Feature
The realities of
marketing for
florists
M
arketing is something that a lot of small business people,
including florists, do not fully understand, enjoy or feel
confident in. It can (but does not need to) get expensive,
doesn’t always work and requires an input of time and
energy when these particular resources are already stretched
to their limit.
And there’s the whole Internet thing...
Seamus Anthony
Tip One: Get clarity
Before you do anything, get clear about some fundamentals.
Firstly: what is marketing exactly? I like this definition from
Wikipedia: Marketing is communicating the value of a product or
service to customers, for the purpose of selling that product or
service. Pretty simple stuff and certainly nothing to be scared of!
However, despite the challenges, there are still florists out there
kicking marketing goals, online and offline, and opportunities
exist for any pro-active florist to successfully grow their business
with good marketing.
Secondly: Who are your ideal customers? What problem do they
have that you intend to solve? How do you solve it? Where are
these people? How can you reach them? Why should they choose
you over your competition? Who are your direct competitors?
Who are your indirect competitors?
Admittedly, I am not a florist, but I do work in the floral industry
and I also run my own small business. Disclaimer over with, here’s
what I would do about marketing if I was a florist!
Knowing the answer to questions like these makes your
marketing efforts going forward much easier because you do not
need to re-invent your message every time you do something;
Image courtesy of Michelle Van Eimeren
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"6453"-*"/'-08&3*/%6453: – March 2015
www.australianflowerindustry.com.au
you just need to tailor it to suit whatever medium you are
experimenting with.
Tip Two: Write a simple plan
If you hate the idea of writing plans, then just keep it really simple.
Google “super simple marketing plan for florists” and check out
my short (and, I like to think, funny) instructions and download a
free template from the Tesselaar Flowers website. Get creative and
make it fun. If you don’t like detailed writing or spreadsheets (does
anyone?) then do it visually, using whatever arty medium you
enjoy. (Hmmm …. wonder if anyone could make a florist
marketing plan in actual flowers?)
If you’re busy, try to schedule in one or two small actions every
day to keep the marketing ball rolling.
Tip Three: Focus on what works for you
Don’t assume that just because everyone is banging on about
Pinterest or Instagram or whatever, that you should focus on this.
The truth is, many florists out there have thriving businesses
despite the fact that they all but ignore the web. Your best bet
to get busier might be to get out there and connect with real
people in your community. If you resonate with all things
Internety, then by all means use it; but if you’d rather scratch your
eyes out than stay up late clicking away, then get out into the real
world and talk to people.
This might mean running some workshops, building referral
networks (with other wedding vendors for example), public
speaking, attending or running networking events, or just plain
getting involved with your local community via sports clubs,
school, your church, etc.
Tip Four: Understand that everything you do is
marketing
I believe it is a mistake to see marketing as something you just
tack on after you’ve made your product; you know, a website,
some ads, a free or cheap offer. It’s not actually that simple.
Marketing, at least the way I see it, is not a separate compartment
distinct from sales, fulfilment and all the other operational facets
of your business. In fact, marketing is inherent in every touch
point with your prospects and customers.
marketing’. The Internet has become so integral to business life
that any general discussion of marketing, by default, involves
online elements.
Now, what to do about the Internet...
Over the last ten years, small businesses, including florists, have
watched the rise of the Internet with a mixture of bewilderment,
excitement and horror. Those who were quick to exploit the new
opportunity that the web provided did well, mainly because the
cost of entry was reasonable and the competition was relatively
low. But the bad news is that those who have lagged behind for
whatever reason now face a hyper-competitive online
marketing landscape.
Google’s Adwords ads, which used to be a powerful and
inexpensive means of reaching a targeted audience, now cost a
bomb. Google’s free search engine listings are highly competitive
and somewhat dominated in the floral industry by big players
and order-gatherers. Essentially this adds a cost to entry, as
amateur search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts are unlikely to
suddenly knock the incumbent Google darlings from their perch.
Facebook is a fine way of reaching people, but users there are not
generally receptive to hard sell and of course, in one of the finest
bait-n-switch manoeuvres of all time, Facebook now makes page
administrators pay to reach the majority of their own fans with
any given post.
So here’s what I see the best florists doing that’s working:
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own domain. Use a real designer unless you are confident in
your own abilities. Use Wordpress. Make your contact details
easy to find. Be clear about what it is you do, who you serve
and where.
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(yes, show your face!), your work, your customers looking
happy, your workspace. Hip, professional visuals sell.
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Again, use a professional to make it.
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especially to be sure you appear for local search results; i.e.
when people search Google for “florist Richmond” or whatever.
This actually makes it really hard (I absolutely struggle with this
myself ). Because what it means is that every time you or your
people answer the phone to a customer, every time you deliver a
service or product, every time you invoice a client, all of these
events and even the more minor touch points along the way,
they all either support or undermine your marketing efforts.
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miracles from it though. If you can afford to spend a little on
Facebook ads every week, all the better, but be sure to target
them wisely.
Some might call this branding, and they’d be right, but to me it’s
all marketing.
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do so, but again, don’t expect miracles.
Tip Five: What to do about the Internet
Firstly, try not to think of ‘online marketing’ as being something
particularly distinct from marketing in general.
Think about it this way: when we talk about televisions, we now
assume that by ‘TV’ we mean ‘colour TV’; pointing out the colour
feature would seem a little obvious. Same goes for ‘online
Above all, through all of your marketing efforts, tell a story. Make it
a real, authentic story. Make it a story that your customer wants to
hear, one that they are already telling themselves. Get clear on
what your ideal customer wants to hear and just keep on telling
them that, over and over again.
Seamus Anthony is Tesselaar Flowers’ digital marketing manager.
www.tesselaarflowers.com.au
"6453"-*"/'-08&3*/%6453: – March 2015
www.australianflowerindustry.com.au
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