The Floral Hustle

 

Hello, Floral Friends. This is Jen and you are listening to the Floral Hustle Podcast. On this week's episode, we're going to be talking marketing. And the month of February has been dedicated to all things like florists starting their business, really trying to amp up their business if they've had it for a while and not done anything with it, and Marketing and having a marketing strategy seems like so like big business, but honestly, like every business needs to have some type of baseline marketing strategy.

And when you have an actual strategy, for one, things feel so much Less heavy. They feel like, like, am I doing things right? Like, am I not doing enough? I think most, um, newer entrepreneurs consistently and a lot of even seasoned entrepreneurs feel like you're never doing enough and it's Um, larger part because you never had a strategy of what you were actually going to do.

So having a marketing strategy in place for your business is something foundationally easy to really kind of talk through. And maybe you have, um, a business coach that's helping you to kind of propel like things forward and, you know, cut through some of the things, because what happens often with newer florists is that they're targeted by A million different marketing opportunities.

Hey, you should be on the front page of The Knot. And then we're going to do two email blasts. And then we're going to do this and this and this. And you pay for a featured listing. And then you should be signing up for this SEO package. And this SEO package comes with this social media package. But then we're never actually going to get it implemented on, um, for, for you.

So, you know, that's. A waste of money, um, which I've had happen to one of my coaching clients. They signed up for the big shiny package and it never got implemented. And then, um, you know, there's so many like different things. And when you don't understand, because maybe you don't have a marketing background, like it's.

It makes it more complicated because you don't want, there's that FOMO, you don't want to be fear of missing out. But you also want to make sure that you're growing your business and that, you know, these people are telling you these are tried and true marketing tactics and they're going to just, like, totally blow up your business.

Honestly, there aren't many things that are just going to totally blow up your business. Most of it are key strategies, key fundamental, like, Basics that are really doing them consistently and for a while, so you're consistent on your efforts, but you also put the time in and make sure that, oh, it didn't work after a month.

Like, when you do a couple reels, well, these reels didn't work when I tried them for a month. Well, like there are many things in marketing that are long term strategies. So I'll just talk about like my marketing strategy. I have in laid into my marketing strategy, a social media strategy, which on social media, this is an easy layer you can figure out.

And this is also something that can be changed, adjusted. It's a moving target that you at any time can evaluate and if it doesn't feel good anymore or if it's not getting engagement and you've been doing it a while and it's not making a difference, then it's time to revisit your marketing plan, your, your social media strategy within your marketing plan.

and change things. So I want to post on my floral business account on Monday doing some type of introduction type post. So that could be meet, a meet us Monday post is basically like explaining how do they inquire with you? How, where do you source flowers? About you as the business owner? About how long you've been a florist?

About, Sustainability, if you're a sustainable florist, about growing flowers, like I have a, usually like in rotation posts about growing flowers. Um, it could be a, like a screen record of how somebody inquires on your website. It could be like on what your full service. floral option is. It could be about a la carte flowers.

So it's like some how they do business with you or educating about you as the business owner or, or working with you. Then I want to post one day a week dedicated to cultural weddings because I do a ton of cultural weddings. And that could be posting, you know, a munda, that could be posting a stage backdrop, that could be posting like some garlands that I've made.

You know, whatever it is, like, I'm posting one day a week on that. And then two days a week, I want to post pretty pictures that are things that I've done. Usually one of those pretty pictures is a bouquet that I've done. And with that, um, I'm trying to tag either the planner I work with or the venue that it was at because I want that to show up when somebody is specifically looking at that venue.

I want to make sure that I'm showing up. when they go to their tagged posts on Instagram. Then, I try to do one video a week, if not two, um, about some type of educational topic, like, um, citrus weddings in 2024 are super hot, here's some fun flowers that, that match all of those citrus colored, uh, bouquets that I've been seeing in my inbox and all over Pinterest.

How to properly fill the footprint of your, um, wedding tables. Did you know when you have different size wedding tables, you need different size centerpieces? And so then I talk about 60 inch tables, 72 inch tables, oval tables, rectangular tables, harvest tables, and I talk through like the logic of choosing based on the footprint of how much your centerpiece needs to fill.

You could do something on bike, three ways to save money on your wedding flowers, three ways to be more sustainable with your wedding flowers. Um, you could do some education about where all your flowers you're sourcing from actually come from, and you could do behind the scenes of like, this is how I pick them up at the wholesaler, and this is what looks like in the end, and so then that could be like Um, Um, Um, Want to know why flowers cost so much?

Labor. And then you are featuring something and showing all of these behind the scenes moments that are very labor intensive. So I try to do some type of educational thing every week as well. So that is my social media strategy. But my main marketing strategy, of course, is planners. I want to network with other wedding professionals, preferably planners, that have clients that need my service.

And I build relationships with them based on, like, I am easy to deal with, I do beautiful flowers. I can quote things out pretty easily because I've been doing this for so long, and I often, on installations, can do a pricing per square foot formula, which makes it really easy for me to, to do some estimates quicker.

Then, um, from there, I can, um, you know, also do things like my website as a strategy, um, SEO as a strategy, actually. I'm going to be putting on a couple different pages that I've had people, because I pay attention to comments. Um, I've had people say, like, I really want a sustainable florist. Well, like, so that's a keyword somebody is searching.

So I want to make sure on top of, like, all the planners that I'm wanting to work with, all of the wedding professionals that I want to send, I want to make sure that, like, when they refer them, Like, I have something hopefully that will connect back on a higher level. So if I have somebody that's referring me for a cultural wedding, I want to make sure that I have a page dedicated to that.

But on top of it, I'm layering that marketing strategy with making sure my social media content is inclusive of that. Um, I've had some sustainable clients like want sustainable floristry. So I go and make sure that I have some content on my social media about that. On my website, there's some content about it so people can connect back with that.

So I'm not only worried about like that introduction from that planner, I want to make sure that I resonate with them. I want them to be able to, on my website, get to know me well. And so, because people work with people that they like, trust, and respect. And I want to seem personable, so I have like a bio on there.

I have some, a little brand shoot that I did. So I'm making it like super kind of light and not, I definitely have, do not have a stuffy website. Um, but I'm also making sure that I'm optimizing the content in my website. to connect back with when somebody is inquiring. They easily can find the form to submit and connect with me.

They easily can find out information about working with me. Um, they can find stuff about like the flowers that I grow and they can find stuff about my a la carte flowers. So part of my marketing strategy is a la carte flowers. So if I have someone who's under my minimum, like they can go over into my a la carte flowers and that is a great option for them.

And part of that strategy is also like, Um, some planners, there's a lot of elopements lately. And so I can say, you know what, I have this great a la carte flowers program. That's like super simple. You can buy all the flowers online. And if you ever have a bride that needs something kind of simple, like that is a great place to start because you know, it's just like shop, click and buy.

And they're like, Hmm, that does sound kind of fun. And I'm like, it's super easy. And like me saying this, I have had so many planners. Hey, I have a client that needs those a la carte flowers that you told me about. They need some white ones. Okay, I can figure that out. Here's the link. And then if you want, I can send them my brochure as well.

Otherwise they can check out the pricing and the items that I have in my a la carte flowers program really easily online. So a la carte flowers is even part of my marketing strategy because it is an amazing outreach program. It helps. You mitigate being ghosted because you have some pricing guidance for people that you're not having to get through a full consultation with them before that they have a clue that they are can't afford you or cannot afford you.

So those are a couple different layers. I know a lot of the companies out there are selling SEO strategies. I definitely think that having some type of SEO strategy is beneficial. A lot of those companies that are selling those types of programs like Bloom Nation, those are very geared towards daily deliveries.

They want you to rank when you're searching. Somebody's searching in Google saying I need flowers for a funeral home, uh, that is in Bloomington, Minnesota. So they are making sure that you're, or trying to help you make sure that you are ranking for either that funeral home's name, um, funeral flowers.

Bloomington, surrounding cities, so they keyword stuff your website, and that's part of the templates that they sell you. But if you want to show up for those things, go look at a couple different florists that have BloomNation websites. They, they stuff the crap out of keywords in there to help the Google spiders.

There are little Google spiders that go and crawl your website from an SEO perspective, which is search engine optimization. And they see all these keywords on there, and that's going to flag them that They, this is a relevant website for, for this customer who's Googling. And so then they, they put that content in front of them because when they crawl it, the keywords are showing and are in alignment.

So one marketing strategy that I think a lot of florists think that they should be doing is paying for search. So doing SEM, which is search engine marketing. SEM is, to me, a higher level. You should have the processes in place in your business. You should be maxing out on the outreach that you're doing to wedding professionals.

You should have some type of communication for referrals with your current client base. Like, that should be really locked down. And you should be getting some momentum from that. And if you want to layer in that additional level of connecting, you're normally going to have to pay. I mean, this is just how search works.

You pay per click. So you don't pay per conversion. You don't pay per You know, um, item you sell, you're paying every time somebody clicks on your sponsored post, which that depending on the keyword can range anywhere. You could be buying something for 20 cents a click, but you could be buying something for 15 a click.

And That is based on your market's competitiveness of different search terms. You can go into Google AdWords and you can look at different and kind of get a feel for it. But that's a pretty high end marketing strategy that I wouldn't recommend a beginning business owner partake in. Then There's also, like, from a marketing strategy, uh, many new florists get attracted in to doing styled shoots for marketing.

While I, I do personally do some styled shoots, I'm doing them because I want to do something that's inspiring to me and is speaking to the new direction of the brand I want. When you're a new florist Most people want you to donate your time and your flowers to do this. And I just no longer, like, have a desire unless it's a concept that I came up with and I really want to do.

Then I will chip in my own, you know, marketing dollars to make that happen. But if it is for You know, somebody else is making a request. I'm going to ask for participation in the hard costs of flowers. I, they don't need to pay me for my time. They don't need to pay me for driving there. They do need to help me pay for the flowers, the hard costs in the flowers.

And I feel like that's reasonable when you've been doing this for a while and you have a portfolio and are not needing images anymore, but if it's Something you, you really want the photos, like, just make sure that you're vetting who you're working with and you're really, like, there's some clear expectations about what you're doing in the styled shoot and the outcomes you're trying to get.

If you do a styled shoot and the purpose is to try to get published, you are not going to have access to those images. Until you find out if it was published or not, and sometimes that can hold it up for like six months. So you want to make sure that you are, are just understanding what the purpose of that styled shoot is from the beginning.

Then, bridal fairs. Open houses, I would say, are in a different level than bridal fairs, but I previously, probably 15 years ago, did some bridal fairs. I feel that bridal fairs kind of house a lower budget bride that is looking for good deals for their wedding. They're not digging for the vendor they absolutely love, they're, they're just looking for specials.

And I did book a couple brides out of, I think I did three years in a row, and I think I booked like one each time. And it was almost, by the time I got the flowers and got the booth rental, it was almost a thousand dollar investment, and that was like a million years ago. So, to me, unless you're going to a very niche wedding fair that maybe speaks to you more, like if you have a niche in cultural weddings, I maybe would do like a cultural wedding fair.

If you have a niche in like Jewish weddings, like, and then they had like a Jewish theme and even if it was smaller. Like, that is going to be so relevant to you that it will pay off at a higher dividends. Um, if there was a sustainability one, niche down enough that you could probably kill it. But those big, broad, and open wedding fairs, I would not participate in them if it was me.

Wedding open houses. So, if you are a, or become a preferred vendor, sometimes that venue will have an open house. And that will turn into, um, you having a booth. So they might offer if you would like to have a booth at an open house. Again, understanding the scope. Who are they inviting to the open house?

Like is it open to the public? Are they just inviting their couples? Like what is the booth expectation? If you could turn it even into like, like, let's just say I actually have, um, one coming up. I'm doing the open house that night, but that day we're doing a, um, installation rockstar workshop and a styled shoot.

And they're going to use the flowers for their open house that night. And then I get a, a booth. You're probably not doing a floral workshop, but you could do a shoot on the day that they were doing an open house and get like, More bang for your buck with that product that you're spending money on because you're getting a double duty.

You're getting to use it for the wedding fair and you're getting to use it for photos for your style shoot. So just when you are going to agree to one of those things, just really ask like questions. Don't just say yes because you're like, Oh, they picked me. That's not worth the money them picking you.

And there actually are venues that I, I had this venue. And I'll just tell a funny story. Um, it was in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, and like, when I came in to tour the venue, like, it just, it looks so dark, so dreary, like, disheveled, like, the building just has not been kept up, and then I find out, like, when I show up on wedding day, there, um, it smells like, Like a fishbowl that hasn't had the water changed in like months.

I don't know why, it just, it smelled so bad. The bridesmaids were going and getting Febreze and doing all these things to make it smell better. But it's like Glade plug ins on top of Glade spray with different scents. I mean, it was so bad. And The carpets were stained and like, um, I totally love that they're supporting this, but they moved in on one of the levels of the hotel, a bunch of, um, displaced.

Um, like homeless slash they were displaced families and they were living inside where this person is getting their wedding done. And so there's like all these people kind of just like hanging around. And when I was just the grossest thing, but when I was unloading my, my van, like a woman just was walking in front of the venue and squatted and peed.

Like I, I almost lost it cause then she just kept walking afterwards and I'm, they called me to be a preferred vendor. And I was like, I absolutely will not because I don't want to do a wedding there ever again. If that wedding venue, even if they want to put you as a preferred vendor, if it does not speak to you as a florist, don't be on it because you're going to start attracting the wrong type of client.

The wrong vibes, the wrong whatever, and you want good vibes. You want the right budget being attracted to you, and so just don't even waste your time with getting on a vendor list, a preferred vendor list, if it doesn't just, like, really make you excited to do a wedding there. There are venues I'm excited to do weddings at.

This place where it smelled like a fish bowl is not one of them. And I would, I never will do a wedding there again, because that was just like so horrendous. So being a preferred vendor is also a marketing strategy that. is something that you can aspire to. You can reach out to venues and say, like, especially after you've done a wedding there, I would, I just loved doing a wedding at your venue and I would love to figure out how, how do you get on your preferred vendor list?

And then from there, they can, you know, tell you what you have to do. There was one venue that you had to do, like, 15 weddings there in a year or something. And I was like, how many people are doing that? Only your preferred vendors because you've basically pushed them into, you know, that they have that opportunity.

So some of them you have to like submit an app and apply for it. Some of them, they're just excited to put anybody on the list. So you never, it never hurts to ask if you like the venue. Just ask and just see. So those are a few baseline marketing strategies. Having some type of social media strategy.

Having some type of planner outreach strategy. Having some type of website SEO strategy. Having um, a marketing plan that just feels really good and like doesn't feel overwhelming is probably the most critical thing because if something feels hard, you're not going to want to do it. And then it's all going to fall apart because you need to want to be participating in actively marketing your business, especially as a new business owner.

One more side tactic of marketing your newer or small business, your personal Facebook page. I, it is amazing to me, like I have been a florist for like ever. And I'll have people like, oh, you're, you're a florist, right? God, I wish I would have remembered that when they booked their wedding flowers. It's like, are you an idiot?

Like, I have been a florist since I met you in high school. Like, how do you not remember this? So I now cognizantly make periodic posts. And it's not like, hey, everybody, I'm a florist. It's like, hey, I'm doing valentine flowers if you guys need anything. Um, and then, um, my one that actually a girl that I went to high school with, which that high school is over an hour from where I live now, but they, they live up here in the Twin Cities now.

Um, her sister was getting married and I posted, look at, uh, at all some of the, my favorite things that I did this year. So I just posted and I, I got like 36 comments and I don't have a million Facebook friends. Um, you know, but enough that like I got that many comments. So periodically have a strategy of posting on your personal Facebook page, offering like, Hey, does anybody need Mother's Day flowers?

Or Hey, does anybody, or just like, Hey, this is something that I made that I was just really excited about and I wanted to share it with someone. And so you're like just softly planting, Hey, I'm a florist. Hey, because obviously they need the reminder. I was shocked. I was like, I've been a florist for 25 years.

How do you not know this? And you went and booked somebody else for, God, I really wish I would have used you. I don't really like this person that I booked. I'm like, even better. You're making it sound like just a hot mess. So I have a strategy of periodically posting on my personal Facebook page, like once every two months is probably enough because you're just going to just lightly.

Over time. And it can be all different. If you grow flowers, post it of something that, like, a big, huge dahlia, or whatever, and just say, can't wait to use this in a bouquet. Whatever it is, just soft little nudges. And those soft little nudges, you never know when you're gonna get somebody saying, Hey, my sister that you went to high school with and graduated in 96.

is getting married, and they connect the dots. So, thank you so much for listening today, flower friends, and you have an amazing flower filled week.