People come to an independent wine shop for advice they cannot get from a supermarket shelf. Your posts should show that knowledge: what to drink with Sunday's roast, why this producer is different, what is new this week.

Instagram suits bottle shots, pairings and short tasting videos. Facebook suits tasting events and local groups. Your Google Business Profile helps people find your hours, but Google says businesses in regulated industries, including alcohol, can use posts only if they do not include content about the products, so keep profile posts to events, hours and the shop itself.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Create and manage posts on your Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026; Meta Transparency Center: Community Standards, Restricted goods and services, checked 15 October 2026; Meta Advertising Standards: Alcohol, checked 15 October 2026; TikTok Business Help Centre: TikTok ads policy, alcohol, checked 15 October 2026

Two to four posts a week works well. Focus on taste, food, place and people rather than on drinking itself.

• Monday: a food pairing for the week, such as a wine for a midweek curry.
• Wednesday: a new arrival, with producer, region, grape, ABV and price.
• Thursday: a short explainer, such as what natural wine means or how to store an open bottle.
• Friday: a staff pick for the weekend.
• Monthly: a tasting event, with tickets, price and an over-18s only note.
• Seasonal: Christmas and New Year cases, summer rosé, Easter and Thanksgiving pairings.

Section 18 of the CAP Code covers non-broadcast marketing for drinks above 0.5% ABV, including your own social media. It says marketing must be socially responsible and must not encourage excessive drinking (18.1), must not suggest alcohol brings social or sexual success or helps overcome problems (18.2 to 18.6), and must not show alcohol being handled or served irresponsibly or link it with driving or unsafe activities (18.11, 18.12). Factual ABV information is allowed, but a drink must not be presented as preferable because of its strength (18.9), and health or weight-control claims are not permitted (18.17).

Age is the area most often missed. CAP says marketing must not appeal particularly to under-18s (18.14), must not be placed in media where more than 25% of the audience is under 18 (18.15), and people shown drinking or playing a significant role must not be, or seem to be, under 25 (18.16). GOV.UK says selling alcohol to anyone under 18 is against the law.

The Portman Group runs two codes: the Code of Practice on the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks, now in its sixth edition, and a sponsorship code. They cover alcohol marketing, including point-of-sale and brand merchandising, that is not already regulated by the ASA or Ofcom. When a producer will not comply with a ruling, the Portman Group issues a Retailer Alert Bulletin asking code signatories not to replenish stock three months after it is published, so check the bulletins before you promote a new product.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ by country and change, so check with your local Trading Standards service, regulator or a lawyer before you post claims, prices or offers you are unsure about.

1. Use models and staff who are clearly over 25 in any photo or video with alcohol.
2. Check your audience insights, and avoid posting where many followers are under 18.
3. Write about taste, food and origin, not about how a drink makes people feel.
4. Never use cartoon characters, sweets imagery or youth trends in alcohol posts.
5. Check the Portman Group's Retailer Alert Bulletins before featuring a new product.

Sources: CAP Code (non-broadcast), Section 18: Alcohol, checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK: Alcohol and young people, checked 15 October 2026; Portman Group: Codes of Practice, checked 15 October 2026; Portman Group: Retailer Alert Bulletins, checked 15 October 2026

Meta's community standards allow brick-and-mortar and online retailers to promote alcohol items for sale off its services, but Meta restricts the visibility of that content for minors. For ads, Meta says alcohol ads must follow local laws and industry codes, must not target anyone under 18, and must meet higher limits in some countries, including 21 and over in the United States.

TikTok says its alcohol ad policy is based on local laws. Where alcohol ads are allowed, they must state alcohol content and strength, include a responsible drinking disclaimer, and must not appeal to people under the legal drinking age, feature people under 25 or pregnant people, show excessive drinking, offer alcohol as a prize or promote offers that encourage drinking. TikTok also says sale and delivery services for alcohol are not allowed unless permitted in a specific market.

• Set an adult age limit on every paid alcohol ad, and a higher one where the law requires it.
• Keep alcohol out of prize draws and giveaways on platforms that ban it as a prize.
• Keep Google Business Profile posts to events, opening hours and the shop.

Sources: Meta Transparency Center: Community Standards, Restricted goods and services, checked 15 October 2026; Meta Advertising Standards: Alcohol, checked 15 October 2026; TikTok Business Help Centre: TikTok ads policy, alcohol, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Create and manage posts on your Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026

In the US, TTB Industry Circular 2024-1 says its advertising rules under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, in 27 CFR parts 4, 5 and 7, apply to advertisements in any media, including social media. The circular is addressed to producers, importers and wholesalers, and it says content created by another party that an industry member reposts or likes counts as that member's advertising. It does not specifically address retailers.

Retail alcohol sales and promotions are also shaped by state law, so check with your state's alcohol regulator before running discounts, tastings or giveaways on social media, and take care when reposting a producer's content.

• Treat producer content you repost as an ad, and check it before sharing.
• Check your state's rules on price promotions and tastings before posting them.
• Restrict paid ads to 21 and over in the US.

Sources: TTB: Industry Circular 2024-1, Use of social media in the advertising of alcohol beverages, checked 15 October 2026; Meta Advertising Standards: Alcohol, checked 15 October 2026

Google's policy bans offering incentives for reviews and selectively asking happy customers, and the FTC's 2024 rule bans incentives conditioned on a review saying something positive or negative. Never offer a free bottle for a review.

Disclosure: this guide is published by Zolyp, an AI social media manager. Zolyp plans a calendar around your content pillars, writes and designs each post, and schedules it to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. You start in review-everything mode, so nothing goes live without your approval. Brand Brain can hold words and themes you never use, such as anything about getting drunk, and you can keep every alcohol post on review. Zolyp does not check posts against the CAP Code, the Portman Group codes, TTB rules or platform alcohol policies, so read each one before you approve it. Everything in this guide works just as well done by hand.

• Week 1: plan the month's new arrivals, pairings and one tasting event.
• Week 2: photograph bottles and food pairings in one session.
• Week 3: post a staff pick and an explainer.
• Week 4: reply to reviews, check audience ages in your insights and plan next month.

Sources: Maps user-generated content policy: Prohibited and restricted content, checked 15 October 2026; FTC: Final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (August 2024), checked 15 October 2026