5 Last Minute Christmas Marketing Ideas for your Floristry Business

Who knows what Christmas will bring... With pressure on everyone’s purse strings, will customers go BIG and treat themselves, friends and families this year, or will they be more reserved and cautious with their spending?

If your Christmas floristry sales are not quite where you want them to be, then here’s 5 quick marketing ideas you might want to try to boost business.

1. The Power of Email

Did you know that 72% of people prefer to receive promotional content through emails than social media? And 66% of consumers have purchased something directly from an email? Assuming you’ve already got a database of customers you email regularly, now’s the time to step it up a gear.

Your existing customers are your warm leads making it much easier to convert a sale. As it gets closer to Christmas reward them for being one of your loyal subscribers! Give them an exclusive discount or special offer that they can use by a certain date. This makes them feel special – it’s just for them – but also give them a time limit so there’s an urgency and FOMO sets in!

Get new subscribers (and potential customers) onto your list by gifting them an initial time limited discount or offer simply for signing up. People will often subscribe because they want the discount or freebie and you can follow that up immediately with a series of emails, ready to entice them with your Christmas must-haves!

2. Collaborate & Grow your Pool of Potential Customers

Whether you rely on local sales or operate nationally, find an aligned business that you could collaborate with. When considering who to join forces with, you want to make sure they have an audience you want to be seen by. Are their followers on social media the people who could buy from you? Is their database full of your ideal customers? If the answer is yes, then it’s likely your customers would also be of interest to them. And if they have a higher profile than you, even better, as this will help elevate your brand by association.

You could team up to run a giveaway on social media with entries in return for follows/comments, thereby growing your audience to sell to. You could offer to do a guest blog for them to share in their enewsletter – free relevant content for them and visibility for you. Or perhaps take part in an Instagram LIVE together, picking a topic of mutual interest to each other’s audiences

Collaborations can be a quick win, putting you in front of a brand new (target) audience.

3. Slide into their DMs

When people comment on your social posts or DM you saying how much they LOVE your flowers don’t just say ‘thank you’, this is your opportunity to talk to your customers! Have a pre-drafted reply (or two) that can help you drive sales. Acknowledge the love and ask them if they’ve seen your new Christmas bouquet, your special offer, your latest blog where you’ve got lots more trade secrets! In DMs you can even add a link to your web page so they can get there quickly and easily.

Make sure you strike the right balance in your reply; give it some personality, make it feel bespoke to them in the language you use, and you’ll not only build more loyal customers but help drive sales as they discover something new.

4. Keep it Local

Many of us like to shop local where we can, so if you’re a retail or studio florist really shout about your local credentials. If you’re on Facebook join the local area Groups and post about your Christmas products and services, show your shop window, a little behind the scenes action is always well received – people like to see your face! Talk about yourself/the business in human terms – you’re part of the local community - but don’t forget a clear call to action.

If you’ve got some local Christmas markets or events taking place, consider taking part or make sure you have a presence. This could be distributing flyers, contributing to goodie bags or sponsorship by decorating the venue.

5. Get Yourself Some Free PR

What’s your Christmas story? Have you launched a sustainable Christmas range, have you got an award winning window display, are you creating a festive installation that will blow Santa’s hat right off!? Then let your local paper and magazines know. Drop the editor a short, succinct email asking if they’d be interested. Journalists do not have time to read war and peace so get to the point and why it might interest their readers. If it’s successful, sneak a little sales message in there too.

For national or even international media coverage keep an eye on #journorequest on Twitter for last minute call outs for stories.

And, finally, don’t forget after Christmas. That hazy time of the year between Christmas and New Year, when no one knows what day it is. Many shoppers are browsing in this time to distract themselves from family bickering or having to watch Elf again…. You can use this time to follow up with customers and fulfil their desires. For more top marketing tips for florists, sign up to our newsletter.