In Carver, Minnesota, Annette Hentz put out 10 double-sided lawn signs, printed with the logo, street address and phone number of Carver Flowers, for Mother’s Day. That relatively simple effort led to sales two times higher than her previous Mother’s Day record.
Contests and blog posts and street signs — oh my!
To capture a chunk of the estimated $2.4 billion consumers were expected to spend this year on Mother’s Day flowers, florists pulled out all the stops when it came to promotions.
A few that captured the attention of E-Brief editors:
Vintage Mom. In Burbank, California, Donna Smith of Samuel’s Florist went old-school in a social media contest. “I posted an old photo of my mom and asked others to post mom pics,” she wrote in a florist forum on Facebook. The photo with the most likes won an arrangement. Smith paid a “minimum amount” to “boost” the post and got 20 new page likes, 230 page views and 870 post engagements — along with 15 mom photos in the contest. The winning photo generated 70 likes and created another marketing opportunity. “The winner salon,” Smith explained. “We delivered on Saturday morning and she gave out 50 of our cards and kept the arrangement on her counter all day.”
A kid-friendly in-store workshop at Dandelions Flowers & Gifts was one of many events florists promoted for Mother’s Day.
Fit to Print. In Carver, Minnesota, Annette Hentz also went a little old-school — and, in her case, offline — with 10 double-sided lawn signs, printed with the logo, street address and phone number of Carver Flowers. “I put them up on strategic corners in town five days before Mother’s Day,” she said, adding that she customized them at a local print shop for less than $10 per sign. That investment paid off, big time. “We blew our previous record Mother’s Day sales out of the water this year,” she said. “I can’t say that’s the only reason our sales went through the roof, but that’s the only thing we did different this year.” (She’s already planning to repost them, in the snow, next year for Valentine’s Day.)
Other popular promos that attracted our attention? In-house events, including a flower-arranging class for kids at Dandelions Flowers & Gifts in Eugene, Oregon; blog posts that relied on feedback from staff and customers, including reasons to spoil Mom on Mother’s Day, by Freytag’s Florist in Austin, Texas; and contests, such as a social media competition for the best quotes form real moms, created by Central Square Florist in Boston.
Have a promo that worked well? We want to hear about it. Email mwestbrook@safnow.org.
Look for more in-depth coverage of Mother’s Day results and successful efforts in upcoming issues of E-Brief, including info from the Society of American Florists’ post-holiday survey, which will be emailed to all SAF member on May 15.