So you've spent all your time and energy getting your website sorted. But now you're left scratching your head, wondering why the orders and enquiries aren't piling in? Now you're wondering, WTF do I need to do to get found online?
I've gotcha covered. Check out these three super helpful marketing tips for florists.
Marketing is a 'Thing'
Before I started my flower business, I spent 15 years working in fancy corporate marketing jobs. In fact, I've been studying marketing for over +20 years. I did my undergraduate degree in marketing and even have my masters. #overachiever
To say I LOVE marketing is an understatement. I'm totally, utterly obsessed with deconstructing and dissecting how the big multinationals market their business, how they attract the right customers, at the right time, with the right message.
Even more than that, I love taking those same business and marketing principles and teaching florists the right and wrong way to market their business and make money.
When it comes to marketing tips for florists, one of the most important lessons I learned was that we gots to approach our marketing from a totally different perspective.
Where other businesses need to grow their following, increase engagement and prioritise exposure, we floral designers get to approach marketing from a totally sideways perspective.
Why?
Because our customers shop differently. Our customers behave differently.
Let's pause for a moment...If you think about your dream client, the person who is going to place the next online order or send through the next event enquiry. Close your eyes and imagine you are that person. Put yourself in their shoes.
Quite literally. Close your eyes and think about how they would approach it. When they're looking for a floral designer, what do they do? Get super-specific.
When they jump online, where is the first place they go? If they're on Google, what do they type into the search bar?
If they're on Instagram, what do they type into that search bar? If they're somewhere else, what do they do? Envision the process in all its itty bitty fantastic detail.
The most important part of this planning process is to get super duper specific:
- Get specific in the platforms that your ideal clients use
- Get specific in the words/phrases/hashtags your clients use
Putting yourself in your client's shoes, envisioning the experience from their perspective is the single most powerful thing you can do. Seriously.
Stop Following the Crowd
Our industry teaches you that you need to do a heap of styled shoots, get exposure and worry about being featured on some famous blog. Then, and only then, will you be able to attract the kinds of clients you're dreaming of, yeah?
Wrong. I'm happy to tell you, there is an easier way. But it requires you to stop following the flower crowd.
Winning at floristry, building a thriving flower business requires you to learn a new approach to marketing.
Of course, you could go to business school, get all the degrees and geek out on all things marketing. Or you could shortcut your success and spend your energy focused on three super simple marketing tips for florists:
- Be in the right place
- At the right time
- With the right message
The Golden Rule of Marketing
If I had to distil down the single most important lesson from all my years as a fancypants marketing exec and spending thousands of dollars on all the degrees and qualifications, it would be this:
Get out of your own head and put yourself in your customer's shoes.
When it comes to getting found online, this really is the secret to success. It's not rocket science. It's not about being the best designer and it's definitely not about being famous or popular.
It's about being your most empathetic, helpful self. Using your imagination and really getting in touch with what matters most to your customers.
If you find yourself constantly second-guessing, over-thinking and over-complicating things (like we all have a tendency to do, being smart AF humans), hit pause for a hot second.
Go out into the real world and find 1-2 real-life humans who embody your dream client (or at least a kinda close proximity to a version of your dream customer).
Have a conversation with them. Buy them a coffee. Or a cocktail. And ask them to explain to you their research process – where would they go if they needed a florist? Get super specific and write it all down. Verbatim. Better yet, ask them if you can record the conversation and then get it transcribed.
Flashback to my corporate days, working with the likes of Dominos Pizza, Expedia and HSBC, we used to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on focus groups. You can do the same thing. Just on the super cheap.
It's time to take a page out of the successful big business multinationals. Learn from their process and do the same thing in your flower business. It's time to stop overcomplicating things, overthinking things and get back to basics.
You will be so surprised at how simple this can be. And even after just one conversation, you'll start to see how differently you can think about this whole marketing thing – you will start to be able to answer that burning question: How do I get found online?
Marketing Tips for Florists
At the end of the day, the right marketing mix is going to depend entirely on what services you're offering in your flower business.
Customers looking for a flower delivery behave differently to those looking for a wedding stylist. Someone looking for table arrangements for a christening behaves differently than someone looking for a casket cover.
Putting yourself in your customer's shoes truly is the secret to figuring out the right approach.
If you need it, here's a quick list of marketing priorities for floral design businesses:
Daily Flower Deliveries
- Google Ads (Check out this blog post for a few helpful Google Ads tips.)
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Google My Business Listing
Wedding Flowers (without a Planner)
- Instagram Hashtags
- Google My Business Listing
- Search engine Optimisation
Floral Subscriptions
- Local media + influencer partnerships
- Instagram / Facebook paid ads
- Word of mouth
Remember, every flower business has its own subtleties, its own nuances to consider. But use this list as the foundation for your marketing plan. Build on it and call out your own BS when you start to overcomplicate things (yes, we all do it).
Start tracking your data and test out new ideas. And if you ever feel like you're off track, make a plan to sit down with another real-life human being. Ask them to explain their process again and then recalibrate your approach.
No matter what, just keep going.
You got this, peoples. Let's go!
And don't forget, if you want to get my A-Z blueprint to marketing your flower business, join us inside Flower Boss Bootcamp. This is THE program to help you grow your business, get customers and make more money.
You get my exact approach, my step by step system to make it work. Click here to learn more.
