http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/ This area is devoted to helping our users get the greatest possible benefit from the marketing features built into FloristWare. en Copyright 2012 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:03:56 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Robbie Burns Day (important to people who are interested in Scottish heritage and history) was approaching he searched his customer database for all names that started with "M". He then quickly pared the list down to names that looked Scottish (MacDougal, MacLennan, etc.) manually. No doubt this left many Scots out (Stewarts, Campbells, etc.) but it was a quick way to do an experiment. He thinks that next year he may start with the full list and select all Scottish sounding names manually. He then sent these customers an email reminding them about Robbie Burns Day and got some orders as a result. He also received some emails thanking him for the reminder and he believes that even when he did not get an order his email strengthened the bond with the customer. I wish we could have got this one to you sooner but we only just heard. Please mark this in your calendar for next year! PS Burns Day is January 25 each year. ]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2012/01/great_idea_for_marketing_to_scots.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2012/01/great_idea_for_marketing_to_scots.html Advertising Effectively Sales & Specials Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:03:56 -0500 referencing your loyalty program in marketing emails can improve performance dramatically. What does this mean for you? If you are using the points program feature in FloristWare (and we hope that you are) you should reference it in your email campaigns to improve your results.]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/10/loyalty_programs_boost_email_success.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/10/loyalty_programs_boost_email_success.html Advertising Effectively Customer Loyalty Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:30:29 -0500 Virginia Professional Florist Association show this weekend in Lake Charlottesville, VA. Rick has owned a flower shop for 26 years. His store has been on the cutting edge of social media and has been using unique marketing strategies for many years. He has published 3 books, “Blooming At The Top”, 12 Strategies To Double Your Sales” and “No Fishing in My Pond”. If you are at this event be sure to check out Rick's presentation for some terrific marketing ideas.]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/07/see_rick_rivers_at_virginia_professional_florist_association_floral_u_1.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/07/see_rick_rivers_at_virginia_professional_florist_association_floral_u_1.html Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:43:44 -0500 FloralStrategies.com makes and keeps such a promise! You may know Tim from his column, Flower Shop: CSI, in Floral Management magazine or heard him speak at national conventions since 1997. As a special bonus to our valued users we are underwriting 40% of Tim's fee for you to get him in your shop during the month of April. The discounted rate is $595 within 200 miles of NYC, $895 outside that range. Contact FloristWare now at 800.983.6184 for further details and to save a date for your shop. This is a one-time special and the training sessions are being filled on a first-come, first served basis. Think about how much more you can earn by adding $10 to $20 more to every sale!]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/04/special_bonus_for_floristware_users_were_covering_40_of_the_cost_of_floralstrategies_training_with_t.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/04/special_bonus_for_floristware_users_were_covering_40_of_the_cost_of_floralstrategies_training_with_t.html Sales Training Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:40:06 -0500 profit from the assumptions and decisions customers make. ]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/02/postvalentines_pricing.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/02/postvalentines_pricing.html Sales & Specials Fri, 11 Feb 2011 06:25:55 -0500 7 Key Lessons Super Bowl Ads Can Teach Small Business Owners. All the points are good but two really resonated for us: 1. Don’t Risk Everything At Once In small business marketing, it is far safer and more effective to spread your bets by testing many different marketing methods... For your small business, it is far more effective to take patient interim steps. After your company has learned what works and doesn’t work in your marketing campaign, plot the next step. With limited capital, small businesses can’t afford the risk of a “one and done” strategy. Florists frequently commit a huge portion of their annual marketing budgets to telephone directories. The payments are typically spread out over a year and often leave little left over for other marketing efforts. Directories are great but it may be worth considering devoting a little less to a single year-long effort so that you can stay agile and explore some different opportunities. 2. Track How The Marketing Tactic Performed Most companies have a variety of things they do to promote their business. Spending money on marketing is worthless unless your business knows what worked and what did not work. It is essential to get feedback on all aspects of your campaign. FloristWare can help with this one - the AdTracker feature is a powerful marketing tool that monitors the performance of each of your campaigns and even shows you sales generated per dollar invested. It helps you find out what works and what doesn't so you can target your marketing budget where it will provide the greatest returns.]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/02/what_super_bowl_ads_can_teach_florists_1.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2011/02/what_super_bowl_ads_can_teach_florists_1.html Advertising Effectively Tue, 08 Feb 2011 21:12:31 -0500 Search Engine Marketing and how it is vital for brick-and-mortar businesses. When you are looking ahead to 2011 please give some thought to taking some (or maybe most) of the budget that you used to direct to more traditional forms of marketing (like telephone directories, print advertising, etc) and exploring some of these newer options.]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/even_for_brickandmortars_web_search_marketing_is_key.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/even_for_brickandmortars_web_search_marketing_is_key.html Advertising Effectively Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:11:06 -0500 Floral Strategies for our users. It will concentrate on increasing average order value. This is the perfect time to review this information so you can take full advantage of it as we head into the busy Valentines period. This session is being presented to our users free of charge to thank them for their support & loyalty and help them off to a great start in 2011.]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/increase_order_values_tim_huckabee_of_floralstrategies.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/increase_order_values_tim_huckabee_of_floralstrategies.html Sales & Specials Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:24:10 -0500 5 Sixty Second Video Ideas to Help Sell Your Business from the Amex OPEN Forum offers some great points that will help anyone who is thinking about trying this. ]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/5_sixty_second_video_ideas_to_help_sell_your_business.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/5_sixty_second_video_ideas_to_help_sell_your_business.html Advertising Effectively Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:53:41 -0500 great tools for creating lists of customers and then sending them marketing e-mails. And, in a situation like this, there are some advanced features that can really help. For example: 1. When you create your list consider excluding people who have already purchased in the last week or so. If they have purchased that recently there is a good chance they already bought something from you for Christmas and you don't want to risk alienating them by seeming greedy. 2. Look for customers that are flagged as being interested in Christian holidays - there is a feature for this. When it comes time to write the content there are some great e-mail marketing tips here. This section in particular is very good: Instead of pitching an blatant sales message you use a gentle tone so the email marketing message reads like a customer service-oriented message. Don't go with a "Buy! Buy! Buy!" approach. Instead explain that you are ready and able to help make their last-minute shopping problems go away! Good luck.]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/last_minute_email_tips.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/last_minute_email_tips.html Advertising Effectively Postcards & Mailers Sales & Specials Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:04:24 -0500 great article on the AMEX Open forum on this very topic and we encourage you to check it out. FloristWare can really help you with step 1 (Start early and go viral). The marketing features make it quick, easy and free to notify your customers about the event. FloristWare can also help with step 2 (Call a charity). The fundraising feature is an ideal way to get a charity interested in partnering with you. One idea that we have seen used really well for step 6 (Offer a game) is a "name the flower" contest. There are lots of varieties most people have seen. One shop had a few different arrangements featuring some less common varieties and they went home with the people that could identify the contents. Good luck and have fun!]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/planning_instore_events.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/planning_instore_events.html Advertising Effectively Customer Loyalty Sales & Specials Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:56:07 -0500 FloristWare v3 (the ability to retrieve orders from your website into FloristWare) we have learned more about our users and their websites. One pattern we see involves multiple domain names. We see that many florists have - over the years - purchased and used multiple domain names. This can be a good thing but it can also create problems - specifically when florists lose track of them, let them expire, fail to redirect them, etc. This article from the MarketingProfs.com website explains why keeping track of your domains is so important and makes some excellent suggestions on how to best go about it. ]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/keeping_track_of_your_domains.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/keeping_track_of_your_domains.html Advertising Effectively Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:56:38 -0500 The Art of Discounting on TheStreet.com. It talks about a couple of important things: "...the key to growing your business involves activating dormant customers by using strategic discounts. By "dormant," I mean customers who are interested in your product or service, but have refrained from purchasing due to price." and "The "art of discounting" involves offering lower prices to attract new budget-conscious customers in a manner that minimizes the possibility of current buyers (who are paying full price) taking advantage of these price breaks. In the best case scenario, all current customers continue to pay full price and the discounts generate pure incremental profits. However, it's more likely that some existing patrons end up buying at the lower price. Thus, for a discount to be successful, profits from new customers must be greater than the margins lost from current buyers." This article includes some great advice and FloristWare gives you the tools to you need to put it into practice. For example - we believe that you should never promote value products or discount to customers that have high spending averages. Why encourage them to spend less? Fortunately the marketing tools in FloristWare make it quick and easy to create different lists. You can have a list of "value shoppers" who - one average - spend less than $X on each order and a list of "high rollers" who spend more. You can send a marketing email or postcard campaign promoting discounts and low prices to the value shoppers and another stressing premium product and convenience (and featuring more expensive items) to the big spenders. You can also find customers who have not purchased since a certain date - this lets you "activate dormant customers" just as the article describes. And instead of discounting you can always use the points program as the incentive. In fact you can use something like "Triple-Points Wednesdays" to promote exactly the kind of program described in the last paragraph. FloristWare makes it easy.]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/the_art_of_discounting.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/the_art_of_discounting.html Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:35:30 -0500 Four Tips for Successful Holiday Email Campaigns from MarketingProfs.com]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/successful_holiday_email_campaigns.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/successful_holiday_email_campaigns.html Advertising Effectively Sales & Specials Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:03:01 -0500 How to Take Advantage of the Holiday Sales Frenzy. Points two and four offer great tips for users who plan on taking advantage of some of the marketing features in FloristWare to maximize holiday sales. Please think about number four first: 4. Offer an anti-frenzy experience. One thing that online retailers are pushing hard right now is the idea that you can shop from the comfort of your own couch and simply choose the products you want... How do you take advantage of this? Any advertising you do for the holidays should stress convenience. You don't have to sell on price right now. Instead reinforce that the customer can take care of their Christmas shopping with a simple phone call or visit to your website. Number two is also relevant: 2. Use more limited time offers. Thanks to all the other retail offers in the market right now, people are more willing to see and respond to offers with a deadline. Deadlines can also help to create urgency for your offers. This doesn’t mean you need to be a dictator about sticking to the timing, but using the idea of limited time promotions may be more likely to work now. When you are pushing the convenience of your service also stress that time is precious! Yes, you can take care of the customer but you need to do it now because you won't be able to take any more deliveries after December XX. Don't make it too easy on them by promising you can take orders right up until the last minute. Reinforce that your service is valuable and in demand - something that they need to take advantage of immediately. Good luck!]]> http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/maximizing_holiday_sales_1.html http://www.floristware.com/content/users_current/marketing/2010/12/maximizing_holiday_sales_1.html Advertising Effectively Postcards & Mailers Sales & Specials Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:06:45 -0500