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Complete Guide To Facebook Timeline For Businesses

March 7, 2012 by Mandy Maxwell 5 Comments

Quick Reference

Cover Photos
Likes, Apps & Features
Navigating The Timeline
Milestones Highlights & Stars
Exploring The Admin Panel

(It’s a good idea to read the post thoroughly at least once)

Well, Facebook finally released the new Timeline as an option for Pages. Currently it is just a option, but according to Facebook, everyone’s business pages will convert to the Timeline format on March 30th.

I know when Facebook usually makes these types of changes everyone goes a little nuts, but I’m going to show you why Timeline is going to make Facebook an even greater promotional tool than ever before.

Now let’s take a look at the new fantastic features.

Branding Your Page

Brand has become a new favorite buzz word among advertisers and business owners. Just what is a brand? The American Marketing Association defines a brand as,

“Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”

Branding your business is all about standing out from the crowd, but also to stand out in peoples thoughts — you want your brand to be memorable. When people in your area think flowers, they should instantly think of your flower shop!

Consistency is the key to branding your business. By using the same colors, logos, designs or other interesting feature on everything you can, you constantly remind your customers about your brand.

How To Use Facebook To Promote Your Brand

There are many new features of the Facebook Business Timeline that allows you to customize your page like never before.

1. Your Cover Photo

The cover photo is the very large banner that now spans the entire top portion of your Page. This is a great new feature to visually engage your visitors right from the start! Do you update your store front monthly? Now you can show it off on your Facebook Page! There are a few rules, however, Facebook says:

This space is not meant for promotions, coupons, or advertisements.
Your cover photo should not be primarily text-based
You cannot infringe on anyone else’s copyright.
Cannot contain price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”
You cannot add any sort of contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section.
Do not use references to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
Cover photos cannot contain calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”
Covers must not be false, deceptive or misleading.
You may not encourage or incentivize people to upload your cover image to their personal timelines.
Cover images must be at least 399 pixels wide. (Tip: the bigger the better though, for clarity.)

Now, that’s a whole lot of rules, but the gist of it is, they want you to use photos or artwork only. Be creative and experiment with images your audience responds well to, such as holiday products, store fronts, delivery van photos. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Florists Only, Marketing Tips Tagged With: Facebook, Florists on Facebook, Marketing Tips

3 Tips To Keep Your Flower Shop In The Spotlight

January 4, 2012 by Mandy Maxwell Leave a Comment

Business is competitive by nature. For florists, every opportunity to stay in the spotlight is crucial. Staying on your customer’s minds will keep them, and their friends, coming back for more. Here are a few ideas for florists to showcase their talents in their own communities.

Host Open Houses

Stay in the Spotlight Think of great door prizes, interesting themes and other fun activities guests can enjoy while in your shop. Take this opportunity to showcase a wide range of designs throughout your shop. Let your visitors know just what’s possible by your talented staff. Introduce them to unusual and unique flowers available.

Have a Ladies Night – Go wild and crazy with creativity. Have everyone dress up and wear their biggest derby hat and let them decorate them with flowers, then have a tea party. Or maybe keep it simple and just serve favorite desserts and delicious fruity drinks.

Teach floral design classes – Open up your shop to new students from your community — host a floral design class! DIY is so trendy these days, creatives won’t be able to pass it up! At Helena Florist in Helena AL, they host a Sips & Snips class, where guests can bring their favorite beverage and make their own, personal flower arrangement. Helena Florist provides all the necessary floral accessories for a particular design, and guests sip and snip the night away and take home their fabulous flower arrangement. The cost of the class is the same as the arrangement normally. Guests have a ton of fun with flowers, and show off their arrangement to all their friends. Adapt this idea to work for your shop. You might teach a class for children, or a themed class for a holiday. It’s all up to you! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Floral Design, Florists Only, Marketing Tips Tagged With: Florist Spotlights, Local Florists, Local Flower Shops, Marketing Tips

Setting Up Your New Google+ Business Page

November 10, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell Leave a Comment

So, we all heard the buzz surrounding Google+ Plus when it came out a couple of months ago, however they weren’t allowing businesses to set up profiles back then. Well, as of this week, Google+ Business Pages can now be created. FSN is here to help you set up your own Google+ Business Page. Please read over this post carefully to make sure Google+ is right for you.

Advantages of Google+ (Plus) For Your Business

I know exactly what you’re thinking… “I have a Facebook Page, why on earth do I need a Google+ page too??”

To be honest… there aren’t a whole lot of reasons for florists to use this new social network, except for one big one: It’s Google. Google is by-far the main search engine people use when looking for something online. Listing your business information on Google+ very well could boost your rankings. There is currently no way to know for sure, but I could definitely see your Google profile and G+ Page being connected together in the future.

Remember: the key to social networking is being where your audience is; this is likely not Google+. While tons of people signed up for Google+ in the beginning, the activity level began sinking fast. With the addition of Business Pages, this may change, but for now Google+ is full of tumbleweeds.

Advice on Getting Started With Google+

My advice to you is to join Google+ as a user and see how many friends, family members and acquaintances add you to their circles. This will give you a good indication of how many people you know are using Google+.
Go ahead and set your business up on Google+ and see what sort of activity it generates. This will also tell you how much time to invest in this new social network. That way if Google+ does end up taking off as a network, you’ve already got a jump start and claimed your business’ name. (And who knows, it just may help to elevate your rankings! *fingers crossed*)

Setting Up A Google+ (Plus) Business Page

Setting up your business page is actually pretty simple, just follow along with the images below. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Florists Only, Marketing Tips Tagged With: Google Local, Marketing Tips, Search Engine Marketing

Making Donations A Win-Win Situation

October 30, 2011 by Robbin 1 Comment

The Gimme Game

As local florists, we understand the importance of helping our local communities by supporting non-profit groups and charities. However, doesn’t it seem like every time you turn around someone has their hand out for “FREE” flowers? Non-profits and other deserving organizations that traditionally have had very minimal budgets for flowers now have NO budget. In addition, the normally generous floral retailers have also experienced a steep decline in revenue. This results in florists often feeling like their business is running as a non-profit!

Handling The “Donation Monkey” Dilemma

So how do you handle this “donation monkey” dilemma? When cash flow gets tight, one of the first areas that tends to get cut is MARKETING. However, during an economic downturn, this is probably the LAST place money should be cut. During this weakened market, it is more important than ever to be in the faces and minds of the public to maximize business. Brand recognition and community involvement go hand-in-hand when building a positive business image. For this to be a partnership of the donor and recipient, the business owner needs to be more aggressive and up-front with their needs and the non-profit organization needs to be more understanding and willing to barter.

Consider Donations As Marketing Opportunities

In response to the increased requests for donations, our business approach has been to consider each request as a marketing opportunity. In the past, we were often very generous and would just give the organization free flowers, gift certificates or auction items with very few questions and asking very little in return. This is no longer the practice. Our business has sold out of “FREE” and is currently not restocking! In order for us to stay in business and be available to make future donations, we have to remain fiscally responsible and business savvy. We must receive something in return for our investment and involvement.

The Donation Request Form

As a way of maximizing the return on investment, we use a very detailed Donation Request Form. This form allows us to collect information identifying the organization making the request, their floral purchasing practices and whether they have actually been a customer of ours in the past. Obviously, organizations or groups that have supported us in the past with their floral purchases take precedence over total strangers making requests. The form also outlines the event’s specific details regarding target audience, goals and expected [Read more…]

Filed Under: Florists Only, Marketing Tips Tagged With: Marketing, Marketing Tips

Using QR Codes For Your Business

October 27, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell Leave a Comment

QR Code

What is a QR code?

A QR code is an image that can be scanned by smartphones (such as an iPhones or Droid phones) to connect to a webpage of the creator’s choice. QR is short for Quick Response because it can be read quickly by a cell phone.

Basically a QR code is an image you can easily generate and use on printable material that will link to your online website.

Why are QR codes important to businesses?

Think about it like this: It’s Mother’s Day and you are promoting with posters, flyers, mail outs, etc. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a little button they could click on these print outs that would take them right to your website’s Mother’s Day selections? This is where QR code comes in!

All you have to do is create a QR code image that links to your shop website’s Mother’s Day page. This image can be used on all your printed promotional material and sent out to your customers. (Always include all shop contact info for those who don’t have smartphones.)

For your customers with smart phones, the mystery of where the QR code will take you is usually enough to make them scan it. (I know I can’t resist scanning them!) Seeing your beautiful Mother’s Day bouquet selections pop up on their smart phone is a much better than anything they can see on a flyer or poster. It is also very easy and convenient to order straight from their phones! (FSN Member Tip: FSN websites are completely mobile friendly. Customers can make purchases just like they would on your full website.)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Florists Only, Marketing Tips Tagged With: Marketing, Marketing Tips, QR Codes

New Direct Mail Options From The U.S. Post Office

July 20, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell 3 Comments

Thanks to FSN member Tim, at Botaniq Floral Studio in Santa Rosa Beach, FL for giving us the tip about this new program!

The U.S. Post Office has come out with a brand new direct mail program that could be a huge benefit to local businesses. They call it Every Door Direct Mail.

What is Every Door Direct Mail

Every Door Direct Mail enables you to extend your customer reach without the need for mailing lists, permits, and the associated fees. With Every Door Direct Mail, you create a direct mail without applying individual names and addresses to each mail-piece.

You pay 14.2¢ (cents) for each mail piece you send out.
Your target area can be a city, neighborhood or specified distance from your business.
Every Door Direct Mail is available only for Regular Standard Mail Flat size pieces.
The minimum number of pieces required is the number of active deliveries on a carrier route (not less than 200 pieces per mailing).

How Every Door Direct Mail Benefits you

Target a location without an address list
Easily send out local mailings
Build more traffic
Find new customers

FSN Makes It Even Easier With Direct Mail Templates

If you’re one of our fantastic(!) FSN members, we offer a Direct Mail Template Generator for you in your FSNf2f dashboard. Simply log in to FSNf2f.com and scroll down to the Marketing section in the orange right menu. Click on Direct Marketing Templates and you will see the 3 template options available to you: Build A Marketing Piece, Build A Brochure, and Build A Statement Stuffer.

All of these are easy to use and will feature your shop’s information! The Build A Marketing Piece is the one you want to use to create your direct mailer. If you are using Every Door Direct Mail from the post office, you will not need to select bulk mail permit. If you need help creating your template, watch the Video Tutorial by clicking the green button. More on the USPS site on Every Door Direct Mail Requirements.

Be sure to contact YOUR local post office before hand to make sure the size and weight of your direct mailer is correct BEFORE mass printing them. You will also need to know how many addresses are on a specific route.

[Update] After talking to several post offices about this, we have found out that pages need to be legal size, which is 8½” × 14″. One post office said a standard paper size (8½” × 11″) would work, while another said no. So.. again CHECK WITH YOUR POST OFFICE!

For much more information about Every Door Direct Mail, visit the USPS Website.

Filed Under: Florists Only, Marketing Tips Tagged With: Direct Mailers, FSN-F2F Online, Marketing Tips

Tips From The Top With Tim Huckabee

July 7, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell Leave a Comment

Jamie from FSN had a great opportunity to interview Tim Huckabee, president of FloralStrategies at the 2011 SAF Growth Solutions Conference in Dallas. FloralStrategies is the only on-site training program in the entire floral industry that teaches critically important customer care skills. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Floral Convention Videos, Florists Only, Marketing Tips Tagged With: Customer Service, Florist Videos, Marketing Tips, Society of American Florists

You’ve Got Business! – Effective E-mail Marketing & You

June 23, 2011 by Mandy Maxwell Leave a Comment

“E-mail is the ‘original social media’ and it is the one platform that, pretty much, everyone still uses today.” explains Dan Zarrella, marketing specialist.

E-mail marketing is listed as one of the top three most effective marketing methods. E-mail marketing is the affordable way to keep your customers coming back.

Florist Tips for Email Marketing:

By staying connected, you are building stronger customer relationships.
Segment your database of emails into usable groups, such as male/female, age or by interests. By doing this you can send more targeted emails. (Example: Sending different emails to men and women on Valentines Day to encourage sending to each other.)
Make emails easy to forward; this can be a quick and easy referral for your flower shop.
Schedule emails to be sent when your audience is most likely active, such as early morning or just after work.
Pay attention to what interests customers. Test different types of arrangements in your e-mails to see which ones your community responds to most.

Without a good e-mail address list, e-mail marketing can fall short.

Gather email addresses using these methods:

Simply ask every person placing an order for their email address.
Hold a weekly or biweekly contest where the only requirement is to enter an e-mail address.
Ask customers to refer family and friends in exchange for a percentage off or a special gift.
Send customers on your mailing list a postcard asking for the e-mail addresses of family or friends.

Filed Under: Florists Only, Marketing Tips Tagged With: Marketing Tips

Complete Guide To Facebook Timeline For Businesses

Branding Your Page