Posts by idalina

Florist-halloween

Florist Halloween – Tricks Of The Trade

October 31st, 2018 Posted by Blog, events, Floral Design, Florist Marketing, Florist Profits, seo 0 thoughts on “Florist Halloween – Tricks Of The Trade”

florist-halloween-tricks-of-the-trade

Add some Tricks and Treats to your flower sales with these spell-binding tips!

Halloween has gained serious recognition among business retailers and no wonder why, as adults look forward and partake in this fun holiday and are spending millions on the holiday.

It is said that Halloween sales surpass every holiday except Christmas. So why aren’t Florists cashing in on Halloween?  In this blog, we want to help floral businesses cash in on Halloween profits and establish long lasting  patrons.

 

Fall-Florist-Arrnagement

image via wikipedia.com

Make A Ghoulish Flower Arrangement

Make a few creative, spine – chilling, Halloween flower arrangements and donate them to your local busy eateries, pubs, hair salons, and so on.

Think large crowds and make sure your business card is displayed and visible.

Many florists have participated in donating arrangements and it has paid off big time. The purpose here is to bring recognition to your flower shop business.

Tip: Donate an arrangement to the main office of your high school. Kids love these and will remember your flower shop when prom comes around. 

 

halloween-florist-merchandise-sales

image via pixabay.com

Spooktacular Window Display

First impressions count! Be sure to make your window display or front entrance stand out and ooze with creativity. Getting patrons into your flower shop is key in increasing your profits.

Tip: Adding an enticing sign to your entrance will help bring traffic into your store, remember, everyone loves bargains incorporate these signs in the Halloween decor.

 

Florist-Halloween-Pumpkins-Mums

image via pixabay.com

Sell Halloween Hair – Raising Items

Think of carrying a few Halloween specific items in your store. Patrons flock for candles, Halloween baskets, soaps, lotions, and jewelry. Make a small display, preferably at the front counter near cash drawer. Create designer pumpkins with ribbon, wheat, and other fall items to create a centerpiece that will last through the fall season.

Tip: It’s great to include mums, hay, and pumpkins for sale, at your shop.  These items will allow your patrons to buy all they need from one location. 

 

telephone-florist-sales

image via pixabay.com

Be A Sales Warlock

Cold calling still works, if you are located near hotels, corporate businesses, and busy restaurants, pick up the phone and give them a ring.  Ask them if they would like a jaw-dropping Halloween arrangement for their lobby or front entrance, you will be surprised how great this works.

 

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image via pixabay.com

Host a Spellbinding Flower Workshop

These are all the rage and create fun exciting pass times for your patrons. Remember the theme is Halloween. You can teach anything from a fun Halloween arrangement, like adding flowers to a pumpkin or even decorating a Halloween wreath.

These are buzz worthy, don’t forget to post on social media!

 

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Thrill Customers On Your Website 

Make sure to update your floral website. Do not skip over Halloween, make sure to add some beautiful Halloween arrangements and items for sale.

How about also writing a Halloween blog? Offering your readers some creative tips for this festive holiday. This will help increase your SEO and make your eCommerce store recognizable across the internet. Be sure to add enough content and images. Remember,  Dia De Los Muertos is November 1st.

 

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Flowers Mystify The Media

Involving the media is a sure way to get you and your flower shop recognized. There are many things you can offer on Halloween to get you recognized in the media.

If you are close to your local news channel, send them a beautiful creative flower arrangement.  Make sure to offer the arrangement to all the anchors and thank them for a job well done.  You are sure to get your flower shop and creative arrangements on the news.

Another way is get your schools involved, offer free arrangements for students who write the best essays, these can include why Halloween is their favorite holiday, someone they admire and so on.

 

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Image purchased with license through dreamstime.com

Enchanted Costumes = Flower Sales 

If you are open on Halloween have everyone dress up. This may sound far-fetched, however, you will see an increase traffic into your store if everyone is participating. Have one of your  best -dressed employees stand out front your store throughout the  day preferably holding an enticing  sign.

Offer special discounts on single stem or bunched flowers for costumes or accessories for customer Halloween costumes.

 

These are just a few suggestions on how florists can tie Halloween into marketing and sales.  We would love to hear about your Halloween marketing and sales tips, please share with our readers below.

 

 

 

 

 

Pay It Forward With Flowers!

October 4th, 2018 Posted by Florist Marketing 1 thought on “Pay It Forward With Flowers!”

Have you heard of “random acts of kindness,” “what goes around comes around,” and “pay it forward”?

These sayings are probably nothing new to you, however involving flowers may be. There has been an evolution of floral professionals paying it forward with random acts of kindness in their communities through the most beautiful thing in the world: flowers.

Florists are now using a clever marketing tactic to also benefit their neighbors and other community members. There are so many hows on executing pay it forward with flowers—we list a few in this article and encourage you to pay it forward with flowers.

The Lonely Bouquet | @thelonelybouquet

The Lost-and-Found Bouquet

This marketing tactic has been blowing up on social media. Not only does it benefit the finder, it also benefits the flower shop participating.

Here’s how: make a beautiful bouquet of wrapped flowers, so it’s easy to transport. Make sure your stems are tubed for hydration add a beautiful ribbon.

Make a captivating note to place on the outside of the bouquet. Be creative with the verbiage, but below is a template. You can use Facebook, Instagram, or any social media site you like to link back to you.

If you found me, please take me! I was placed here to make you happy. All you have to do is let my maker know I’m safe and sound: take a picture of me and share to our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/yourfacebooklink/

(Add your shop name, address and phone number below the message.)

Pick a busy location in your area—a bus stop bench, on the steps of a library, anywhere you feel will be seen by many walkers by. Sit back and watch, these flower bouquets get snatched up in minutes.

They also seriously make the finder’s day, imagine stumbling into something so beautiful made just for you—the possibilities of the pay-it-forward rule are limitless.

Image via Shutterstock

Do You Give a Bloom?

This one is so enduring just as much. And there are so many ways to do this. Customers can sponsor a flower bouquet to give to someone to make their day.

Here’s how: place a visible sign on your flower shop counter, window, and eCommerce website that states again feel free to use your own verbiage and pricing module.

Spend $80.00 on a bouquet and we will give flowers to cheer up someone in need on your behalf.

The card message could read “I purchased flowers today and wanted to send you some smiles as well—hope this makes your day.”

Make sure the card message includes your shop name, address and phone number with the Give a Bloom title.

Be sure to create a small note on the person getting the free flowers on the Give a Bloom program and why they are receiving these flowers. Receivers do not have to be in nursery homes or hospitals, they can be anyone you choose that you feel could use some cheering up.

The Lonely Bouquet | @thelonelybouquet

Flower Hunt/Lonely Bouquet

Unlike the lost-and-found bouquet, the flower hunt is a tad different. This time you will leave a flower bouquet in your location, either inside or out, and make it more difficult to find. Posting a Flower Map on your social media so your visitors can find the flower bouquet and report back to your social media page once found. The finder’s reward is keeping the flower bouquet.

Clues and maps can be anything along these lines:

Everyone loves me. I’m pretty and smell sweet,
Look down to find me near this street.

 

Make sure these are unsuspecting places and add a note or tag to read something like:

  • “You found me!”
  • “At last, I found a home with you”
  • “Lonely bouquet”
  • “Please take me home”

 

Where do you place these? Try to hide them somewhat so they aren’t randomly snatched up like:

  • Up a tree
  • In a bush
  • Side of buildings
  • Curbs
  • Eateries
  • Anywhere you can think of!

 

Have fun with this, be sure to stay a while and snap pictures of your plan in action.


Florists, have you tried any of these marketing concepts before? Please share your feedback or questions below in the comment section.

 

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

 

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Why Having Two or More Floral Websites is a Bad Idea

September 19th, 2018 Posted by Florist Ecommerce, Florist Marketing, Florist Websites, Search Engine Optimization, seo 2 thoughts on “Why Having Two or More Floral Websites is a Bad Idea”

Are you thinking of adding another floral website?

florist-website

If your current floral website is doing well in sales, the idea may have crossed your mind that if you had another floral website, you could dominate your local area and make even more money. Or maybe you signed up with a well-known wire service and they encouraged you to get a second floral website. Are there any drawbacks to running two eCommerce websites?

Unfortunately, the answer is unequivocal yes. Having more than one website is negative for any business. There are many reasons for this, and we will break them down below.

 

Image via Shutterstock

NAP and SEO

With more than one website, your search engine ranking can suffer. NAP Consistency refers to the accuracy of your brick-and-mortar floral business’s name, address, and phone number across all platforms, social media sites, citations, and websites.

In short, Google and other search engines’ algorithms use ranking signals to grab the most relevant trusted results. Duplicate NAP content on multiple floral websites lowers your level of trust with search engines. Remember, these are robots—not people—so when they see something that makes them uncertain, they can lower search engine placement.

Additionally, Google Business pages only allow for one website and you could run the risk of having your website considered spam and removed from search engine results.

Image via Shutterstock

Confusing Your Visitors

Online shoppers are savvy with search engines. They often scroll down the search engine list and pick the floral website they most gravitate to or the floral website they feel most confident about.

One important factor in customer confidence is the review section. Reviews are priceless when it comes to search engines, and having them scattered all over the place will not be beneficial to your flower business.

Most online shoppers are instantly turned off by a business with two separate websites offering essentially the same products—this can lead to a lack of trust and no sale.

Image via Shutterstock

You Become Your Own Competition

Not necessarily in your local area, but on search engines, which is not a good thing. Your multi-floral websites are competing against one another which generally results in both websites ranking low on search engines.

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Image via Shutterstock

Waste of Time and Money

Regardless if your second floral website costs a little more or a lot, it’s still a waste of money and time to have multiple floral websites. Invest the money from your second site in ads or a marketing campaign to benefit your first and primary website.


We hope that this encourages you to have only one floral eCommerce website. If you have two or more, now is the time to consolidate and save yourself some time and money to get your floral branding up on search engines.

 

Florists, do you currently have two or more floral eCommerce websites? Please share your feedback or questions below in the comment section.

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

 

 

Refreshing Floral Autumn Trends to Note!

August 29th, 2018 Posted by Floral Design, Floral Instagram, Floral Supplies, Florist Ecommerce, Florist Marketing, Florist Operations, Florist Profits, florist technology, Florist Websites, Flower Trends 3 thoughts on “Refreshing Floral Autumn Trends to Note!”

Check out this season’s hottest floral trends!

Image via Haute Photography

Ah, September is almost here. For some florists, September is welcomed busier season than the long summer days. Long-sleeved shirts and beautiful rustic blooms, right? Hold on tight, because some of this year’s autumn flower trends on social media are quite surprising.

From unique flower combinations to exquisite new blooms, autumn is a season that encompasses all that is wondrous.

Image via Shutterstock

Floral Wreaths

Composed of dried or silk, these are a fall must-have for shoppers. High-end home decor stores are offering these at a premium price and cashing in. How about whipping up some beautiful floral wreaths for sale at your shop and ecommerce website?

Image via Shutterstock

Ribbon + Wrappings = Sales

If you are not high-styling your wrapped bouquets, you are missing out some social media buzz. Complete the look with beautiful silk ribbon.

Image via Shutterstock

Cotton Floral Arrangements

I know what you’re thinking: amazing. Just remember this—cotton with the stems are available from supply wholesalers at a great price. Cotton is super hot for fall and just exquisite for the holidays. Incorporate some cotton in all arrangements. This cotton trend will not be going away anytime soon.

Image via Shutterstock

Sweet Ranunculus

Oh, ranunculus, how I love thee! And so does everyone else, this is a highly sought-after bloom and among the top five favored on social media. Get your ranunculus on!

Image via Shutterstock

Chocolate Cosmos 

With a name like chocolate cosmos, we knew they would be tempting. This isn’t a new flower stem for florists, but it’s being used so frequently and the number 1 wildflower choice for social media followers. Chocolate cosmos bloom mid-to-late summer, so they’re a perfect addition to your high-style garden-picked arrangements.

Check out this close-up of a chocolate cosmo flower. Aren’t they just beautifully perfect in every way?

Image via Shutterstock

Florists, what are your thoughts on these trends for Autumn? Have you incorporated any of these trends in your flower shop? Please share your feedback or questions below in the comment section.

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Is it the End of the Good Old Wedding Consultation?

August 22nd, 2018 Posted by events, Florist Websites, wedding trends, wedding/events, weddings 1 thought on “Is it the End of the Good Old Wedding Consultation?”

Wedding eCommerce collections are crushing it with wedding customers online!

Image via Instagram via Pink Diamond Co

So what does this mean for the classic wedding consultation, where florists meet with a client and go over every detail of the special day. It’s not likely wedding consultations will go extinct, however, its good to point out that there is a new type of wedding client that prefers online shopping to taking their time with a meet and greet.

If you are a floral professional then I’m sure you’ve seen websites offering premade wedding collections, “just add water.” Regardless, if you love the idea or not, the fact remains that wedding collections websites are making money, they are also trending on social media with tons of non-floral visitors following and engaging with wedding floral showpieces.

So what can you do to keep up? Well, how about starting a wedding collection of your own to upload to your floral eCommerce. We will break down how to do this easily and grab the attention of wedding clients who want easy-peasy wedding flower ordering.

Image via Cara Robbins Studio via Ella & Louie

Create a Floral Wedding Collection

The first thing to do is plan your wedding collection what are your offerings, including names and color scheme. Customers respond well to color and a bit of whimsy, so all collections should be specific to the feel and color scheme.

Keep in mind that this is your simplified wedding collection, the main focus is the customer who essentially orders the combinations and items they need.

Here is a list of suggestions…

Image via Shutterstock

Floral Wedding Offerings

  1. Bridal bouquet (offer a small option)
  2. Bridesmaid bouquet (offer a small option)
  3. Flower crown
  4. Hair flowers
  5. Flower girl basket/hoop
  6. Boutonnieres
  7. Wrist corsage
  8. Centerpiece (cylinder or cube offer a small option)
  9. Ceremony arrangement
  10. Cake topper flowers
  11. Garland (you may sell this by the foot)

Once your color schemes are set, now you can choose the names of each collection, this is your opportunity to really put your own stamp on your floral wedding collections, add some whimsy, and also be sure to include timeless designs.

Image via Shutterstock

Designing Your Floral Wedding Collections

Wedding collections do not usually deliver next day—some websites allow for 7-business day delivery, keep in mind when creating your collection you want to be sure to offer flowers that you can obtain easily and readily—if seasonal flowers are used, please add that to the description when uploading to your floral website.

Invest in future sales by setting aside a day to arranging your wedding collections for photographing to upload to your floral eCommerce. This is actually a really fun process and we encourage you, if you can, to use your own floral wedding work.

This process may take a bit longer but the rewards are amazing and once done you won’t have to update for a while.

Image via Shutterstock

Floral Wedding Images

If you are set to create a floral wedding collection then we need to really think about the images, your masterpieces need to be showcased correctly.

Please set aside a budget for hiring a photographer to take these floral wedding images. You can hire a freelance photographer or student photographer there are less expensive options however the quality of the images must be on point.

 


 

 

We really hope that this inspires you to display your beautiful floral wedding designs online, we get it and understand that this does not give you a chance to get to know the customer, however its different for some customers nowadays.

Customers want to get to know you before they even meet you and that is why some gravitate online so show them your brand and style and do not miss the opportunity to gain new clients.

 

Florists, are you currently offering a wedding collection on your website? Please let us know how it’s working for you and post any feedback or related questions in the comment section below!

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Floranext offers great florist software, florist POS, florist websites and florist wedding proposal software. Our florist technology products are built by florists, for florists. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Not Personal…It’s the Flower Business!

August 15th, 2018 Posted by Become A Floral Designer, Florist Operations, Florist Profits 9 thoughts on “It’s Not Personal…It’s the Flower Business!”

The floral business is fast evolving, leave behind your preconceptions about the way it’s run.

Floristry is competitive, and it’s important to have a firm business plan and policies for your customers, employees, and shop alike. How do you establish policies that will stick if you are new to the floral business? The solution is simple: get comfortable with the phrase “It’s not personal, its business.”

We promise you that making some simple changes in your flower business will not in any way hurt your profits—to the contrary, you can expect to profit more. To be constantly evolving your business means to treat it as such, and not cross wires with your personal life. Here’s how.

Image via Shutterstock

Friendships and the Floral Business

It’s no wonder many florists really like their customers and vice versa, it’s common sense that the customers who gravitate to your business will be the ones that are friendliest to you.

So what is all the fuss about friendship in business? Well, the fact that florists are so giving by nature, some shops may misconstrue their relationships with customers and start giving them freebies. It can be helpful to give a customer a reason to do business with you in the future, but be careful of overdoing it.

Image via Shutterstock

Employee Policies

The most relaxed job I ever had was my job in a flower shop. The environment was so laid-back and there were few rules for conduct as long as I showed up and did my work. We needed structure, and your floral business will benefit from having firm employee policies and guidelines.

That starts with putting policy in writing. First, explicate a policy to keep waste under control. Supplies cost money—that tiny wire on the floor, bits of ribbon, scraps of tissue paper—all employees should have respect for your supplies.

It’s worth noting that some communities have many flower shops, and some florists hire part-time floral designers that may also work for a competitor a few miles away or the next town over. If this is not a concern to you, then no problem—but if it does, take this into account as you write your waste policy.

Next, every employee should be taught how to upsell and offer add-ons to a customer with their order. This is an easy way to win some extra sales.

Image via Shutterstock

Event Contract Terms

If you design for many weddings or events, then you absolutely must have terms signed by the customer. Remember even though this may be a customer you think of as a friend, it’s a business relationship and no one can blame you for keeping yourself covered.

All terms must be clear—all delivery stops on contract, deposit requirements, cancellation requirements and substitution policy. This will protect you and save you money in the long run. There is nothing worse than having a customer contradict you when you have nothing to back up what you know to be true. Put it all down in black and white.

Image via Shutterstock

Customer Assumptions

We all know what works in our flower shop and for our customers, so why try something new and different? Maybe a new floral design style isn’t your style, but it’s trending. Maybe it won’t work for you, but maybe it will!

You must keep evolving and trying new things in the floral industry. If certain flower stems in your area are too costly to keep all the time, maybe offer them once a month and charge more so that you make a profit.

Never assume your customers won’t like or buy something. You may be right, but if you’re wrong you will be losing out on gaining new prospective customers and profits.

Image via Shutterstock

High Maintenance, Low Profit

We often hear how some customers and services can deplete profits. Now is the time to make a change and reevaluate.

First, let’s consider customers who are low profit and super high maintenance. Sometimes it’s okay to gently say “no” to the customer. Working on quality service is always best if you feel quality will be subpar or customer is just impossible to please by all means just say no (in a nicer way of course). This is your reputation on the line and remember everyone today is a critic with easy access to review you online which can really be determined to your business.

Think of every customer as a critic and do your very best to achieve a great review for every order—regardless if they review you or not. Also, keep in mind that customers who are unhappy with your service are the first ones to offer their review. If you feel you can’t accommodate an event during a busy week, then simply say no. If you feel the customer is just too hard, just say no.

Last, if you are with a wire service, double check that you are making a genuine profit. Not a few hundred dollars a year, that won’t cut it when you account for mortgage/rent, utilities, etc. Wire service companies are not your partners, they are in it for their own profits. It may sound cynical, but as a business owner, you should be too!


Florists, what are some important rules you feel should be included above? Please share your feedback any related questions in the comment section below!

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Floranext offers great florist software, florist POS, florist websites and florist wedding proposal software. Our florist technology products are built by florists, for florists. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Behind the Scenes of the Floranext 2018 Web Floral Catalog

August 8th, 2018 Posted by Floral Design 0 thoughts on “Behind the Scenes of the Floranext 2018 Web Floral Catalog”

From conception to creation, the Floranext 2018 web floral catalog was a profound experience for all involved.

 

Floranext 2018 Product Catalog – web collection is finally here!

Since January, the Floranext team has been working hard behind the scenes to develop our first Floranext floral product catalog. With multiple requests from our customers, a vision has become a reality and out catalog was launched in late July. 

The process of developing a product catalog from conception to creation was a profound experience for all involved. We thought our readers might be interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of our floral catalog.

 

 

Where to Begin?

A lot of factors go into developing a product catalog, as we learned, from deciding style and color to flowers and containers.

Here at Floranext, we wanted to create a floral catalog that could be easily sold on any of our customer’s websites, customers could find an arrangement in their budget and the flowers and supplies could be easily and readily available no matter where your floral business is located. 

 

 

Not only is color, style, flowers, and supplies important but also putting in the consideration of the cost, labor, and markup of each arrangement, making sure florists who use our catalog can cover their costs and make a profit.  Spreadsheets became our friend during this process. Every detail of each arrangement and the collection, such as names, descriptions, recipes, and cost were recorded. 

After hours of narrowing down over 50+ arrangments that best represent everyday arrangements for our floral catalog, it was time to begin!

 

 

Location, Creation, & Action!

It was now time to send our project to our Floranext floral designer, find a location where flowers and supplies could be processed and the arrangements could be stored and find a photographer. 

Floranext would like to give a special thanks to one of our customers, Saralina Wehbi and Gabriela, owners of Willow Florist in North Vancouver BC, for being gracious hostesses by donating their space for us to create this awesome floral catalog.

 

Jarusha Brown, from Jarusha Brown Photography in Vancouver, BC, graciously took on the task of photographing our catalog. Jarusha and our designer worked hard to make sure the lighting, angles, and arrangements were ready for their catalog debut!

 

 

A colorful arrangement ready for its close up Mr. Demille… Ms. Brown!

 


Floranext again wishes to thank everyone who participated in developing out first floral product catalog. Floranext customers who would like a copy of the Floranext 2018 Floral Product Catalog – web Collection, Please click on the link Below!

Floranext 2018 Product Catalog – Web Collection 

 

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Floranext Logo

Floranext offers great florist software, florist POS, florist websites and florist wedding proposal software. Our florist technology products are built by florists, for florists. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

 

Top 5 Florist August Checklist Tips!

August 1st, 2018 Posted by Floral Design, Floral Supplies, Florist Marketing, Florist Operations, Florist Resources, florist technology, Florist Websites 6 thoughts on “Top 5 Florist August Checklist Tips!”

As all florists know being ahead of the seasons is part of the industry. August is a great month to prepare for the fall and double-check your flower shop’s needs.

With June being taken over by graduations and weddings and vacations in July, August is a great month for you to dot your Is and cross your Ts for the months ahead.

September tends to sneak up on florists. The rush comes in, or perhaps you had a great idea for marketing that you just couldn’t get to. August is a great month to get to some organizing, marketing, and peace of mind.

Image via Shutterstock

1. Sell a New Floral Product!

Nothing motivates new customers more than new offerings. The same goes for the flower shop staff: excitement, intrigue, and passion will help you sell. Place your orders now so you are all ready for the new product sales to come September.

Think about offering something new. We love the idea of floral boxes, for one—these are really popular with consumers and also allows for adding your logo which is double marketing.

Here is a list of possible items to offer:

  • Hat boxes/boxes
  • Floral totes
  • Succulents
  • Plants
  • Luxury sweets (meringue cookies, truffles, etc.)
  • Gift cards

Image via Shutterstock

2. Reanalyze Your Floral Website!

Take a good look at your floral website. Is it captivating to you? Is it easy to browse and checkout with? Do you have enough content? How are you showing up on search engines?

These can be difficult questions to answer, but your website is your online store open 24/7, and a direct expression of your brand. Check your ranking on search engines, check your reviews, and be vigilant in making sure your floral website represents you.

Things important on your floral website:

  • Fully-secure website (https instead of http)
  • Responsive website, mobile-friendly
  • Correct pricing
  • Professional-looking images
  • About Us write-up of at least 300 words
  • Areas of delivery
  • Venues, funeral homes and hospitals you deliver to
  • Wedding gallery/event write-up
  • A blog

We can not encourage you enough to have a blog on your floral website, blogs are awesome because you can discuss any topic. Blogs help your website list better on search engines and ultimately gain your brand great notoriety.

Image via Shutterstock

3. Create a Showcase Entry/Window Display!

If you can get your creative juices flowing with floral specific window display, your imagination should run free here. If you do not have a window display option, create a shop center display.

Let’s ring in the coming season with visual hypnosis, take beautiful pictures and post on all your social media sites and watch as you gain new likes and followers.

Image via Shutterstock

4. Get Your Floral Newsletter On!

Flower shop promotions are the best way to create a buzz—send out a newsletter to all your email customers with offerings. The best part about newsletters is that you are creating a memory for the email recipients with your brand name, and best of all, email marketing works to get foot traffic.

Image via Shutterstock

5. Spruce Up the Place!

I’m sure everyone’s shop is as neat as can be, but let’s just take a step back and using all the senses, walk around your flower shop. This is not only for the customers but for all who work at the flower shop as well. Make sure inventory is organized—ribbon, wire, tape and so on.

Manage your floral displays, make sure your surfaces are free of dust and get your floral refrigerator clean.

 

Florists, what are important things you do in August to prepare for the season ahead? Please share your feedback any related questions in the comment section below!

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Floranext Logo

Floranext offers great florist software, florist POS, florist websites and florist wedding proposal software. Our florist technology products are built by florists, for florists. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

How to Promote Your Floral Business on Instagram!

July 18th, 2018 Posted by Blog, Floral Design, Floral Instagram, Florist Ecommerce, Florist Marketing, florist technology, Florist Websites, florist-software 4 thoughts on “How to Promote Your Floral Business on Instagram!”

Promoting on Instagram is a great way to gain new customers and grow your floral brand!

So why aren’t more floral professionals taking advantage of the Instagram community to market their flower business? Perhaps because some floral professionals don’t know how to utilize Instagram to its fullest advantage.

With Instagram reaching 1 billion active monthly users this past month, it’s important to understand this audience. Instagram is a trendy social media platform with a lot of influence. Read on for some easy ways to get started promoting your floral business on Instagram.

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Create an Instagram Floral Business Account

If you haven’t already done so, create a business Instagram account. Having a business account allows you to link to your floral website, connect your business Facebook page, and display shop contact phone numbers and email addresses.

Make sure to include your website link to direct users to your floral website. There is only one option for a link, but this “backlink” does help build your SEO visibility as well.

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Be Clear On Image Quality

Creating a post on Instagram does require a little bit of time and effort. Make sure your images are clear, composed properly, and look professional. On Instagram your marketing is primarily visual. Appealing images will gather you more followers, so invest some time in taking quality images of your floral products.

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Engage Other Users

In order to build your brand and credibility, you must be an active participant on Instagram. Be sure to follow your followers back as well as other businesses, mentors, and other floral professionals to engage in conversation and gain more visibility to those users’ followers.

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Get #Hashtaging

Hashtagging has never been more important to the Instagram platform than it is today. makes sure to use relevant hashtags on each post, don’t just copy and paste the same hashtags to all of them—Instagram’s algorithms demote successive posts with repeated hashtags as a measure to cut down on spam.

Instagram users can now also mark hashtag they don’t want to see, which helps Instagram’s algorithms show them other new content. This is yet another reason to use a variety of hashtags, in case a user is filtering out one that you use.

Remember, hashtags are a way of organizing content, and many users do search through a given hashtag, they’re not just for decoration.

Facebook and Instagram: Two Peas in a Pod

Facebook owns Instagram, so it helps to think of them as closely related. Connect your Facebook business page (not your personal Facebook account!) with your business Instagram to enable double-posting. This will boost your visibility to reach a wider amount of users between the two platforms.

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Start a Contest Trend

Contests are direct marketing with a twist, and have broad appeal to many Instagram users. Invite users to interact with your page with posts like “Share your favorite flower” or “Your pet with flowers” and so on. The possibilities are endless, and sharing on both Instagram and Facebook is a sure way to gain as many participating users as possible.

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Showcase Your Floral Operations

Posting your floral arrangements is great, however it is helpful to mix it up with other image posts that are personal to your floral business. This gives your followers a sense of knowing who you are, and a more personal connection to you and your floral business. Create postings for your employees, shop pets, floral designs in progress, and silly fun images to allow followers a glimpse of daily life around the shop.

 

Florists, do you have any important advice for florists on Instagram? Please share your feedback any related questions in the comment section below!

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