Many florists typically struggle with social media marketing. Not just because it involves frequent participation, but because it also takes up a significant amount of our time. So, what can you do to make your social media marketing more effective and in less time? Most importantly, how can you get even more revenue, increased brand reach and visibility… all without necessarily increasing the amount of time you spend on the platforms? Well, the following practical suggestions should help.
Start Shooting Videos
Okay, don’t let this scare you. You don’t need a video recording equipment, expensive cameras or microphones. If you can afford them, fine. If you can’t, don’t sweat it. Your phone’s camera on a stand will do the trick.
The good thing about videos is that it is real and effective. People get to see who you are and identify the person behind the brand. The days of being faceless entities are long gone –at least for florist shops. Tell a story, teach your audience a unique floral decoration style, show them which flowers are perfect for which occasion and teach them catchy floral arrangements.
These are just some of the things you can do with video. When you’re done, upload to Youtube, share on Facebook, tweet the video link and syndicate it. Do this once a week and you’ll have at least 52 videos at the end of the year that your audience would appreciate.
Automate as Frequently as Possible
Here’s the thing: you’ve got just 24 hours a day, 12-15 of which is your waking period. And of the 12-15 hours, you have just 8-10 for work. The rest is for family, relaxing and other extracurricular activities. If you’re like me, you often wonder where the day went.
So, what do can you do to get the most out of your social media marketing every day?
Simply automate the process.
If you own a WordPress blog, simply get some sharing plugins – there are loads of them and some won’t even cost you anything – and install on your blog. If you’re skeptical about installing plugins, simply use the tools at IFTTT.com. IFTTT stands for If This Then That. Essentially, you can configure the tool to automatically share your content to designated platforms and social media sites every time you carry out a specific action.
Create Epic, Evergreen Content
The fastest way to get more shares, likes, tweets, pins and “pluses” is to create truly outstanding content. I know you’ve probably heard this many times, but it bears repeating. Let your content mantra be “Only the Best”.
The thing about evergreen content is it never stops being relevant. A few weeks from now, a few months, even a few years… some people will need that information. There are varying opinions about the frequency of posts and content on a blog or website.
Honestly, I don’t think the frequency matters as much as the quality. If you can create quality content pretty quickly, by all means post frequently. If not, 3-5 times a month is perfectly fine. Unfortunately, creating relevant and timely quality content takes time, requires a lot of research and considerable editing. But it is totally worth it. Get content ideas from your community, kind of like what Ryan did here recently.
If there’s some conversation going on in your community about an issue, write a well-informed piece and chances are your colleagues will spread the word about it. One more thing, try not to obsess excessively over its perfection. Once you’ve gone over the piece a couple of times, you’re good.
Lastly, share and engage with your audience at very optimal periods. Kissmetrics has an interesting infographic on the best times to share content and connect with your audience.
If you do this, you’ll find that your social media marketing will take less time and generate even better ROI for your floral shop.
Intriguing and in an wonderful way! As a social media marketer, I find it somewhat difficult to outline the basics to business startups in the floral niche. I have referred many of my perspective clients to this site to get a general idea of what’s required to turn their passion into a viable brand, and I think the information provided in this article will give all the key tips they need. Also, thank you for the extra site to place in my arsenal of social resources.
You’re doing great work! It’s great for people to get there brand out there, definitely one of the most important factors in getting any business to be successful!
Very interesting. I can’t stress how much I agree with automating things. Though some people are afraid of technology, it really is the future! Who wants to do things themselves when they can be done by a computer, and better yet, automatically?
Very true. But I think it’s important to place emphasis on the fact that the owner must provide the cohesive content that gets shared. I think quite a few business owners forget to provide the audience with consistent content because they assume the prestige behind previous posts will carry them through enough to attract additional viewers.
Marketing the item through one program is a great way to get the word out there but it’s so important to do authentic marketing by posting in forums, guests posts, facebook updates, an engaging twitter presence and ability to cross market into another niche related to the primary brand.
Great idea with the videos. As a florist, filming some of the more interesting day to day activities is enough and will further engage the users by offering a peek of what happens behind the curtains. This also ties in with advice you already gave in other blog posts: diversify the way you present your content.
IFTTT, I already knew about but never tried them out. Might give them a look now since it seems I’m leaking time and I’m need of automation when it comes to spreading my content.
Video marketing sounds very interesting. I have heard many people suggest it before but have never tried it. Though I can see how videos can be great for building your brand. Your customers get to see the true face of the company. As they get to see your personality, values etc, it can help create trust between both consumer and producer. Rather than reply to comments in the written form, you could respond to them in a video? Just to give it that personal feel.
Putting a face to your brand is a great way to expand and create a sense of familiarity. Most of the time you can hire a social media marketer to do all the work and it allows them to become the face for your brand while protecting your privacy. If you are an involved business owner whom finds themselves wanting to be at the helm of every aspect of the business, this may not be the best option if you can’t consistently create quality videos but if you hire a social media marketer to do so for you, you are able to have the same person represent your brand at large events and competitions.
Social media can be a scary proposition to many small business owners. This post gives them practical and easy ways to incorporate social media into their marketing plans.
Social media can be a bit daunting but you can do it 🙂 There are a variety of professionals ready to create a social presence for you. There are are also a few recent college graduates whom are seeking to get their ” feet wet” with their marketing degree by spreading the word about you or interns whom are seeking to expand their portfolio by promoting your business. As a small business owner, I know it’s hard to wear a million hats at one time while you try to push yourself to the next level. Trust in the process, consider hiring someone to take care of all the small details and understand your competition.