To grab the attention of potential customers at the annual Christmas WILMA Magazine Expo and Leadership Accelerator, Dana Cook, AAF, owner of Julia’s Florist, creates an interactive space, where attendees can get hands on.
In Wilmington, North Carolina, one florist has hit upon a way to turn a local Christmas expo into a reliable sales lead generator: an interactive pop-up space.
To grab the attention of potential customers at the annual Christmas WILMA Magazine Expo and Leadership Accelerator, Dana Cook, AAF, owner of Julia’s Florist, sets up two booths. One displays retail items (hard goods, fresh flowers and permanents). The other serves as Cook’s show-stealing attraction: a pop-up floral workshop where the first 200 visitors make their own fresh arrangements to take home, free of charge.
“It creates a strong sense of urgency ,” Cook said. “There is always a very long line at our booth.”
Each year the expo draws up to 4,000 people; Cook has participated for five years. To account for those crowds and her booths’ popularity, Cook divides her workspace table into six stations with three placemats on either side. She provides each customer with their vessel. (This year, that’s a reindeer votive pre-assembled with foam.) She then distributes plastic bags containing pre-measured and counted blooms and greenery for customers to arrange in the foam. The advanced prep streamlines the activity, and allows Cook to easily calculate her costs — about $2.50 to $3 per arrangement — which come out of her marketing budget.
Once the customers complete their arrangements, they carry them around the expo, creating word-of-mouth buzz and attracting more visitors to the booths. Cook also ensures future foot traffic for Julia’s Florist by handing each visitor a $10 discount coupon and a small, strategic gift (a jelly spoon or bag of candy).
“We always want them to have something with so that they won’t just throw it away,” Cook explained. “The is really good on the coupons.”
When choosing which events to participate in, Cook considers who will be in attendance and what they’re thinking about at that particular time of the year. WILMA, a magazine catered to the local female demographic, represents a key audience for Julia’s Florist.
“It’s a lot of work, but we think that it’s really worth it,” Cook said. “The word-of-mouth buzz is worth more than anything I’ve ever done.”
