Flowers are essential for weddings and special events, which is why it’s so important to effectively market your floral design business. Whether through social media, in-person events, florist POS softwares for digital marketing, connecting with customers is key. Here are some top strategies to help spread the word about your business and attract new clients.
Make social media your business partner
Social media is really important for getting the word out about your floral business. You should make a Facebook page for your business where you can post pictures of flower arrangements you’ve made for weddings. This will give couples ideas for what they can do with their wedding flowers. You also want to be active on Instagram because many people search for and get wedding ideas on there. Post behind the scenes pictures when you are making bouquets or working with your flowers. Hashtags are important too so people can find your posts when they search for wedding hashtags. You’ll also want to create ads to boost your most popular posts so more people see them.
Offer flower arranging classes
A fun idea is to hold flower arranging classes at your shop or another local venue. You could teach a class on making bouquets and centerpieces. Or do seasonal classes around Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day when people want to buy flowers. This is a great way for people to learn flower arranging skills. It also gets them familiar with you and your business. So then when they are planning a wedding they will think of you. Plus it’s just a fun activity that people will enjoy and help spread the word about you through word of mouth.
Send thank you cards after the wedding
After completing a wedding, send the bride and groom a thank you card. In the card, thank them for letting you design the floral arrangement for their special day. You can also include a picture you took of the finished flowers. Mention in the card that you hope they enjoyed their flowers and if they are happy to have the recommendation passed along to family and friends for future events. Making the clients feel appreciated will make them want to give good reviews of your work and may lead to more referrals. The personal touch with a card shows you care about your clients and want to maintain a good relationship after the job is over.
Work with other small local businesses
Another smart marketing tactic is collaborating with other small local businesses in your area that cater to weddings. Reach out to party rental companies, bakeries, photographers, wedding planners, and venues. Suggest doing a promotional package where if a couple books both of your businesses, they each save a little money. The businesses benefit from increased clients and exposure from sharing client lists. It helps build business bonds that strengthen the local wedding industry in your community. Brides appreciate the simple one stop shop experience too of having recommendations for all their vendors. Everyone wins so it’s a partnership worth pursuing.
Offer free consultation meetings
Provide free initial consultations for potential clients to come in and discuss their floral needs and vision. Use this as an opportunity to find out information about their wedding date, location, colors, flowers they like, and budget. Then in the meeting, you’ll want to present sketch ideas, share photos of similar past designs you’ve done, and give them a quote. Having this face time allows them to get to know you and see the quality of your work firsthand. It makes the clients comfortable and confident to book your services after leaving impressed from the meeting. Be sure to follow up with a thank you email after recapping what was discussed and attaching any sketches or inspirational images from the meeting.
Send seasonal special offer emails
Create an email list of past, current, and potential clients that you regularly send short seasonal promotions to announce any discounts or special offers. For example, around Valentine’s Day, you could offer a deal on buying a dozen roses for their loved one. Around Mother’s Day offer a special on potted flower arrangements or tea party bouquets. And in the spring and summer advertise your wedding flower package bundle deals when most weddings take place. Having an email list allows you to easily market to clients at the exact times they are thinking about buying flowers. It keeps your business top of mind and means more sales for you when people see what you have to offer at that moment.
Offer a loyalty program
Implementing a loyalty rewards program is another marketing strategy to increase return customers. Let clients earn a point for every $50 spent. After they reach a certain threshold of points, they can redeem the points for a percentage off of a future purchase. This encourages repeat business and spending more overall if they want to maximize their rewards. For even more incentives, consider loyalty member only special offers or discounts. The sense of working towards a goal and saving money in the long run is a motivator for clients to continue choosing your business over competitors whenever they need flowers. Loyalty programs are proven to boost customer retention rates.
Get listed on wedding websites
Look into being listed as a verified vendor on popular wedding planning websites like The Knot and Wedding Wire. These sites have huge traffic from engaged couples actively searching for local wedding vendors in their area. You want potential clients to easily find your floral business profile which includes photos, services offered, reviews from past clients, and contact info. Many couples get most of their vendor recommendations from browsing listings on wedding planning websites. It’s a great direct pathway for new business leads to find you. Plus being a listed vendor on established industry sites signals you are credible, experienced, and qualified to potential clients reviewing options.
Utilize SEO on your website
While getting inbound links and visibility on wedding directories is important, you’ll also want to optimize your own business website for good search engine rankings. Work on search engine optimization like including relevant keywords in the text, alt tags on images, and page titles. Keywords should focus on location, specific services like “wedding floral delivery NYC” or “Long Island wedding floral arrangements”. Check that your business information like phone number, address, and hours are listed clearly on your Google My Business page too. Potential clients searching online for “florist near me” or related wedding flowers terms should easily find you. SEO takes effort but pays off in sending more organic traffic to your site.
Offer to post wedding photos on social media
After completing floral arrangements and installations for the big day, ask newlywed clients if they would be willing to share a few photos from their wedding on your business’s Facebook or Instagram pages. Of course, only do this with their permission. In return, you could offer a small gift certificate to use towards their first anniversary flowers. Sharing real client wedding photos is social proof that you do beautiful work. It provides inspiration for what can be done with floral designs and venue decor. Seeing how flowers were used at an actual wedding makes your work more relatable and interesting to potential clients browsing social media.
Are you looking for an easy way to manage your floral business and grow your clientele? Hana Florist’s point-of-sale system can help you work more efficiently and effectively market your services. With Hana Florist, you’ll have everything needed to run your shop in one online dashboard. Contact us now to learn more about Hana Florist POS.
