“I’m the owner of The CarmelRose, a floral shop, and I’m looking for ways to generate publicity in a very competitive market.
“Even though our industry is hurt to a large extent when obituaries state ‘in lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to…,” we’re trying to form relationships with local funeral homes so they can refer us to families that are buying flowers for the funeral. I’d also like to target the local corporate market because revenues from local businesses that need floral arrangements can be significant.
“What ideas to your Hounds have for events I can sponsor at the shop or elsewhere, story ideas I can pitch to the local media, press releases I can write, photos I can offer the local media, opportunities for getting onto local TV, and joint venture partnerships I can form with other businesses?
“Also, suggestions for using social media would be appreciated.”
Cheryl:
Floral shops and tea rooms make great partners.
Use Twitter and Facebook to educate potential customers and get them to know who you are. Solve their problems, answer their questions. Occasionally offer specials through Social Media.
Develop an email list by offering an incentive..a discount or a free gift. Then market to your list.
Offer workshops through the local evening school.
Make sure to post all keyword-rich press releases on your website. Don’t worry about whether the media picks them up. Press Releases are a great SEO tool.
Join a local chamber of commerce – make sure they use your for centerpieces at social functions, even if you have to do it at cost. Include your business card or some other takeaway on all tables.
Cheryl,
The florist market does seem to be taking a huge hit everywhere. You need a unique “hook”.
Offer coupons for “giving flowers for no special occasion day”
“join flower arrangements of the month club”
“free single rose” (will arrangements when they go to pick it up)
Join with a local bakery and offer cookies, fudge etc (small) with the larger arrangements. (promotes BOTH businesses)
Go ONLINE with a website and shopping cart where your arrangements can be ordered online.
Definitely get your Social Media sites up and maintained. (linkedin, twitter and of course facebook)
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything else.
Good Luck!
Deb
May I suggest you contact a local doctor or optometrist because my mother just went in for cataract surgery, it was outpatient surgery. When she got home from her day at the doctor he had a small flower basket sent to her home. She thought that was the most wonderful thing to get after her surgery and it helped the florist because on the card it said for your next florist order call XYZ florist and it also was personally signed by the doctor. She told all her friends about the beautiful flowers she got from XYZ florist and about how wonderful her doctor was for giving her flowers.
Run a small how to classes around your expertise.
I just did a quick search on floral shop classes and came up with this link http://www.longwoodgardens.org/FloralDesignClasses.html.
There were quite a few on this top. Good way to get customers in the store seeing you shop as the place to come. Base it around different holidays. You could start with just a basic sign in the window and test the market. You could also video tape the lectures and use them on your web site. But getting folks in the shop is best
I think this is a good opportunity to align yourself with various charitable organisations. A good strategy is to be a key sponsor for an event that a charitable organisation will hold every year in your local area. You will get links from their site and also from the publicity that an event will receive.
Cheryl, I’d suggest that you check with your local or county chamber of commerce. They usually host “After Hours” socials for networking. Provide a floral arrangement (large and memorable!) for the event, and let the chamber have a drawing to award the arrangement to a lucky attendee. You know that the chamber spokesperson will rave about the arrangement before the drawing! What great free advertising! Be there in person, “planted” next to your arrangement to talk about it and your business, and hand out business cards. Bet you get some orders!
Hi Cheryl, Here’s my suggestion:
I know that florsists have to sometimes vary their arrangements depending on what’s fresh and in stock. But one of the things that has always really perplexed me is that when I order flowers over the phone I never know what the delivered arrangement actually looks like. So if you would offer to send your customers a jpg photo via e-mail of their bouquet —not the standard one for promotional purposes, I mean the actual one— the one that just went out the door to Aunt Bess— I would think that would be a big plus. And then you’d have their e-mails for future promotional offers, a big plus for you.
Also, what about using gorgeous, unusual(and re-usable) ribbons? Maybe there are some ribbons that could be purchased from charitable organizations— so a percantage of each purchase could help thus-and-such. A really beautiful length of ribbon is always worth saving for another arrangement or gift wrapping.
Good wishes!
I agree with C.M.Mayo.
I would really like to see what is being sent. There are many times that I send flowers and I don’t know exactly what it is that has been sent.
Also, I noticed on your website that there are no connections to any SN sites, such as Facebook or Twitter. You could really expand your business base by having a SN presance.
I just did a quick search on Facebook and found this one in particular:
http://tinyurl.com/yjgl83g
I love “niche” marketing and value its benefits. Start branding your business. How about a new tag line like,
“CarmelRose – we SEND what’s in your heart.” Use the tag line
on everything. Join your local Chamber of Commerce and then
join a leads group within the Chamber. It’s worth every penny. The leads groups usually meet once a week or twice
a month and they only allow one of each industry/business.
You are able to form great relationships with these people and
the business will flow. Also, along the niche line, personally visit large corporate offices (the management office) and bring along a small flower gift for the secretary
as an ice breaker/thank you gift for his/her time. Offer to create gorgeous arrangements for the entrance/vestibule areas on a weekly basis. The incentive to them to try you is that they only have to pay you for three of the four arrangements for the first month (basically buy 3, get 1 free). Here’s the best part. Companies LOVE to see their name in lights.
Purchase a used imprinting machine and offer to imprint their
company name on the ribbon of the arrangements -for FREE for the 1st month. It’s so easy to do and the companies really do love it. Never give up. Believe…and you can do it.
You can teach classes to individuals- how to put together a cornucopia for the Thanksgiving dinner you’re hosting, creative ways to feature mistletoe and poinsettia for December, incorporate clipped flowers into decorating fancy baked goods, etc. You could even partner with craft stores for a venue and to reach their clientele.
I know a few crafters that follow blogs to get ideas. You could connect with these other blogs and maybe guest post for them to build an audience. Content could include “did you know” factoids about flowers in season, how to make arrangements last longer, and of course any promotions you might have.
For larger events, some nonprofits are still holding their annual fundraising events. Try to find a local nonprofit association to partner with, or even better, build connections with nonprofit-focused event planners.
Partnerships for weddings/proms: bridal and tux shops, photographers, limo companies, reception venues, bakeries, salons/spas, gift shops, caterers, wedding planners, stationers.
Partnerships for funerals: funeral homes, cemeteries, funeral luncheon venues.
Partnerships for decor or entertaining: interior designers, local furniture stores, adult classes through park districts or colleges, real estate stagers, model home builders, gift basket shops, bakeries or specialty/imported food shops.
Ideas for articles or classes:
— Flower power: flowers and their meaning; how to keep flowers fresher longer.
— Prom 101: what’s new in dresses & tuxes; hairstyles using flowers; how to select corsages.
— Green decorating: how to decorate using grasses, bulbs, herbs or potted plants; how to dry flowers for use in decorating, sachets, etc.
— Holiday decorating: how to make a centerpiece; how to use swags or wreaths; how to decorate a holiday table
Miscellaneous opportunities:
— Bouquets presented to actors in community theater
— Graduation bouquets
— Wreaths or arrangements for fraternal or veterans groups that conduct ceremonies or services
I’m guessing one reason people do the “in lieu of” is because they know flowers just die in a few days no matter how beautiful they are to begin with. Linda touched on this in her comment, but if you can show you are more “green” than the typical florist, I’d think you could have an edge.
Maybe you could offer a specific group of arrangements that use recycled containers, include seed packets or make it clear what part of the arrangement could be re-potted and kept by the recipient. For example, my husband had a plant (I think some call it elephant ear) that started out 6 inches tall in his father’s funeral arrangement. It grew for over 10 years and ended up as tall as the ceiling would allow. It was a nice reminder of happy memories all those years.
Once you have something like that, you’d have a unique story with good visuals to pitch to TV and print media.
great thoughts here I love the seed pack idea and going green
Check out the Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau. If you know what conventions are coming to town, you can market your services directly to those organizations, and even the vendors that will have booths, or corporate entertainment suites during the show. You can also send press releases to the affiliate trade magazines…
How about tying up with wedding/event planners, churches and businesses (gifts for staff birthdays, special occasions).
I hope this helps.
Hello:
Social book marking is good; however the key to marketing on the internet is making sure that you have a variety of ways to rank your site so that google can place you on page one and people in your area looking for you will find your website or blog and your sales will increase. Google is like a huge catalog to give people what they want. Knowing how to appear on the first page will help your sales. My first advice to you would be to chage your flower website to a word press site. The reason being there are many plug ins that you could take advantage of. You already know this because this platform is made using wordpress. I would highly recommend a program that may help you. There is a forum with this program that you can become apart of if you choose. You will also learn different tactics that will help you rank better on google and increase your sales. go to http://frominternetmakemoney.com/
All I have to say is that I am happy that I blundered upon this program it has helped me alot.
Wishing you all the best.
Letitia
Can anyone suggest a very good Florist near Greenwell Springs Louisianna ? i prefer one who specializes in Tulips.,~”
Just today I sent out letters to all of our local nursing homes, (just 6 for this mid-sized town), with nonfloral sympathy ideas. We have stepping stones and tapestry throws that we offer for someone who wants to send something a little more personal. One of the nursing homes here in town sends a stepping stone for short term residents that have passed and a throw for someone who has been at the home for an extended period of time. It says a lot about the home for caring for the family even after the person in their care has passed. It only took a few minutes to put the flier together and they are on the way out in the AM.
Also when talking to the funeral homes try making up a small brochure or pictures of your work that they can show at the funeral home. We work with one funeral home that just calls us directly with the order. This is a good service to the family because it cuts down on the things they have to worry about that day. We offer the home a discount for gathering the order for us and for being a repeat customer.
And thank you all that responded to this post! I came away with some new ideas too 🙂
Hey Joan,
I have recently posted an article online entitled – “5 Ways to Use Videos to help promote your Flower business” – which I thought may be of interest to you and your readers of your “publicityhound” blog.
The article is available here: http://www.trakax.com/software/about/comments/inspiration_videos_5_ways_to_use_video_to_help_promote_your_flower_business/
If you require any further information or wish to republish, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.
Many thanks for your time,
Colm
Colm, these videos are a great example of what can be done with video—not only by florists, but by small businesses who sell a variety of goods and services. Thanks for sharing.
Joan,
make sure you “touch base” with local caterers and corporate office buildings in your area. Anyone who would shop flowers for business meetings or events.
Hello Cheryl, I noticed you have a ftd website. Did you know you can personalize it and add links for your blog, twitter and facebook? And you can add your own products too, to showcase your own flare and design. Also you can add your own meta tags and titles to your pages.
I came here looking for ideas for my florist, and found lots of ideas. As florist we have to be proactive the floral industry is changing every day and we have to use our creative skills to step out side of the box.
Thanks for asking the question!!!!
Annette, thanks for your comments. So many web owners forget about letting visitors know where to connect with them on the social media sites.