A small home and garden product company based in Louisiana, The Garden Gates,  is showing that even local businesses can garner attention in the social web. By utilizing photography, live events, and the edginess that social media allows, The Garden Gates has developed a great, consistent social media strategy. 1) They are showing that even for companies with a conservative audience, being edgy in social media is acceptable. A recent blog post depicted the logo for the company’s UnOfficial 4:20 Shirt which shows a dog and cat planting a tree with the heading “Legalize Pot Planting”. This helps give the brand personality and a sense of humour that most gardening retailers do not have. 2) They’re utilizing photography to show-off in-store wares. For home and garden decor companies especially, in-store displays create impressive in-use showcases of products. They give customers ideas on how to use the products and how best they could fit with their current decor. 3) Engagement in the comments section of Facebook posts is high. A recent thread about their Easter egg hunt held twenty comments, nine of which were from The Garden Gate itself. One Garden Gate comment was even an off-hand remark about their hunt being better than Ritz Carlton’s! This is a great example of a company talking to its customers in human talk instead of marketing talk. 4) Their utilization of live events in social media is perfect. The beauty of social media is that it allows people to re-live live events together. One-time events can be captured and catalogued through photography, video, and written accounts to create lasting memories associated with the brand. They also allow for discussion points centered within a brand’s social web presence. The Garden Gates held a massive Easter egg hunt with 20,000 eggs and, according to my own approximations from their Facebook photos, dozens if not hundreds of hunters. Go to Wishpond.com/merchant to get a Facebook Storefront that syncs automatically with your current e-commerce solution.