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Facebook For Florists - Media99 Floral Website Design

by Todd Greenwood, Media99 SEO/PPC Director

While there has been significant buzz recently about how Facebook can drive business to your site, it is recommended to treat its use with just as much planning and oversight as any of your other communication channels – such as phone or email.

Here are some basic Facebook guidelines that should be adhered to:

Overall, you want to promote a positive image of your business to the world.  Content should be engaging and NOT "sales-y". This a very important point.

While it is not a hard and fast rule, you should strive to post items about the subject of flowers and how flowers play an important people’s lives.   You might also talk about flower-related subjects, such as floral design classes, etc. that your shop might provide.  

From a business point of view, Facebook postings may get picked up by search engines, such as Google and Yahoo! - so certain communication guidelines need to be followed.
Here are some of the basics:

Do:
Provide useful information regarding flowers, their care, and/or other info regarding flowers in a broader sense.
Be interactive - engage people without being too "sales-y".
Try to get as many people as you can to "Like" or “Friend” your business.
Post questions occasionally, like asking "What is the best flower memory that you have?" or "What type of flowers do you like best for ...."  or "Which of these 3 arrangements should we post on our homepage?", etc   Hopefully this will get the ball rolling for more people to interact.
Have employees immediately report any comments to management that are disparaging or taking cheap shots at your shop.
Tell your managers about any customer service issues that come up on Facebook so they can resolve them. 
Think of ways that will grow your "friends" base.  Be realistic.

Don't:
Be rude or negative - ever.
Post specials without prior approval from managers / owners.
Let anyone else besides you post responses as an administrator for your business page – unless there is a very high level of trust in place.
Misrepresent your business in any way or make statements that could land yourself in trouble legally.
Criticize competitors or their products - ever.

Lastly, if you don’t have adequate time or resources to dedicate to maintaining a fresh and engaging Facebook page over time, you might consider either hiring someone to do it for you – or not doing it at all.

Good luck!
todd@media99.com