New Facebook Feature Could Mean Big Help For Florists

I am so excited about the newest feature announced by Facebook yesterday! If you recall our post on Tips For Tagging Pictures For Business Pages, we explained how Facebook did not allow for individuals to tag Pages in their pictures, well…

YOU CAN NOW!

What does this mean for you?

Scenario 1: Sally Prom-Goer has just received her first prom corsage; she is so excited she instantly takes a picture with her phone and uploads it to Facebook for all of her friends to see. Included with her corsage was a card saying ‘Tag us on Facebook!’ and a address to your shop’s Facebook Page. She easily finds your Page, tags you in her picture.

So now she will forever have a picture of her corsage on her profile AND a link to your shop’s page. Of course, it’s the best looking corsage -ever- because it came from your shop, so all of her friends know exactly where to go when they need a corsage.

Scenario 2: Jenny Newlywed has just got all of her pictures back on a CD from her wedding photographer. Of course, she uploads them all to Facebook to show her friends and family. There are many beautiful pictures of the bouquets, reception flowers, and more designs from your flower shop. You send Jenny a private message in Facebook asking her to please tag your shop in the pictures of the flowers because they were so beautiful. You and Jenny got along great, and she instantly tags your shop in some 30 pictures.

Scenario 3: Robert Romantic sent his wife, Louis, 24 roses for their 10th wedding anniversary. Robert is at work when the flowers are delivered to their home, so Louis takes a picture of her arrangement with her mobile phone and uploads it to Facebook to show her friends, as well as Robert.

In the enclosure card, there is an extra card from the shop that says, “We’re on Facebook! Tag us in the picture of your arrangement and get 10% off your next order!” Louis was just trying to think of something sweet she could do for her mom, and 10% off was a great persuasion. She logs onto Facebook, Likes your shop’s Page, then tags her photo with your shop! Not only is she planning to buy more flowers from your shop, one of her friends finds your Page through her tag and also places an order for their sweetheart.

How To Tag Business Pages In Photos

It’s very easy to tag photos! Just go to the photo you want to tag, click the ‘Tag This Photo’ and find the Page you want to tag by typing the name!

Help! The name of the Page does not show up in my list!

• Make sure you have Liked the Page you are trying to tag.
• Make sure it is not a Group (Groups still cannot be tagged)
• We have found that sometimes Pages are not able to be tagged because they are under Local Business category. This is a little odd because it works for some and not for others. I call this a Facebook glitch… and they usually take care of these within a few weeks. One way to get around it is by changing your Page’s category to Brand & Products by going to Edit Settings > Basic Information and changing the Category. Facebook claims “We’re looking to expand this functionality to more Page categories over time.” It’s best to be listed as a Local Business, so just remember to change it back when it works for you.

It’s a good idea to test your page first to make sure it’s working correctly before announcing to your fans.

What can be tagged? – Other Facebook Tagging Options

Facebook has really beefed up it’s tagging abilities. Utilize these to spread the word about your flower shop.

Status Update Tagging – Tagging other pages and individuals can in statuses can give your shop much more exposure in your community. First of all, make sure you’ve gone in and Liked AS YOUR PAGE the different Pages in your community. For example: chamber of commerce, downtown main street, art galleries, local businesses (non-competitors), local events, etc.

Post tagged statuses like this on YOUR shop’s Page: “We are so excited about the upcoming [Charlotte Cheesecake Festival]!” or “We are so excited about the upcoming [Charlotte Cheesecake Festival]! We will be in Booth 24, stop by and get a rose for your sweetie!”

Posting that status is beneficial because:

1. Lets your followers know you support your community
2. Updates your followers on things going on in your community (making you a valuable Page to follow)
3. By tagging that status, you’ve also placed the status on the Page for the Charlotte Cheesecake Festival for all of their followers to see.
4. If you were involved, it would tell your followers AND the Cheesecake Festival’s followers where you will be and what you are doing.

Comment Tagging – Comment tagging is somewhat a more discrete way of tagging someone. Think of it as a “Hey, check this out” kind of action. Say you post a photo of a flower arrangement that you think a bride would find inspirational for her wedding flowers, in the comments, say “Hey [Alice Bride-To-Be], what do you think of this?”

All this type of tagging does is send Alice a message saying she has been tagged, but does not share it on her wall. It’s a good way to make sure someone sees the post you intended them to see.

All in all Tagging is a very beneficial feature to add to your arsenal of Facebook marketing tools. If you have ANY questions, feel free to post them in the comments below.