9 Summer Marketing Tips for Your Shop

Summertime has finally arrived and that means the beginning of the traditional “slow period” for florists. But that doesn’t mean we need to slow down our marketing efforts as well. In fact, it’s time to do the opposite - it’s time to reach out even further in order to attract customers and it’s time to get creative.

Advertising can be expensive which makes it a pervasive candidate for the chopping block for many small business owners looking at ways to scale back on expenses during the lean summer months.

Unfortunately, that approach to business typically does more harm than good in the long run by decreasing visibility at a time when many shops could probably use it the most.

The good news is there are many low-cost – or sometimes even free - ways out there for you to market your business. Here are several ideas that may help you increase exposure without breaking your budget.

1) Customer referral program – Reward customers who bring in new business with a referral program. Word-of-mouth advertising is extremely effective because it comes with a built-in testimonial, so turning your customers into ambassadors for your brand is a win-win for everyone.

2) Industry partnerships – Forming partnerships with other local businesses can help increase your viability, and cross-promotion could place your products in areas you may not have had access to before. Try contacting local real estate agents and offer to make centerpieces for their open houses.

3) Host an event or class – Periodically hosting “behind the scenes” tours of your shop, or interactive workshops for children, adults, or families, builds excitement for your brand and allows you to get to know your customers on a more personal level.

4) Community events – Have some balloons, fidget spinners, t-shirts or other small trinkets branded with your logo and ready to hand out at parades, farmers’ markets, art and craft fairs and other community events.

5) Sponsor a youth sports team – Not only can sponsoring youth sports build goodwill and a positive image in the community, it also provides you with the benefit of having your logo prominently displayed on team uniforms, signage, etc. You can even print up extra t-shirts with your logo on them for the parents to wear.

6) Props – Reach out to local theater groups or schools and allow them to use your products as props in their performances in exchange for acknowledgment in the printed programs.

7) In-kind non-profit sponsorship – most non-profit organizations welcome in-kind sponsorship for their events. This not only increases your reach, but also puts your products in the hands of potential new customers.

8) Contests – Have a weekly contest and give away flowers, gift cards, or other gifts from you shop as prizes. Contests can be held online or in-store. Business card drawings are a tried-and-true tactic that also helps build your customer list by collecting information from the business cards and is usually popular since there are no forms to fill out.

9) Targeted messaging – Online marketing allows you to market directly to the mobile devices of current customers and potential new customers. You choose the exact demographics and message and only pay for the customers you reach. It is the most efficient form of marketing today and is fairly inexpensive compared to traditional forms of advertising.

If you need some help kick-starting your summer marketing, we’re here to help! Give us a call today at (941) 806-1911 or leave a comment below. We’ll help you explore options and decide on a strategy that’s best for your shop.

7 Simple Steps for a Winning Social Media Strategy

Having a strong social media strategy is an important tool for every business, but proper utilization is the essential key to success. There is a lot more to social media than simply setting up a profile, publishing some posts, and collecting followers. Here are seven simple tips to get you off to a strong start in today’s world of social media:

1. Decide what goals you wish to accomplish with social media. What kind of an audience are you hoping to attract and what are you going to do to attract them? Once you've determined your audience you need to decide what you want them to do and determine if it's worth investing the time and money into reaching them. Don’t make the mistake of throwing everything at the social media wall and hoping it sticks - social media doesn’t really work that way.

2. Keep it simple at the start. Social media can be overwhelming. Facebook alone reaches nearly a third of the people on the entire planet and there are dozens of other platforms out there that may help extend your company's brand and marketing efforts. If you’re starting out on your own, start small and be selective, there is always room to grow.

3. Staying organized is important. Even if you already have a presence on multiple platforms, it’s smart to utilize a social media management platform such as Sprout, Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to coordinate all your accounts in one place. As we mentioned earlier, it's easy to get overwhelmed, but there is always help available to make your strategy easier and more efficient.

4. Be careful who you trust with your social media accounts. Everyone has a mobile device, but that doesn’t mean just anyone can handle social media for your business. If you don’t do it yourself, make sure you find someone who is not only savvy with the mediums, but also someone who is energetic, friendly and knows your business. They also need to be cool under pressure since they will be the voice of your business.

5. Be sure to carefully monitor your social media results. This will help you experiment with different social platforms and allow you to adjust your marketing approach. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for every business, but the stats will let you know what works and what doesn’t.

6. Make it pretty! They say 'a picture is worth a thousand words' and this definitely applies to social media. Statistics have shown that posts with visuals receive 94% more page views and engagement than posts without them. Utilizing great photos and eye-catching visuals are the most effective way to tell your story and build your brand image the way you want followers to see you.

7. Have fun with it and let your personality shine through! Social media is not only a fantastic way to let the world know what your company is all about but it also helps visitors to your pages understand your company culture and what sets you apart from your competitors. People prefer to do business with companies they trust, so giving them a glimpse into the day-to-day workings of your shop is an excellent way to make them feel welcome.

Time is money when it comes to social media and it’s easy to waste a lot of both if you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’re new to social media marketing, or if you’ve already invested a sizable amount of time without seeing returns, you may need to hire an expert. Bloomerang Solutions has the experience and knowledge you need to supercharge your social media marketing. Give us a call at 941-806-1911 or drop us a line and we’ll help you formulate a custom plan for your business.

The Wire-Out Model Needs to Change - We Can Help You Untangle

The biggest difference between me and any other digital company you are considering to help you with your retail business, is that I am a florist - JUST LIKE YOU. Why does it matter? Because anyone who is not a florist does not understand:

• The cost of an order breakdown

• Insertion considerations to building a bouquet

• Availability of items locally, across the country and/or Seasonally.

• Create a voice to help you and the industry improve. NOW, allow me to explain.

The floral industry is facing a big problem when it comes to wire orders. We have a broken model that used to work well before customers were able to see what they were receiving.

Now, the expectation has increased, but the production expectation has not been modified. Now, to explain this - YES, we produce products. We are (or need to be) assembly lines. You can still be creative and mass-produce high-ticket items, as long as you can sell them. We still have florists today who are selling this product for an up-sell. Yes, a $170 vase without any explanation, no copy for SEO, no explanation for the sales associate to read to the customer.

The cost of sending and receiving an order 73-27 split - that speaks for itself. It's a paid advertisement and filling the order makes the floral world go around. So if you like to send, then do your part and receive. If all you do is send, give the shop enough to make money at it.

It's time to sell, FILL TO VALUE bouquets. Request a color and assure the customer that the florist will use the very best hand-selected and designed seasonal blooms to create a lovely bouquet and ensure delivery in the timely fashion. Yes, focus on the hand delivery. Now, if they want to ask for specific bouquets, custom designs start at....you decide, $75, $85 or $100.

Here is an example for the price-sensitive shopper looking for a blooming plant:

Now if there is one they just dislike, let us know.

Next, a nice seasonal mix? Sure.

This slows everything down a bit here, it's what we need now. If ANY florists think they can make a profit designing single orders for $39.95 with 5 lines of requests, you can't do it.

You are an assembly line and we need to combine expectation and the realistic end result. It needs to be focused on the service. After all, as much as we all want to believe otherwise, the message is most important element in almost all orders.

This is the difference! Even companies that specialize in the floral industry, seeing the challenges through the eyes of the owner us what I feel is my greatest strength. Explaining and convey the new model is my greatest challenge.

Let's face it, most TV ads have moved over to You Tube. Those ads you see disrupting your view of any video clip are the new VIDEO ads and they work. Yellow Pages? That's right...Most people have moved over to Google ads. Who you trust is the biggest challenge. Just because your friend has someone, doesn't mean that someone has the results you need.

Most importantly, while most businesses used to be done over the phone, today more people are comfortable completing the order online. BUT, this has now affected BOUNCE RATES. Bounce rates are one of the first things people used to jump up and down about because it was what they thought was EASY TO UNDERSTAND. They would ask me what my bounce rate was and I would just smile and tell them I don't know. How do you measure the phone-in order. So they clicked, liked your website and decided to call you because they felt more comfortable speaking with someone. Now, is that really a bounce?

Last but not least. NEVER trust your web developer for SEO results. Web developers design, create, and write code that needs to be effective, fast and return results. they are (and should be) focused on a solid, expandable code base. On the same hand, don't expect your digital marketer to be able to write code, HOWEVER, they can and should have an expectation of how the results need to appear and the design.

For example, I like to see every page written as if each were a landing page. THEY are so that is a great start when developing a website so when you target your keyword results, your channel and direct them towards the content you need to get back from the visitor.

Now before I lose you and you BOUNCE away, feel free to give me a call and let's see what we can do together! Don't be fooled. Trust your gut and ask questions. Call me today at (941) 806-1911 and let me know how we can help your business bloom.

-Art

How to Handle Negative Yelp Reviews

If you own a business, you know that your online review reputation on sites like Yelp are critical to the success of your shop. While positive reviews help improve your rating and build your brand, a negative review can have an adverse effect, especially if it is ignored or responded to incorrectly.

Yelp will remove negative reviews if they contain profanity or use a threatening tone, or if it specifically names certain employees or calls them out by a distinguishing or sensitive characteristic such as race, religion or body type. They will not, however, remove reviews they see as legitimate (even if they are negative), so if they do not meet one of these criteria, the review will likely stay active and will not be removed.

So, what should you do if you receive a negative Yelp review?

1. Don’t panic! The first step is to remain calm and remember that nobody is perfect and bad reviews happen to everyone - the key is how you react. Consumers don’t expect perfection, but they do expect you to handle the reviews in a professional manner.

2. Respond to the reviewer in a timely manner. Time is not your friend when it comes to addressing complaints or bad reviews. You do not want to make an already upset customer wait on you and you should always keep in mind that the public is forming an opinion based on your reply.

3. Kill them with kindness. I know this could be the toughest, but again, your response is what you are being judged by. Reach out with empathy, swallow your pride and kill ‘em with kindness. Try to generate a phone conversation, listen to their concerns and reply with a solution that speaks to what the customer is looking to hear. Remember, at this point, they have a post, we (you) need it removed. Your conforming will only help you in the long run.

4. Do not make excuses. The customer has posted an issue. Address and speak with them and hopefully, after a positive discussion, you can politely request they reconsider the poor review with the following statement you may try (be sure your customer service team has this all memorized):

Thank you for allowing me to make this right. Ms. Jones, I just want you to know that we take our online reputation very seriously, it's the lifeline of our business. If I resolved your issue to your satisfaction and started earning back your trust, I hope you will reconsider and update your amendable comment. (What you have said here is that they can make changes. Trust me, you don't have to ask to reconsider the rating as it is implied)

Remember, YOU WILL get a bad review occasionally, it is going to happen and by seeing this, it shows your reviews are all real. There are companies out there that speak to the owners and offer a way for clients to leave a review. If it's negative, they send an email to the owner and if positive, they send to Yelp and/or Google. This only looks good to the owner when being sold. The truth is, this is not helping your business and Google does not endorse or promote these efforts. I would never take a chance here.

Finally, if you do reach out to the customer who left the bad review and they refuse to change it, the best course of action is to bury it with several good reviews. This will bump the poor listing down and we can all learn from our mistakes and get back to doing business.

Did you know that if you are not an active (paying) Yelp customer, you likely have competitors ads in the middle of your listing? Bloomerang Solutions can help you remove those ads and manage your Yelp account and respond to reviews so you can focus on your business. Give us a call today at (941) 806-1911 and let us know how we can help your business bloom!

-Art

Innovators of Tracking: The Bloomerang Difference

If you think you’re noticing more advertising on Facebook, you’re right. Facebook has enjoyed a 200-300% increase in advertisers from 2016-2017 compared to just a 1.5% growth of new users. What does this mean for advertisers? Competition is skyrocketing and it's getting harder than ever to convert transactions.

However, in most cases, all retailers want (and need) is solid analytics so they can confidently measure the phoned in orders from JUST THOSE regular paid ads.

In other words, if you clicked on an ad, not only would the tracking code register the click and the transaction along with the amount, but it could now measure the actual phone call and change the phone number ON YOUR WEBSITE to follow the user who clicked over from the paid ad and measure the ad result as well that the agent actually clicked the START ORDER button to begin taking the order.

Now when the order is completed you can measure how many people ordered over the phone. When the order has completed the program aligns the call with the ad link from Google or anyone else that you wanted to measure results from ads you were paying to use.                                      

Within the Past 10 Years

As common as online shopping is today, it wasn’t long ago that people were skeptical completing orders online. Just 10 years ago, 4-5 orders were called in to every order placed on the online websites.

Well, think about it, when my competition was measuring (just the online orders using tracking codes that everyone was offering to measure), they would reach their ad budget and STOP thinking they reach the most they could afford because they had NO mine and in most cases left mine running.

Today, an avg of 2-3 orders are placed over the phone to every order placed over the websites. The equation has changed as more people are confident ordering online yet many still prefer to pick up the phone and call.

The new numbers (based on these kinds of measurements and more) show that two to three orders are now ordered over the phone per every order placed on the actual website. This is a HUGE value given to running Pay Per Click ads.

For those who truly know how to build profitable ads in Pay Per Click settings, can measure and I like to use a 2-1 ratio because I know that no matter what I show for a result, it is even better since the reposts show it's really 2-3 to 1. No longer do clients have to guess if they have the right people working for them.

I recommend outsourcing digital ads to those who understand tracking and phone tracking as well as understanding how to align the resulting ads to expenses.

The very first rule is, if your sales are not up or credit card sales are not up then the very first place you need to look is whoever you hired to run your online ads. There should always be an answer. Remember, the results are changing daily, and the platform is changing daily so the marketers have their hands full.

It may require a little time to explain their strategy to you, but they should have a grip on it and explain what is going on and why. For example, just look at companies like Yellow Pages.com.

I used to say forever, anyone going to an online directory to shop is most likely looking for a phone number - that is why they think directory. That just looking for a company or a website to browse usually use Google to guide them, not the directory.

Back in the years past, I was using Floral Prodigy to show what I needed to know so I was able to remain profitable and most importantly, when and when not to pull ads.

I still use these formulas to this day to measure results and accelerate based on a combines result of phone transactions and conversions. To keep it simple, I am able to just use Google to show my client the results. Take a look and see for yourself:

 Yelp (Directory) then Google (Web Search) so you can see the difference.

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Are you tracking all your customers through your website or on social media? If not, now is the time to start. Bloomerang Solutions can help you increase conversions and save money by customizing your marketing campaigns. Give us a call today at (941) 806-1911 and let us know how we can help your business bloom!

-Art