With the 2021 holiday season quickly approaching, it’s time to prepare a flower shop marketing plan to capture your share of local holiday spending. Capitalizing on major holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah — which are responsible for about 25% of annual cut flowers sold — is key to maximizing your shop’s revenue, but there are countless other moments over the next few months to take into account. From Thanksgiving to high school formals, any gathering this season can benefit from festive flowers and greenery.
While holidays are important for flower shop sales every year, they could bring in more sales than usual in 2021. Supply chain shortages are expected to make devices and other gifts hard to find, turning locally bought flowers and houseplants into the perfect gift choice this December. To get you started, we’ve assembled a list of florist marketing ideas for the upcoming holiday season and several other timely events to take into consideration.
Holiday celebrations to consider in your flower shop marketing plan
Major December holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza tend to steal the spotlight, but there are plenty of other occasions that bring families and friends together during the final few weeks of the year, including:
Thanksgiving: A delicious Thanksgiving meal isn’t complete without a beautiful tablescape. Warm fall colors — like orange, yellow, and red — are dependable choices for a Thanksgiving arrangement, but softer colors like sage and terracotta can evoke a modern feel and pique customers’ interests. Pair blooms like roses, lilies, or mums with eucalyptus or feather leaf acacia to achieve this gentle palette.
New Years: New Years is best celebrated with sparkling colors, so make a few arrangements that shine, complete with glitter and metallic elements. You can also market these as a great gift to bring the host of a New Years party in lieu of champagne.
School performances: December brings a slew of school performances across all age levels, from elementary school concerts to high school band, choir, and theatre shows. Families will need bouquets to give to their young artists, and schools will need decorations for their stages and hallways.
School formals: School dances are often scheduled around the holidays, creating a great opportunity to market corsages and boutonnieres to the parents of middle school and high school students.
Office parties: Corporate holiday parties will be on the rise this year now that more workers have returned to the office. With in-person holiday parties comes the opportunity for branded arrangements made with company colors, as well as more traditional party decor, like garlands, poinsettias, and table centerpieces.
Engagements: According to WeddingWire’s 2020 Newlywed Report, December takes the cake for engagements, with 19% of couples surveyed proposing or being proposed to during this month. Consider partnering with local jewelers to give discounts on floral arrangements to customers buying wedding rings. When they plan on popping the question, they’ll remember to reach out for flowers to complement their engagement photos or to set the scene of their big day.
Reminding customers how flowers can brighten up these seasonal events is a smart way to boost revenue, but the list of florist marketing opportunities doesn’t stop there. There are plenty of occasions that call for a little holiday cheer, making it the perfect time to get creative with the marketing ideas below.
Florist marketing ideas and tactics this holiday season
Now that you know when customers may need your services this holiday season, what else can you do to catch their attention and distinguish yourself from the competition? We’ve assembled a list of seven marketing tips to help you boost flower sales and grow your customer base over the next few weeks.
1. Design an eye-catching storefront display
A floral shop staple, creating a beautiful window display is the perfect way to get the attention of new and repeat customers. In addition to drawing eyes to your shop, a window display shows off your team’s tremendous talent. Consider rotating a few different displays over the holidays to keep things looking fresh, from a menorah display complete with shades of blue and white to red poinsettias and a mini Christmas tree later in the month.
A window display also poses a chance to have fun with your work and get people talking. Traditional colors are always appropriate, but unexpected ones can catch passersby’s eyes in a sea of reds and greens. Swap reds for whites for a snowy floralscape, or add seasonal produce like oranges and pomegranates for a warm, rustic feel.
2. Boost your shop’s web presence
Between 2014 and 2019, online flower shops grew by 11%. As more and more consumers look to the web for their next bouquet or floral arrangement, a strong online presence is key to expanding your business.
How can you improve your website’s SEO to reach more prospective customers online? Starting a blog, for one, can be a great way to capture leads and get people on your website. By blogging about topics you know best, like seasonal blooms or what arrangements work best for different events, you can establish your expertise on the web and capture Google searches.
While you’re at it, don’t forget to optimize your business’s Google Maps listing. Take some time to make sure your storefront’s information is up to date and your pictures are flattering, so customers can easily find your website and offerings.
3. Launch a social media campaign
Social media is an important way to reach customers in today’s digital age, and allows you to express your fun and creative side. Because floral arrangements lend themselves beautifully to fun videos and gorgeous photo shoots, establishing a presence on visual-heavy platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest allows you to showcase your work to its full potential.
While these apps can generate plenty of leads, it's also good practice to have a presence on Yelp, an important avenue for you to connect with customers by responding to their reviews of your business. A Facebook page is also helpful, as it creates a way for customers to tag you in their arrangements for their friends and family to see.
4. Tap into DoorDash florist marketing tools
If you’re looking to connect with the modern consumer, DoorDash’s tools for flower shop marketing are another helpful solution. DoorDash’s Ads & Promotions feature, in particular, can help you reach local customers through sponsored ads on the DoorDash platform as they search for gifts this holiday season.
By placing your shop at the top of related search results in the DoorDash app or on the DoorDash homepage, Ads & Promotions gives your business a boost in visibility. Better yet, you’ll only pay for confirmed orders placed, and businesses that use promotions see up to a 20% increase in DoorDash sales.
5. Host a workshop or event
According to Momentum Worldwide, 76% of global consumers prefer to spend money on experiences rather than material goods. There’s no better way to cater to their interests than by offering an experience of your own. Classes or events, for example, are a popular and lucrative way to expose more potential customers to your business while spreading some holiday cheer.
First, decide on what type of event you’d like to host. Some customers may enjoy learning how to build a festive wreath for their door or a beautiful floral arrangement to give away as a gift, while others may prefer a flower-filled gathering for a picture with Santa and sipping some hot cocoa.
In addition to getting visitors into your store to see your products, workshops and events can be a conversation starter. Encourage attendees to mention your events to coworkers, family, and friends with referral-based promotions or by asking them to tag your company with their wreaths and arrangements on social media, spreading the word about your brand just in time for peak holiday shopping season. You can also offer coupons so that customers can give the experience of attending one of your workshops as a gift — another reliable gifting idea with supply chain delays on the horizon.
If you don’t have time to arrange a class, remember that you can strengthen customers’ in-store shopping experience through simple customer service tactics, like learning peoples’ names and remembering them next time they come in. Be friendly and create a welcoming atmosphere that will encourage people in your community to stop by.
6. Offer promotions and discounts
Looking for a timeless florist marketing idea? With 88% of consumers using coupons in 2020, promotions and discounts remain a mainstay for many business owners. Creating time-sensitive promotions can generate a sense of urgency that some customers need to pick up their holiday flowers and cross items off their to-do lists.
To start, decide what your promotion is going to be and how you’re going to get the word out. Buy-one, get-one corsage deals, holiday discount coupons, and free upgrades on qualifying purchases, like reusable vases or jars with a bouquet purchase, are all enticing options. The possibilities are seemingly endless, as are the ways to inform customers of them. If you have a loyalty program or listserv of prior customers, you can send the coupons to their emails. If not, advertise them on social media or leave paper flyers at other businesses around town.
7. Partner with local businesses and organizations
Reaching out to local businesses and brainstorming ways to work together is a smart tactic for reaching more members of your community. Is there an event you can organize, or one that’s already been scheduled by your town? From holiday markets to Small Business Saturday events, community-wide gatherings are the perfect opportunity to share your customer base and connect with patrons of other local businesses.
Events beyond the business community also pose an opportunity to expand your reach. Providing flowers for the parade in town, for instance, or helping to decorate the tree in the park for an annual lighting ceremony, puts your work in front of a large audience and can get your talents noticed.
The holidays also bring a number of charitable events, which you can contribute to by donating your floral arrangements, time, or other resources. You’ll tap into new customer bases and, as an extra perk, receive an automatic mood booster for doing a good deed.
Capture new business this holiday season
Your floral arrangements have the potential to bring even more cheer into customers' lives this holiday season, and better marketing means more people can enjoy your beautiful work. By signing up with DoorDash flower delivery, you can reach new customers seeking same-day flower and plant delivery in your area.
