Sometimes marketing can feel like shouting into a void and hoping someone is paying attention. More or Less, from Radio 4, investigated the claim that we see 10,000 ads every day. Well, it turns out the exact figure is more like 5,000, written by J. Walker Smith, in The New York Times article in 2007. In the article, Smith described these 5,000 ads as marketing ‘clutter’ such as billboards, taxi advertisements, and emails, most of which an average person will not even register. To add to this, 2007 was a simpler time when social media was in its early days.
So, in 2026, as a florist with a very limited marketing budget, how do we reach people at the exact moment they have a reason or occasion to buy from us and be heard over all this clutter? Well, the answer is, you probably already know who they are and when they need to buy. It’s in the data that your business already has; you just need to create marketing segments.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) states, ‘market segments help to identify target groups, so that objectives can be set and resources deployed in areas where the most value is added for the customer and the organisation.’
But if you’re not a nerd like me, who has CIM textbooks next to your desk, how does that translate to a real-world florist business?
Firstly, let’s unscramble the data already in your business.
This isn’t as scary as it may seem. If you are already using Strelitzia, it’s very simple. If you don’t use Strelitzia, don’t worry, you still have data you can use on your website or hidden within all your order pads.
Ways to segment your data;
- By Occasion
- By Spend
- By Location
Segmenting by Occasion
Speaking generally, most flowers bought from a florist are for an occasion, whether that be a birthday, a wedding, subsequent anniversaries, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, a funeral or a get-well or retirement gesture.
A lot of these happen annually, so you know your customers need to buy 12 months later. So emailing them to ask them whether they want to buy from you is simple and so effective.
Within Strelitzia’s marketing reporting, you can ask Strelitzia to create a list with the following filters;
- Choose which year’s data you would like to export. e.g. 2025 & 2024
- Choose the occasion you would like to export. e.g. birthday
- Choose the month you would like to export. e.g. May
- Strelitzia will automatically filter customers who have granted permission for marketing.
The result. Everyone who bought from you in May 2024 & 2025 for a birthday that you can contact within GDPR. The data that will be exported will be their name, contact details, the recipient’s name & the occasion’s date.
In other words, a marketing segment.
Segmenting by Spend
Increasing the revenue from your current customer base is the quickest and cheapest way to increase your turnover. So knowing who spends the most, and then contacting them in a personalised manner is the simplest way ot do this.
Within Strelitzia’s marketing reporting, you can ask Strelitzia to create a list with the following filters;
- Choose which customer type you would like to export. e.g. cash customers
- Choose the date range you would like to export. e.g. 01 Jan 25 to 31 Dec 25
- Toggle between [Total Spend] and [Average Spend].
- Choose between [Top 10 Customers], [Top 50 customers], [Top 100 customers], [Top 10% customers] or [Top 20% customers]
- Strelitzia will automatically filter customers who have granted permission for marketing.
The result: The top 10 customers with the highest average order value in 2025 that you can contact within GDPR.
In other words, a marketing segment.
Segmenting by Location
- Choose which customer type you would like to export. e.g. cash customers
- Choose the date range you would like to export. e.g. 01 Jan 25 to 31 Dec 25
- Choose the locality, town, postcode or delivery zone you would like to export. e.g. Yarm, TS15
- Strelitzia will automatically filter customers who have granted permission for marketing.
The result: Every customer who lives in Yarm who has ordered in 2025, that you can contact within GDPR. I know Yarm is an affluent area of nearby so maybe I could create a leaflet drop within.
In other words, a marketing segment.
Secondly, let’s target these segments.
Rather than spam your customers with wide-open emails telling them everything they could possibly buy from you within a time frame of ‘sometime soon’, let’s look at the three segments we’ve created and how I would target them.
Birthdays in May 2024 & 2025
I would import this data into Flodesk, who will allow you to create a segment and create a beautiful personalised email to each customer, that reminds the customer it is [insert recipient’s name here]’s birthday next month. I would display 4 beautiful bouquets and a couple of bottles of wine, all that link back to our website.
Last month, I created two test emails. I sent one to all birthdays in March 2026 and one to everyone else in our database. The customer’s that had a need to buy engaged 4.5x more than the rest of the database.
We are now a Flodesk partner. Get 25% off your first year with Flodesk and get free training for all Strelitzia customers.
Top 10 customers by average spend in 2025
I would look at the telephone numer’s of these customers and on a quiet afternoon giving them a ring, thanking them for being on of my top 10 customers of 2025 and asking them if there is any large events I can help with this year. This way I am building a relationship and creating loyalty with my highest value customers.
Customers based in Yarm in 2025
I know Yarm, a local suburb, is a wealthy area, so I would consider a leaflet drop in that area. Just like low-rise jeans and 90s bangs, it’s surprising what comes back around. My personal inbox currently has 2000+ unread emails (and counting), whereas I may get 2 leaflets through the door each day. 9.2% of delivered leaflets now prompt some sort of action toward purchase & businesses have seen their leaflet ROI grow by an average of 24% every year since 2021. In comparison, the last untargeted email I sent for Flowers by Nattrass had a click-through rate of 0.8%. This engagement is likely to increase if the person already knows my brand (florist), and I am giving them a call to action, for instance, 10% off if they spend over £50 or 15% off all subscription flowers when ordered in May.
There are so many other ways to target your customers but I hope this gives you an insight in how a couple of hours away from your work bench and can really benefit your business.
I hope this helps! Keep in touch if you need anything at all; amy@strelitziasoftware.com or fill out the form below to hear more about how Strelitzia could help you nad your team, and we’ll be in touch.