Instagram is quickly becoming the place to be for top brands. 40% of global companies are now using Instagram. That’s still much lower than the 98% adoption rate of Facebook, but the number of Instagram users is steadily climbing. Instagram’s intriguing filters could be the perfect showcase for your floral works of art. In fact, Instagram’s visual nature makes it a natural match for florists trying to engage their customers and market their shops online. If you haven’t yet joined the Instagram trend, here are some tips to keep your business from being left behind.
Tell Your Story
It would be easy for florists to fill up their Instagram feed with pictures of beautiful flowers and arrangements. Brands who use Instagram effectively, however, find ways to tell their own story. It’s like finding your voice but with pictures. Use pictures to give your customers a glimpse behind the scenes: shots of calla lilies sitting in the coolers; your staff making arrangements; a bride oohing over her bouquet. Let the pictures tell the stories not just of your flowers, but of the people who love them.
Engage
The basic rule of Instagram is the same as with all other forms of social media: it’s about engagement, not sales. Follow users who follow you. In doing so, you can use Instagram to listen to what customers are actually saying about your service and others like it. Using hashtags wisely can also help you contribute to and drive the conversation. Don’t overdo it with the hashtags—you don’t want to look spammy—but using a few relevant hashtags will help you connect with users who have similar interests and help those users find you. You can also use Instagram to showcase what your customers are saying. If followers share pictures of your arrangements on Instagram, print the images and display them in your store or share them with your followers. As you engage your customers and drive conversation, sales will organically follow.
Hold a Contest
One of the best things about social media marketing is when you get your customers to do the marketing for you. Contests are a great way to get that momentum going. You might ask users to post images that define seasons or themes: #fall, #romance, #beauty. Perhaps you might ask customers for pictures of themselves with their favorite flower or shots of what’s on their Valentine’s Day wish list. Many brands are finding that Instagram contests are a great way to draw followers, build engagement, and tell their brand’s story.
If top brands are flocking to Instagram, doesn’t it make sense that your business should be there too? If you are looking for more online marketing strategies for your retail florist’s shop, Florist SEO is here to help. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you improve your SEO strategy.
I agree that being engaging in instagram is one of the best ways to develop a loyal fan base or show it off. I too use instagram, taking advantage of untapped market. I’m totally in agreement with you about the fact that holding a contest is a great investment for small floral businesses.
Indeed, Instagram can be an effective and powerful tool for establishing brand identity online. You can expect fan base of Instagram to increase dramatically for the next few years.
Very interesting and innovative ideas put forward here. Making use of the usability of Instagram is a fantastic idea; you really have a great sense for social networking and how to use it. Great stuff.
Instagram is great to make a connection with clients and potential clients. People love to visualize things, so you’re on the right site to do that. Contests work very good too. If you come up with an original idea or have some kind of price, you can get a lot of exposure and that’s what you want. You want people to talk about your company and your special offer or contest.
I agree with you, KennyK. Starting off your marketing strategy through contests or other gimmicks is certainly promising. What would be a better way to promote your brand or product than organizing a contest. Through the contest, you can already mobilize other people to spread the word for you.
Yes, and people just love to compete and get something of real value.
The investment on your site is small, but you can get some good publicity with an original contest.
Yes, it is pretty much the case as with Pinterest, and your flower business is easy to promote there, you can even accompany your visuals with messages and memes and they can spread like wildfire.
Pinterest definitely too, it’s perfect for flowers and anything related. It’s very visual, you can use nice pictures, attract new customers, maybe present some special offers, a contest and so on. Nothing is more suited for pictures than flowers 🙂
I agree that there are few things as suited for pictures than flowers, landscapes being a second choice. I’ve actually never heard of Instagram before. There are several good tips in here that I look forward to adopting for my own uses.
Instagram is actually a great way to connect with clients and potential clients. You can upload pictures and share information a lot faster than Facebook, well that’s what I think. I was thinking of using Instagram for business at one point but then decided against it. I’ll use that for personal use and continue on with my blog for business.
Melanie Legaspi
I also started with Instagram solely for personal use. However, as I get more and more comfortable with using this social media platform, I also started seeing how my business and marketing initiatives can be integrated.
I do agree strongly with the notion of networking highly in Instagram. I have never used Instagram before, but its a late comer in the social networking platform. But where is the end of this?
More and more social networks are sprouting up everyday. First we had only Myspace and Friendster, then came Orkut and then Facebook. A little while later Twitter and LinkedIn came, and Pinterest followed, and new Instagram.
Do we have to engage in social networking in all these newer platforms, when they keep sprouting up ?
Dude, omg, up until now, I thought instagram was literally just for sharing photos, I had no idea it could be leveraged like this. Thank you, I will actually take a look at it now, having never done so before 😮
Wow! These are great ideas for marketing your business with Instagram. My fear is that I’d come off as being too aggressive or boring, but I can see how customers would appreciate these kinds of helpful and informative posts. I especially like the contest idea. People love opportunities like that!
It’s pretty smart to use a photo-sharing social site. It’s even smarter for businesses to use it. Putting pictures of their products is just simple and straightforward.
These are great suggestions. I like the idea of holding contests on Instagram. People are all too happy to participate.
And the beauty of it is that it is not “marketing” in the traditional and obvious sense. Especially in the floral industry, I can see much potential. Customers are likely to share their pictures anyway and companies can use that to great advantage with contests.
We know from statistical data that people are far more likely to follow through on the recommendations they find on social media from friends and other contacts. They aren’t being sold a product, after all, but are witnessing the enthusiasm and joy that a particular product gave someone.
I haven’t used Instagram very much but I need to learn the basics and get going as it will help my business. I think that telling your story in a way that relates to your target market will create an important bound with potential clients. The way you present yourself is extremely important and can lead to many people joining your business just because they feel you are on their side.