With summer almost over, as an owner of a flower shop business it can be worrying when the summer wedding season is coming to an end and floral sales are down. Autumn is just around the corner and it really isn’t too late to be thinking of things that can keep generating sales, right up to the Christmas period. And besides, Autumn brings with it some of the most incredible colours and varieties of flowers.
Strelitzia’s Marketing Manager Leyanne, has been working alongside our very own florist shop, Flowers by Nattrass, to put some simple marketing strategies together, which will help you increase customers and sales for your florist business.
Give a little back
Customers don’t just shop for products, they also enjoy the experience that’s involved in shopping. Customers who enjoy their experience with you on the phone, through your website or in your shop, will keep returning. They might even give you that all important review!
The best way to add to a customer’s shopping experience with you is to make them feel special and rewarded for choosing to keep coming back to your flowers and your skills.
Here are a few simple ideas that could help:
- Offer discount
- Start a loyalty scheme
- Keep up to date with flower trends and offer exclusive access to loyal customers
- Keep a variety of flowers and products in stock to suit all demographics
Strelitzia Tip: Add a discount code or information about a loyalty scheme to your delivery confirmation email.
Tip: With Autumn just around the corner, create a nice floral display. To really get people into that seasonal mood, use lots of seasonal colours and invite people to pop in and enter an Autumn theme prize draw.
With Autumn just around the corner, mark the change in season with a window display or luxury bouquet. Ask your customers to guess the names of the autumnal flowers you’ve used, and enter them into a prize draw to win the bouquet. Take lots of pictures to make sure you have lots of content for social media.
Florists & Social Media
It’s no surprise that the majority of the world now use social media. Social media is a really good way to reach both existing and potential customers. The best part of social media is that it’s free, and you can really target your content to your chosen audience.
By now, nearly all of us have social media accounts. But how to use them to their best potential?! For a start, narrow it down. Our top 3 platforms for florists would be Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. You’re only one person so, if necessary, just choose one and do it well.
- Get yourself Facebook and Instagram and start sharing and posting. It doesn’t have to be laborious; if you get into the habit of taking regular photos of your work you’ll constantly have things to post. See our ‘Florists to Follow’ blog for inspiration and ideas.
- Share other people’s content – Gain followers by reposting interesting content for you customers and followers.
- Get people to like your page- Users who like your page will see your posts on their main Facebook news feed. Ask followers to share your hashtags, or even like your page for a chance to win a prize.
- New customers – New customers are more than likely to shop at your business if their friends do. Don’t be afraid to ask and reward customers for referring a friend.
- Keep Content Fresh – Post quality content regularly (at least once or twice a week). Ensure you engage with followers in a positive way, this will ensure they continue to engage in future posts. For example, always like comments on your posts, and reply to them too.
- Promote your business – Promote your floral business by offering discount and incentives for customers who like, re-post, or recommend your social media site.
Tip: If you have a small budget, create eye catching Facebook ads and use their keyword and criteria selection to attract more targeted customers to your page. Keep a look out for our blog on targeting customers, coming soon!’
Get real with a blog
We all know florists are creative and are always thinking up great ways to keep their customers happy. Creating a blog provides an outlet for you and your shop to share those great ideas, thoughts, passions and even your lifestyle to your customers. Not only will customers reading the blog feel more connected to you, blogs also help drive traffic into your eCommerce website and increase sales.
Some reasons why blogs are great:
- Search engines love new content, so will increase your SEO.
- Helps to keep customers in the loop with what’s going on in the shop, what great flowers you have and any deals or tips you have.
- Blogs allow you to build trust and rapport with your customers, not only can you show off what you know, but you are also building your expertise and credibility.
Tip: Keep on top of the latest keywords, by using keyword tools to help people search for you on search engines such as Google.
Here is an example of a great blog you could check out The Flower Lounge https://www.didsburyflowerlounge.co.uk/blog.htm?page=2
About Strelitzia
Strelitzia is a specialist floristry software, which is designed by florists, for florists.
We want running a florists to be as simple, cost effective and time effective as it can be.
Please get in touch if you want a free demo.