Furst the Florist in Dayton, Ohio boosted engagement this month by urging followers to share photos of their fur babies.
Fur babies are a sure-fire way to attract positive attention to your social media page is through a common human joy.
At the beginning of the month, Furst Florist and Greenhouses in Dayton, Ohio posted photos of precious pups in flower crowns on Facebook to advertise a “fur baby” photo contest. The shop encouraged fans to share photos of their pets in the comments thread for the chance to win a dog- or cat-themed floral arrangement.
The promotion wasn’t tied to any particular special, said fifth-generation employee Kylie Furst. “We created this contest because we thought it would be something fun to catch our clients’ attention,” she said.
Within two minutes of announcing the contest, Furst Florist received 10 pet photos. Overall, it netted more than 100 entries, exceeding Furst’s expectations. Given the extreme interest, the shop decided to name two winners — one for cats and one for dogs.
The winners, chosen randomly and announced on September 26th, were Sandy Lapham’s flower-loving cats, Boo and Booger, and Anne Bissacco’s sweet chihuahua-mix puppy, Ms. Mia.
Furst said the shop will “definitely” repeat this contest again, given its success. She added that the shop has better success engaging consumers by foregoing hard sells in favor of friendly posts that connect with consumers on a personal level.
“Followers enjoy seeing an employee designing beautiful arrangements, coworkers having fun together, unique flowers that just arrived from across the world,” she said. “All of these things make your followers feel closer to you. They create more loyal customers that will continue to look to you for all of their floral needs.”
Mackenzie Nichols is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.