Turning Valentine's Day Customers into Year-Round Customers

As florists, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are the best time of year. Sales are strong, orders are up and the energy is high. It would be great to keep that pace consistent throughout the entire year, but many customers treat flower shops the same way they treat going to church - maybe once or twice a year, and only on holidays.

Some may think it's a lost cause to try to keep those customers coming back the rest of the year, but I see tremendous opportunity to convert them into regular customers! But how do you do that? The secret is customer engagement. In fact, I truly believe that the difference between a good retailer and a great retailer is the effort they put into engaging their customers because that's how you grow your business.

It does take some work, though, because shopping habits have changed and brand loyalty is harder to earn. Long gone are the days when a simple “thank you” and a coupon for the next order would guarantee a return. Now if you want to see repeat business, you really have to work for it.

With the average American exposed to around 3,000 advertisements a day, standing apart from the crowd isn’t easy, but we have found that these simple tools not only keep customers engaged, but will also lead to increase sales:

Social Media: The average American spends approximately two hours of each day on social media sites, with 51 of those minutes on Facebook alone. If your shop is not present where your customer spends their time, how do you expect them to find you let alone know who you are?

Remarketing: Like online billboards for your business, these customized banners follow your customer all over the web for 30-60 days and keep your shop’s message in the front of their mind.

Reminder cards: From holidays like Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas to birthdays and anniversaries, sending friendly reminders is a valuable relationship building tool. These cards remind customers not only of the specific event, but also let them know which product they ordered last year as well.

Feedback Forms/Surveys: Customers usually don’t provide much feedback unless they’re really happy, or really upset. In many cases, they’ll just shop elsewhere next time and you’ll never know why they left. Feedback forms and surveys let you know exactly what they think of your shop and provide you with valuable information to help you better run your business.

Engagement isn't always easy, but the effort it takes is well worth it in the long run. If you’re unsure where to start, or would like to enhance your customers’ shopping experience, give your Bloomerang Solutions team a call at (941) 806-1911 or email us here. We’re here to help you customize a marketing plan and figure out what will work for your customers.

Happy Holidays from Bloomerang Solutions

Yelp! Are Your Customers Being Hijacked?

Does your business have a Yelp listing? Chances are it probably does whether you realize it or not. And, if you’re not a paying customer, your business’s listing is probably filled with ads for your competitors. Go ahead and check it out by going to Yelp and typing in the name of your business. I bet you’ll be alarmed at what you see.

Yelp certainly has a robust following and is still one of the most popular platforms for consumer ratings so it is hard to ignore, but controversy continues to tarnish the local listing giant as lawsuits pile up accusing the corporation of shady business practices such as extortion and manipulated reviews.

If you don’t pay for your own Yelp ads, your competitors can have their ads appear on your Yelp listing and you won’t be able to remove them unless you pay up. There have also been allegations of Yelp removing positive reviews after a business owner refused to pay for an ad.

Since 2008, the Federal Trade Commission has received over 2000 complaints from small business owners over Yelp’s advertising practices and in 2014 one of the lawsuits against Yelp went as far as the Virginia Supreme Court after the company refused to take down or identify anonymous reviews that were accused of being fraudulent.

The stories go on and on, but the fact that Yelp hasn’t exactly been virtuous doesn’t mean you should ignore the platform altogether. Despite all of the negative publicity and the pile of lawsuits, Yelp is still an extremely effective way to market your business, but it is something you’re going to have to stay on top of and pay very close attention to.

The first thing you should do is claim and optimize your listing and then work on acquiring new reviews. It is also very important to respond to any negative reviews you get. At that point, it is up to you to decide if you want to pay or not. Before you make that decision, please give us a call and we can discuss some different options that you can pursue.

-Art

Google Ads Have Changed the Way We All Market

Just a few years ago, aggressive marketers would convert just .001% on blanket marketing using inserts in the local newspapers. It was branding and you were able to get a few orders. Today, hardly anyone is advertising that way anymore and those who are secure the volume. We need to local shops to understand how this works or hire an agency to handle it for you.

Google makes it very simple to advertise with them, but there are some pitfalls that you need to be aware of if you decide to do it yourself. For example, if you pay $300 a month to Google you most likely have a “Google Smart Ads” account. This type of account is very basic, it gets you listed and that's it. There is hardly any tracking or details available for your campaign. It is entry-level work that features no re-targeting, no snippets or no use of extensions. Agencies charge $100 a month and you pay Google $300 and all you get are a few orders.

GOOGLE Ads (aka Pay-Per-Click), on the other hand, allow you to develop strategies, track every click, and use conversion codes to see where the traffic is coming from as well as how they found you.

Take a look at this statistic from Wordstream and it will tell you everything you need to know about the effectiveness of advertising with Google. For every dollar spent on Google, two dollars are converted into a completion! Yes, that is $2.00 in REVENUE for every dollar spent, and it isn’t uncommon to see 4 or even 5 to 1. With numbers like that, you may ask yourself, "why isn't every florist hiring and agency to secure orders for themselves?"

I do too!

I once read a bend in the road isn't the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn! I took that advice to heart and remember it every day when I’m faced with challenging situations. Owning your own business requires navigating lots of bending roads and other hazards that could easily end your journey if you’re not careful. At Bloomerang Solutions, our job is to help you navigate the bends in the road so you can focus on running your business. Give us a call today at (941) 806-1911 or drop us a line below and we can get your Google Ads account up and running today – don’t miss that turn!

Art

Stay Safe by Staying Alert for Email Scams

The holiday season is back again - which means more inevitable stories of stolen credit card information and massive security breaches from companies we thought we could trust.

With all the security that currently exists, there are always going to be those who find a way to break through. They want your identity, but it's relatively simple to protect yourself.

Whenever you receive an email, it is particularly important to pay attention to the URL before clicking on anything; forget the subject line or logos you see, that's where the scammers want you to look.

Whoever is getting the Amazon information is sending out emails that read, "YOUR AMAZON ORDER CAN NOT BE SHIPPED." Since most of the world uses or have used Amazon at one time or another, many people will scan this email and click the link to verify the credit card information.

Don't Click that Button!

BEFORE YOU CLICK, make sure to look at the email address and URL. The URL should be www.amazon.com; if it isn't, DON'T CLICK because chances are, it's a scam. Once you click the button it may be too late. Below are some examples of the first place you should look for any suspect email you receive.

This holiday season, to be safe is to be aware. Use extra caution and stay vigilant in making sure everything looks right because email scams are getting better all the time. Also remember that if an offer looks too good to be true, it probably is!

The holidays are here and Bloomerang Solutions is here to help! From social media to websites and reputation management to online marketing, Bloomerang will make your business bloom. Give us a call today at (941) 806-1911 or drop us a line below and we will be happy to assist you!

-Art