Invite Customers Back With $20 Tuesdays

Valentine’s Day is proof that people love to receive flowers, so why limit all that excitement to special occasions? What if there was an option for people to receive flowers from your shop - wrapped and delivered - for only twenty bucks? Why not make every Tuesday a special occasion and call it “$20 Tuesdays”? It could be just the trick to keep Valentine’s Day customers coming back for more and it is certainly a fantastic way to send a gift or greeting when people can’t get together.

When the occasion arises for a customer to consider sending flowers, we need to pull out all the stops and be sure they feel they can shop with us, the local florist. That’s why promotions like $20 Tuesdays (and $30 Thursdays) make sense, not only because they give the perception that our prices are reasonable, but also because they attract a broader customer base. You may not like this idea, and that’s fine, but where do you think those customers will go?

Most likely they will continue to search, or they will go take the extra time to pick up the bouquet at a supermarket and feel they saved so much that they have a workaround. Why give them that opportunity to leave and go away? Losing repeat customers is never worth what you hope to replace them with - we must keep customers with us.

The bottom line is that $20 Tuesdays make your shop approachable and show you are listening and affordable. We need to focus on transactions. Think about it, is it really worth losing a customer here?

Retailing in 2021 is all about connecting and (re-connecting) with customers

#1 Service

The easier you make it to order with you, the more dependent the customer
becomes on you. They depend and trust you because you have earned it.

#2 Convenience

Everyone is on their phone today. If you can keep customers directly connected to you, you reduce the chance of having them stolen online by your competitors. You can engage with them on social media and even notify them of your deals when they drive by your shop. What more could you want?

#3 Value

Value doesn't mean cheap - it means more for your money. If your customer can feel you achieve this with them then you will win the battle to earn their business and trust.

In closing, the two most obvious ways people are earning orders are online advertising and social strategies. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as Pinterest, are no longer for kids anymore. Customers use the platforms to learn more about businesses as they prepare to decide on who to use for that next big order or wedding.

Finding qualified people to run social media for your business is the greatest challenge. You wouldn't trust a kid out of high school to run your business, would you? Then why would you allow them to run your social? Leave it with professionals and judge them on how they report back to you with results from their efforts. Are they earning engagement? Well, if they are, how about orders? It's all there and growing.

Our industry is going through great change and while some shops get it, more shops don't. Don't let your competition get ahead of you. Call us and allow us to show you our GUARANTEED results packages. Guarantee means just that!

-Art

Google My Business: The Value of Strong Content Has Never Been Higher

When people use Google to search for a business, the top result is typically a Google My Business (MAPS) page. The GMB listing is an expandable list of services, products and information that allows visitors to take in a quick but brief understanding about the company they are looking up - without having to visit their website. In many cases, questions about hours, phone numbers and directions can be obtained directly from the GMB, so it is more important than ever to make sure your listing is robust and accurate.

Google My Business also allows you to add a SHORT NAME of your business to make it easier for customers to find you. This is also a place to find REVIEWS to help you learn more - or you can post reviews of your own as well. More and more companies are focusing on optimizing this result by understanding the strategies you can apply combining images, Q & A's, Videos and even Instant Messaging. The truth is, the more features you use, the better your results will be.

Above the Fold

Above the Fold is an old newspaper term for the upper half of the first page. The most important information in the paper appeared at the top - above the fold - so it would be visible on newsstands and boxes. Just like newspapers, the goal of most businesses is to appear ABOVE THE FOLD because that’s what will be seen on your computer screen on the first view.

The results are ORGANIC meaning the site is ranking high on its own and the position is not paid for, although paid ads can also appear in some searches.

It is proven that ONLY in this case do people avoid ads and look for the actual location whereas in traditional look ups, the paid ads do better because you can aggressively bid for position AND select what you wish to display, they are ads.

Optimizing Your Business Profile

You will need a separate Google My Business account in order to manage and optimize your Google Business Profile. It’s easy to get your Business Profile (your Google business listing) confused with Google My Business so remember that GMB is the tool you use to enhance your Business Profile in order to boost visibility and effectiveness. Optimizing your GMB profile has several benefits.

1. It helps you engage with customers

   Customers are able to interact with your Google Business Profile and you can use your GMB account to engage with them. GMB not only allows you to respond to reviews and answer questions, but you can also use it to publish posts like you would on Facebook or other social media channels.

2. It helps you highlight your business

   Your Google Business Profile contains a limited amount of information about your business but a GMB account gives you the ability to provide hours, link to your website, feature products and pricing along with other details that make your business unique.

3. It helps you gain insights

   GMB has analytics available through the profile dashboard that gives you key insights about your audience as well as your local search performance. You can see which queries customers are using to find you along with how they found you (Google Search or Google Maps) and what they do when they get to your site.

4. It helps enhance your local SEO

   Google uses algorithms for ranking Business Profiles just like it does with websites and ads. Your GMB dashboard allows you to incorporate keywords to your profile and perform other optimizations to help you rank better in local results.

Using GMB for SEO

GMB is not only an outstanding tool for optimizing your profile and expanding your reach, but it is also a great tool to help with your local SEO, here’s how:

1. By targeting your information

   It is extremely important to incorporate relevant keywords in your Business Profile so Google knows what you are trying to rank for. You should use as many as possible in the “from the business” description as well as in answers to questions, responses to reviews and the posts you publish.

2. By maintaining quality of information

   The accuracy and completeness of your Business Profile has a big impact on how it ranks, so it is important to provide as much information as you can in every section of your google profile. It is especially important to make sure your NAP (name, address, phone number) are all correct, as well as your hours, attributes and relevant contact information.

3. By building trust

   Consumers prefer to do business with people they trust and GMB can help enhance your shop’s reputation with reviews AND responses that can be managed through your GMB dashboard. Regularly uploading photos and publishing posts will also help show Google that you are active.

Google My Business is quickly gaining favor as the place to be listed so it’s important to make sure your GMB Business Profile is up-to-date. SEO is important for any business, but it’s especially important for small businesses to utilize targeted marketing to compete against larger competitors with bigger budgets. Now SEO is easier than ever before with the help of GMB.

Are you trying to maximize your visibility in your local market? Bloomerang Solutions can help you show up where customers are searching. Give us a call today at (941) 806-1911 or drop us a line below.

-Art

Valentine Roses for January Prices? Maximize Revenue by Encouraging Early Ordering

By now, you’ve heard the radio ads. FTD and 1-800-Flowers are offering “Early Valentine’s Day Specials,” and just like every year they’re trying harder – and taking action earlier – to secure as many orders as possible.

Most of the major floral retailers now offer discounts with price breaks for early shoppers – sound familiar? The national gatherers are securing orders fast, and with those orders they build relationships with the florists.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the average customer in 2020 spent almost $200 each on Valentine’s Day in 2020, which was up over 20% from the previous year. Valentine’s week is NOT a time to take up prime display space with cheap, low-cost gifts. The difference between displaying more $200 gifts versus taking up valuable space with gifts costing less than $100 can make or break the bank in 2021. This strategy will be even more important in 2021 because Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday.

 The customers are out there – and they have the money to spend – but the market is crowded.

Online-only retailers have resources that the small local flower shops simply can’t compete against. Since we are unable to go toe-to-toe with national companies and their large budgets, we must focus our marketing efforts, target new customers with the tools we have available and offer a personalized service.

Valentine’s Day is a reason to order flowers…

Orders are a reason to grow your business…

Every order is an opportunity!

We’re so quick to complain about order-gatherers taking our business, but can we blame them? If we aren’t willing to provide our customers the service they need, then the answer is no.

Just because we can’t take a customer’s order doesn’t mean that they’re going to skip sending flowers to their Valentine – it means they’re going to move to the next name on their Google search and order from them instead.

This time of year, the pond is stocked full of potential new customer relationships. It is our responsibility to cast our lines and catch those fish before someone else does. Choosing not to do so does not only lower your revenue for Valentine’s Day, it lowers it for the whole year! If a customer has a good experience, they are going to go back to your competitor.

What can you do now to be fully prepared to maximize revenue for Valentine’s Day? Here are 3 easy steps to help you prepare for Valentine’s Day

1. Update your website categories. Make sure that all of your offerings are active and easy to find on your website. If your website is attractive and easy to navigate, customers are more likely to place an order with you.

2. Promote Valentine’s Day offerings in local newspapers and on social media. Utilize media outlets to promote your business and remind potential customers that they have a full-service local florist available to take care of their floral needs – in town and anywhere across the country.

3. Gather orders as early as possible. Offering specials like “Valentine’s Roses at January Prices” is a great way to generate orders, but it’s also important to offer incentives to keep the orders coming in early. People have a tendency to put tasks off until later, but by doing so, they often limit their own options and cause you unneeded stress and frustration.

P.S. – This is the last week for Valentine’s Roses at January Prices. Be sure to use our banners and get the word out to secure orders! And remember, your Bloomerang team is here for you! Call us today.

Repetitive Emails to Customers Do More Harm Than Good

Email is an incredibly valuable marketing tool that makes it easier than ever to keep in touch with customers. But too much of a good thing can be very detrimental to your marketing efforts. Customers cite an increase in spam emails as their main hesitation for sharing their email address, but many can be easily persuaded to give that information up as long as they are receiving perceived value in return.

The key here is value. As long as your customers consider your email “valuable” because of a coupon or special offer, they won’t mind receiving them occasionally. On the other hand, if your emails offer little or no value to the reader, they will simply start ignoring them.

Once the emails become a burden, they will likely unsubscribe which means they are required to be removed from your email list permanently. You run the risk of this happening with every email you send out, so it is extremely important to know exactly what you’re sending out to customers, and more importantly, how often you are sending it.

If the events of the past few weeks taught us anything, it is that most of us rely way too much on 3rd party platforms to run our businesses and the social media reputations we work so hard to build can be taken away in an instant if the owners of the platform decide your ideas do not align with their own.

This is why Bloomerang Solutions is taking a very forward initiative to help you BUILD and OWN the future of your business communication by building email lists and campaigns that NOBODY can take away from you.

Unless you own your own website (which you do not), you are allowing a 3rd party company (and also a competitor) access to the most precious digital collateral you own, which is YOUR EMAIL LIST!

Stop the insanity!

If you allow anyone to send messages to YOUR CUSTOMERS on your behalf without 100% control, then you are being reckless with your equity, especially if the emails are unwelcome by your customers. To allow emails being sent every two or three days is absurd and to not know your results (and how many people opt-out permanently) after EVERY EMAIL, is once again, a reckless practice.

How can you allow messages being spoken to your customers that you do not control? If you think it is not a big deal, why are you sending it? Email is a VERY powerful tool that (for now) still converts EVEN BETTER than GOOGLE Pay Per Click.

Sending email should be thought out with a conversion expectation. What is the message you wish to present, and how will it come to fruition?

Do you have any idea how many of YOUR CUSTOMERS are waiting the week of a holiday for the first attractive email and offer to place their order?

If they do not receive one, then they may still order with you. But for a simple offer, why not secure the order NOW?

All this for just $300 a month? Your email, your SPECIAL offers and YOUR RESULTS! This is MONEY in the bank for YOU. This is why you NEED to collect email. Now is the time to SECURE and BE RESPONSIBLE for your mailing list.

It's YOURS, no one has the right to use it but you and whomever you allow to use it on your behalf with YOUR APPROVAL. Now more than ever, TAKE CONTROL and NEVER allow anyone to send an email without your approval. IF YOU DON'T you risk OPT OUTS – otherwise known as customers you may never get back again. The cost is just $300 a month. What are you waiting for?

What is the Value of Upgrading Your Website?

As a small business owner, your website is THE most important marketing tool you have. Unfortunately, most websites are not kept up-to-date and can turn into a liability when they fail to serve the needs of your business and your customers. Is it time to upgrade your website?

Investing in a website for your business is similar to buying a vehicle. There are many different options available, so choosing the right one depends depends on the needs of your business.

And just like a vehicle, a website must be optimally maintained in order to keep performing. The more you take care of it, the longer it will (likely) keep serving your needs.

But just like that trusty old vehicle, time will eventually take its toll on even the most meticulously kept websites. Performance will lag, features will become obsolete and the bloat from years of data and heavy use will make visiting your site a frustrating experience for impatient customers.

After years of service and depreciating value, the day will eventually come when you need to consider a website upgrade. It is not an easy decision to make because of the cost involved, but the value a new website provides to the future of your business may be worth the investment now.

How do I know if it is time to upgrade?

• Is all the information on your website up-to-date and accurate?

• Do you (or your customers) find your website hard to use and navigate?

• Is your site tidy and well organized?

• Does your site lack essential functionality that customers expect?

• Are you able to interact with customers in real time on your site?

• Does your site make it difficult for customers to make orders and complete transactions?

• Is your site expandable in order to seamlessly grow and scale with your company?

• Most importantly, does your website accurately represent your business?

If any of these symptoms describe the current state of your website, it is time to consider upgrading. But instead of focusing on cost, consider the value it will bring to your business as you prepare for your future.

A great website is the backbone of any successful business. It not only gives customers (and potential customers) a place to gather information and learn about your business, but it also provides you a medium to show the world what your business is all about and what it can do for your customers.

An optimal new website can also do wonders for your SEO, which helps you rank higher in Google and other search inquiries. In addition to sharing social media with customers and employees alike, a new site can also let you interact with customers in real time, allowing you to resolve conflicts and keep customers informed of in-store events and specials while customers can read and leave online reviews directly on your website.

Are you frustrated with your current website? Bloomerang can find a solution for you! Whether you want power or performance, we can help! Let us take a look at your site for a free evaluation or give us a call today at (941) 544-5000 to get started right now!