The Floral Hustle

 

Hello, our friends, this is Jen. And you're listening to the floral hustle podcast on this week's episode. I want to talk about attracting more wedding clients. And I have a currently my florist foundations course, we meet weekly for a Q and a, and we were talking about really like investing money into marketing yourself.

And we talked about, you know, several different examples But one thing that really, you know, stuck out to me in the conversation that was kind of a light bulb moment was using the dollars that you spend on marketing to really reach people who are in front of your ideal client. When you do, I actually do not participate in wedding fairs just because in my experience, they are attracting usually a lower budget client.

They also are not really like falling in love with the person directly that they're working with. They're really looking for just the best deal. So a lot of price shoppers and I would rather spend time because it's going to be more financially impactful investing where I feel I will get a bigger return.

If I go to a venue fair, that's another story. So I, I actually do participate in some like as a preferred vendor for different venues. And I feel like that's a bigger bang for my buck because those people already know that that's likely their venue and I have a ton of experience so I can position myself as an expert.

But I would rather, even if like in the hierarchy, of course, I love being in front of my favorite venues clients, but I really love to be in front of people who are in front of a ton of clients that need my services. So I would strategically like to invest my time in wedding planners. Those people usually are going to have a little bit higher budget.

They're going to also. Be able to help shape and mold and lead a client down a path of like, hopefully not being there are planners who promote DIY. They promote low budgets. They're a low budget planner. In general, like that's their whole vibe is like saving you money. That isn't the kind of client that I want to attract.

I want to attract a client that flowers are important, that they have a budget to spend. If there is a planner that's designing their wedding, I would love that. And if. You are really looking to attract clients that are that higher and you need to kind of begin that journey with attracting people who have those budgets so with the Wedding planners like there are different types of wedding planners Okay, so different types of wedding planners to really think through about who is your ideal wedding planner?

So there are to me there are four types lower budget, like budget brides or budget couple, um, wedding planners. They often, uh, that's what my a la carte program is for. If they have somebody that needs beautiful flowers that, you know, it's a simple, easy process. Like that's a great resource. Then there are like, the average wedding.

So a planner who maybe is just doing day of coordination or maybe like month of coordination. So they've invested a little bit, but they really aren't, you know, super invested in the aesthetic of their wedding. They're not like usually a bigger budget because most bigger budgets are getting at least partial planning or they're getting full planning or they're getting full planning and event design.

So I would love to work with somebody who's really getting that Farshal to full and full and design. I love when a person is working with a planner for a design aesthetic because then they're curating all these details of their wedding and it's going to be beautiful. So how do you attract, how do you like magnetize yourself to these wedding planners?

And that, you know, of course can happen in a couple different ways. The first is social media is. is a kind of just a lonely place. You're posting things out there. You don't know if anybody is interacting. You don't know, like, if your posts are resonating. So if you have an opportunity, if you follow a planner or a fellow wedding professional, and you have an opportunity to go interact with their posts, Do that.

It means so much when people feel that they're getting meaning meaningful interactions with their posts. So go say this wedding is so beautiful. I absolutely love x about it. Um, your work is so stunning. Every time I see one of your posts, it's just so beautiful. Like say something that Makes it seem like you're paying attention, that you've really noticed details.

Uh, if they post something personal in stories, the, the biggest way if you want to get your name in front of a planner is react to their stories. Send, this is so cute. Send, like, if it's their kids they're posting, whatever. Try to interact there because your name is going to get in front of that planner more often.

Then, If you are wanting to get, you know, noticed in other ways, you could potentially, when they follow you, or you go and follow them, send them a message back when that, that follow is reciprocated. Thank you so much for following me. I absolutely love your page. I saw this wedding or some really like specific thing you saw on their feed.

And send that to them and just say, like, I absolutely loved it. Um, I have availability if you're looking for extra florists to recommend, go check out my, um, profile, but I'd love to meet for virtual coffee and get to know you and learn about your business. And like you're saying, I want to learn about you because you could say, like, I refer people to wedding planners.

Cause I do, and I would love to have you on my list cause I just love your work. Have virtual coffee, like 15 minutes, 20 minutes. I've had virtual coffee, like last an hour, several times cause you know, we just get talking and, and there's good energy and I do want to work with them. So I'm really investing and sharing about my business, learning about them, learning about their family, learning about.

their, how long they've been in business, like if they have another job, learning about that. And then from there, you know, you've started this relationship and then keep continuing like to just go in and periodically interact with their posts. So that's one way to just get noticed by planners. The next way is like put together some type of marketing postcard, like some type of postcard from VistaPrint.

And target planners that you would be interested in working with, it would cost you less than a dollar to send something in the mail, which is uncommon for wedding professionals to do because they're used to just getting their DMS lit up. So send something in the snail mail, a little postcard with a handwritten note goes a long way.

You can easily find web addresses and just go in and search, you know, for wedding planners that you're interested in and try to just send them a cute little, like, or even a, a note, a handwritten note card that says hello and introduces yourself. Uh, I do what I call like wedding planner blitzes that I'm reaching out to a bunch of wedding planners, like at a chunk, and I'm sending something and they're the mail that's sizable.

So I'm sending, um, For example, like a cookies and coffee was one of my little gift boxes that I sent. So I had a thermos made that had my logo on it. I sent these two beautiful ornate cookies that a local cookie baker made that actually had my logo on them. They were super beautiful, super ornate, and they got noticed.

Um, I sent them in a mailer box with green tissue paper with a handwritten note in there just saying, I would love to have. virtual copy with you sometimes and learn more about your business and share a little bit about mine. I absolutely love X about your business and would just like, love to connect further.

Like that's going to get noticed. How often do you get a, a box in the mail? unsolicited that you weren't expecting. And, you know, like it's something that's fun and usable and practical. Um, I'm also right now I'm putting together a kit that I'm going to call Let's Grow Together in 2024. And I'm sending this really adorable like burlap bag, um, kit that I am putting in, um, also like an herb snipper and an herb stripper in there.

And it's going to be in a cute, you know, craft. You know, mailer box that I'm ordering from Uline and I'm sending that out to key wedding planners that I really love to work with or that maybe I haven't worked with in a while and say, Hey, just be in front of them. And for 30, which is probably what that's going to cost by time I'm done to get in front of a planner who's in front of maybe 30 couples a year.

To me that that's a good investment. That's a better investment than me going and spending a ton of money at a wedding fair or a ton of money on Google AdWords or a ton of money on whatever. I mean, like it is, you're a direct line to someone who is in front of your ideal customer. So just tread a little bit of water.

Like. Figuring out what would work for you. What, what feels comfortable for you? How can you really capitalize and get your name in front? Also doing style shoots. If you want to do a style shoot that because you really like the planner and want to work with the planner. Like, that is a great opportunity for them to see your beautiful work, for them to get to know you, to spend time with you, and try to build a relationship and get beautiful photos in the process.

That's a bigger investment, obviously, but if you, you know, really do a great job, you build rapport when you're with that planner that day, you totally will have an opportunity to develop this relationship that you wouldn't have otherwise. So another thing that I do whenever I'm on Instagram is I'm on planner patrol.

So I am looking for wedding planners that maybe I haven't heard of, wedding planners that are working with florists that I want to do work similar to theirs or attract those budgets. And so I will go in and I screenshot the planner's profile page every time I see that. So I can clearly see That this is, you know, a planner that is doing a style tutor is working with this florist.

I just go screenshot their whole profile page and whenever I want to do one of these profile or wedding planner blitzes, I can go to my folder in my phone and find all of them. And so I go, Oh yeah, I remember them. And I can put together that or if you're going to be sending a handwritten note, or if you're going to just be trying to communicate with this person, save it because you will not remember in three months, Oh yeah, there was that planner that did this thing with that person and I really liked it, but I don't remember who they are.

That is not going to be helpful. So going in and just creating this folder in your phone will create this little like arsenal of planners that you are interested in without having to do a ton of work. So those are a few tips on really getting that, um, you know, just in front of planners, but you need to make sure that you're paying off on the experience.

When you work with a planner, if you've worked with them, like bring a handwritten note, a thank you note, a note card that says, thank you for working with me. Send them a thank you card in the mail afterwards, send a follow up, thank you. Be concise in your communication and really show them that you're a professional that deserves to be in their recommended florist list.

If you do those small things, it will turn into something great and it just is the long game effect though. You need to do little things consistently to make sure that you're positioning yourself as an expert, as somebody. who really cares and knows how to run their business properly. And that's, what's going to help pay off in the end.

Thank you so much for listening flower friend, and you have an amazing flower filled week.