Flyline Search Marketing Helps Florists Ramp Up Holiday Sales

Flyline Search Marketing is a marketing and technology partner that helps floral clients increase sales during the holiday season. Flyline works with flower shops all across the United States. We utilize our comprehensive marketing program and technology platforms to optimize our customers online presence and grow their brand awareness.

Flyline’s custom website designs and optimization techniques have generated impressive results for floral clients. We drive high quality leads by improving our clients web presence. We work to increase their brand awareness and brand strength through the use of our comprehensive strategies. That includes the use of paid search advertising, blogging, information indexing, road map building, social media campaigns and more.

Flyline is committed to helping their clients succeed by providing the best possible digital marketing services. They do this by focusing on customer service, which includes 24/7 customer support; a detailed analysis of each client’s unique needs; and personalized solutions for each business. Flyline clients out perform their competition because of their dedication to providing high-quality results for every campaign they run for a client. Their goal is to help businesses grow by increasing sales through online marketing efforts such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), social media advertising (SMA) and more.

Flyline Search Marketing is a marketing and technology partner that can help you grow your business. Our services include: website design, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, blog writing and more. We have helped many businesses increase their sales over the past 10 years. Our company has been delivering eye popping results for our floral customers through our marketing and technology platforms, since 2009. Flyline Search Marketing believes that everyone should be able to afford quality marketing services that will help them grow their business.

We want to thank all of our clients for allowing us to work with them over the last 10 years and helping them achieve success! We look forward to helping many more businesses grow in 2017!

If you are interested in hiring Flyline Search Marketing please call 1-866-258-5511 or visit our website at www.flylinesearchmarketing.com.

By |2022-12-16T12:44:26+00:00December 16th, 2022|Categories: Flower Shop Marketing, Flyline Search Marketing, Marketing For Florists|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Flyline Search Marketing Helps Florists Ramp Up Holiday Sales

Flyline Team Is Busy Optimizing Floral Sites For Christmas

One of the things that Flyline Search Marketing does for the flower shops we support is to help them optimize their websites. Our staff has a great working knowledge of the CMS admin tools for many of the floral industries top website platforms. That includes in-depth knowledge of the Emerald City, Gravity Free, and TeleFlora website platforms. Flyline has played the lead role in constructing every Emerald City website that is currently in use. We have also worked with TeleFlora to construct a very productive custom design for clients we serve who prefer the TeleFlora website.

The comprehensive marketing program that we deliver for the florists we serve, includes initial design of the site, optimization of the new site, content creation, and on-going help with website maintenance. This service is included in our normal monthly program fee. Florists we serve love knowing that the Flyline staff is always measuring and monitoring performance of the website, landing pages, content and product mix. As a strategic partner for those we serve, we are proactive in making sure that sites are set up for success. That is especially true during major holidays, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s and Mother’s Day.

By |2021-12-07T13:37:27+00:00December 1st, 2021|Categories: Flower Shop Marketing, Marketing For Florists, Marketing For TeleFlora Customers, Website Optimization|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Flyline Team Is Busy Optimizing Floral Sites For Christmas

Penny’s By Plaza – Best Florist In Pennsylvania

Penny’s By Plaza Flowers

Voted Pennsylvania Florist Of The Year

Plaza Flowers and Penny’s Flowers have have been customers of Flyline Search Marketing since July of 2019. Chris signed a multi-year service agreement, strategically partnering with Flyline Search Marketing. Both of these firms are owned and operated by Chris Drummond. In addition to owning these two flower shops, Mr. Drummond is also the current sitting President of the Society For American Florists (SAF). Chris Drummond is considered one of the brightest minds in the floral industry. He is certainly one of the most talented flower shop operators we have been blessed to work with.

The past 16 months serving Chris have been super busy. There have been so many major accomplishments that is it hard to list them all. One of the biggest milestones achieved was the rebranding of Plaza Flowers and Penny’s Flowers into a new brand. The new company is known as, “Penny’s By Plaza Flowers.” Rebranding is always a truly complex endeavor. Penny’s By Plaza Flowers is the second floral firm that we have successfully helped to rebrand their business. The first was Williams Flowers who operates in the Puget Sound area. Rebranding is one of the most challenging things any business will ever undergo. Get it right, as we did with Williams Flowers and Penny’s By Plaza, and the sales and revenue numbers can skyrocket. Get it wrong and the results could be disastrous.

In 2020, Penny’s By Plaza achieved another great milestone. They joined a very exclusive group of florists who utilize the services of Flyline Search Marketing and have achieved the distinction of being a 7 digit club member. The club is more than just award. Achieving 7 Digit Club distinction is life changing for each business who reaches this elite level of success. We believe that our comprehensive marketing program is the best in the floral industry. Our staff is relentless in it’s pursuit of success for those we serve. Penny’s By Plaza Flowers is one of the latest beneficiaries of this relentless and tireless approach. The online arena is incredibly competitive. Establishing a dominant position in the Philadelphia area was not easy. There are some incredible floral competitors operating in that marketplace. The battle for dominance is never over. It is an ongoing competition. We support flower shops all around the country. Many of these shops have strategically partnered with our firm, just as Chris Drummond did in 2019. The vast majority of these shops have all now achieved the 7 digit club member level.

Another great milestone achieved for Penny’s By Plaza Flowers was the development of a new custom designed website. The new site is amazing and played a major role in helping Chris to achieve the 7 digit club results level. The site is fully responsive, offers a truly modern look and alters it’s display, based on the type of device attempting to access it. Meaning, the site is able to provide the optimal display for flower shoppers using desktop, laptop or smartphone devices. This new custom site includes many great front side features. The home page is unique in it’s ability to support our primary and secondary missions. It includes a new full width footer that allows us to serve up all of the key content for Penny’s By Plaza. The backside of the site is powered by the latest TeleFlora e-Florist CMS. That CMS was built with Oracle as the base software.

The Flyline Search Marketing team supports many flower shops who use either the Gravity Free website or the Emerald City website platform. Those two websites are considered to be the elite platforms in the floral industry. Strategically partnering with Chris Drummond offered a great opportunity to show that our comprehensive program could work, even when paired with an alternative web platform.

Penny’s By Plaza Flowers was the first TeleFlora website user to to strategically partner of Flyline Search Marketing. Over the last 12 months, we have added other TeleFlora e-florist site users to our customer base. In June of 2020, Steve’s Flowers in Indianapolis, Indiana also strategically partnered with us. We created a new custom designed front end for the as well. You can view that new custom site at https://stevesflowers.com. In September of 2020, we added a third TeleFlora site user to the group. That being Thrifty Florist. They operate 16 floral design centers in Detroit, Michigan area. We also built a new custom front end for Thrifty Florist. Penny’s By Plaza was the first of these three shops to achieve the 7 digit club distinction. Both Thrifty Florist and Steve’s Flowers are well on their way to also achieving this life changing milestone.

 

Send A Fresh Flower Arrangement This Season

Flyline Search Marketing

Supporting Flower Shops All Across America

The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the most challenging that America has ever known. To say that we are living in challenging times is a total understatement. Our country has rarely ever experienced such troubling times. We are in the midst of a full blown pandemic. Everyday we find ourselves wearing masks, washing our hands and using hand sanitizer, literally all day long. States all across the nation have mandated lock downs. In many cases, schools are closed, businesses are close and even places of worship have been forced to close. Even when we do simple tasks, like going to the grocery store, we are asked to wear a mask while we shop. Bless our poor children’s hearts that they are asked to deal with such trying circumstances.

One thing that will never change about this great country we live and that is our fighting spirit. We are Americans and regardless of the challenges we face, we will always be Americans. Our country and our culture has a rich history. We can innovate and adapt as well as the very best nation’s on earth. That is never more true than when we are faced with trying circumstances. Our greatest achievements have often come during times of adversity. We love our celebrations. I hope that never changes. Our great American holidays and traditions, such as; Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day provide a huge lift for the people of our country. Regardless of the environmental challenges we face, these holidays will hopefully always bind us all together. In a way that only Americans can fully appreciate.

We Support Some Of The Greatest Floral Families In America

Rockcastle Florist, Rochester NY Flower Shop, Best Florist In New YorkFlyline Search Marketing is very blessed. We support some of the finest floral families in America. Our firm was created back in September of 2008. The day we opened our doors we didn’t have a single client. Now we support customers all across this great nation. Many of the customers we serve are flower shops. Our expertise with marketing for flower shops has really grown over the past 12 years. We took on our first flower shop customer back in January of 2009. That being Carithers Flowers. We helped Carithers to build their online marketing program. During the 10 years we served the Carithers family, we constructed one of the greatest floral marketing programs ever invented. Over the 12 years we have been in business, we have taken on more and more flower shop clients. With each new client we have taken on, we have further and further refined our marketing approach. We now have the most comprehensive marketing program for flower shops that you will find anywhere in America.

Bussey's Florist, Rome GA Flower Shop, Best Florist In GeorgiaWe support our flower shops through a comprehensive program. Our employees are some of the brightest, hard working folks you will ever meet. They are dedicated and relentless in their pursuit of achieving success for those we serve. Flyline is definitely a group you want on your side. Not a team you would ever want to find yourself competing against. The data is very clear. Every flower shop who has ever been supported by Flyline has out performed their peer group in the industry. Some of the clients we serve were actually referred to us by third parties. These third parties were uniquely positioned to have access to actual industry financials. They have seen first hand how Flower Shops supported by Flyline have far outperformed the industry.

Our Customer Retention Is Amazing

Penny's By Plaza Flowers, Philadelphia Florist, Chris Drummond President of SAFI have always felt that the mark of a truly successful company is evident by the percentage of customers they retain. If we had our way, we would retain 100% of the customers we take on. Obviously, there are always issues and challenges that we encounter that make that impossible to do. The very first client that Flyline took on was a small, female owned plumbing firm. Pete’s Plumbing signed up for our service, the second day that we were open for business. Twelve years later, Pete’s Plumbing is still a customer. We have helped the Lippitt family to achieve growth and a sustainable business model.

Pugh's Flowers, Memphis Florist, Best Florist In TennesseeAs mentioned earlier, our first floral design customer was Carithers Flowers. They remained a customer of ours for 10 years. Our second flower shop client was Allen’s Flowers in San Diego. They remain a Flyline customer to this day. In fact, this year we expect Allen’s Flowers to achieve a revenue milestone for flower shops we have supported over the years. Their online revenue will exceed anything ever produced by a Flyline supported flower shop. Speaks volumes to the talent that our customer puts on display each and every day. The shop owner, his family and employees are some of the most talented and creative folks in the floral industry.

The story doesn’t stop there. This year, every single flower shop that we support will achieve similar financial milestones. Even in the face of a pandemic, the flower shop families we support will all achieve the highest online revenue numbers in their history. Amazing to think about! I am so proud that the Flyline team has been able to contribute to the success of these incredible families. We are truly blessed to serve and to be associated with them all. That is a privilege to say the least. I believe that the Flyline team is the best in the business. We relentless pursue every possible way to grow our strategic floral partners. The passion that our team operates with is unmatched in the marketing industry. We believe that strategically partnering with our firm, is a very smart move.

In part, I also believe that the growth we are seeing with our floral clients is also being fueled by America’s love and need for beautiful fresh flowers. Our customers sell some of the prettiest floral designs you have ever seen. People love farm fresh flowers. They love the vibrant color. They love the wonderful aroma. Flowers brighten up the room and lift everyone’s spirits. Nothing could be more important during the times we are living in.

Why Flowers Are Important During Holiday Celebrations

People love beautiful, farm fresh flowers. We love the gorgeous, vibrant colors that a fresh flower bouquet can offer. Fresh flower arrangements also fill our homes with some amazing aromas. The floral industry has done study after study. In every case, people have noted that fresh flowers are one of the most popular and appreciated gifts they receive. During 2020, sending flowers to a friend or loved one is a great idea. With lockdowns, social distancing and general concerns about being in crowds, many people will not be shopping in stores this holiday season. They will be looking for great online options. One historically great option continues to be sending a gorgeous bouquet of farm fresh flowers. Flowers are guaranteed to deliver a smile.

Holiday Table Centerpieces

One of the most frequently purchased items from flower shops during the Christmas holidays are gorgeous holiday floral centerpieces. Historically, people have purchased beautiful holiday table centerpieces to adorn their kitchen or dining room tables. These centerpieces always provide the perfect decor. We would argue that this year should be no different. Even though you may not be hosting large parties or inviting large groups of people to your home to celebrate the holidays, the need for holiday celebration this year could not be more important. During challenging times, our great American traditions and celebrations are what often carries us through. This year, more than any other is the perfect time to adorn your tables with gorgeous, fresh flower holiday table centerpieces. A Christmas Table Centerpiece is also a great gift to send to a friend or loved one. Think about it for a moment. A beautiful, aromatic Christmas table centerpiece could really brighten the spirits of someone you cherish this holiday season.

Poinsettias

A poinsettia plant  is a great holiday decorating or gift idea. First, they are absolutely beautiful. This year, we have a great selection of gorgeous red poinsettia and white poinsettia plants. These beautiful plants have a long history of being part of our great American Christmas holiday season. People all over the United States have come to love these gorgeous plants and many include them as part of their annual Christmas and New Years holiday celebration. Poinsettias come in many different sizes and are very easy to care for. We generally recommend they be kept indoors, as they are somewhat temperature sensitive. Poinsettias usually hold their blooms for several weeks, which is another reason they are such a great holiday decorating idea during the holidays. Most poinsettias can also affordably priced, which is why many churches, businesses and home owners love using them as part of their holiday decorations.

Mayfield Florist, Tucson AZ Flower Shop, Top Florist In ArizonaDon’t Let The Pandemic Dampen Your Celebration

If we look back through history, the United States has survived multiple world wars and navigated our way through several earth scattering pandemics. Not once during all those trying times did we fail to celebrate our great American traditions and holidays. This year should be no different. We may not be able to have a large group of people over for a big holiday meal or celebration, but we can still find ways to keep our traditions and celebrations alive and well. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and other end of year celebrations are part of the fabric of our country. They are holidays that must be celebrated, treasured and maintained throughout the years to come. Celebrate folks. Enjoy the moment, reflect on the wonderful gifts we have, not the pandemic or things that try to pull our spirits down. Holiday decorations can really help us all to feel the joy and love that should always accompany this very important time of year.

Steve's Flowers, Indianapolis IN Florist, Top Florist In IndianaAs for the pandemic, I think we all pretty much agree. We all should try to do our part. Lets wear our mask whenever we are out in public. The experts say that masks can help to protect us and those around us. They say we should wash our hands and use hand sanitizers as often as needed. The idea being to keep unwanted germs from building up on our hands. None of us want to catch this thing and none of us would ever want to spread it to another unsuspecting soul. Lets responsibly keep our businesses open so that we can serve our communities and provide for their needs. Most importantly, lets all agree that even during this challenging time, we are Americans. Strong, proud and patriotic. All in this together. Celebrating during the holiday season is really important. Maintaining our great American traditions is equally important and very much a part of who we are.

Charles Carithers, My FriendI believe that we owe it to our children and grand children to keep these traditions alive and well. Decorating our homes for the holidays is something that our kids have come to expect. This year should not be any different. We should decorate and celebrate. Holidays are a big part of what keeps the joy in our personal lives and helps fuel our national spirit and pride. This year, lets all decorate. If you want to include some gorgeous Fresh Flowers in your holiday decorations, we hope that you will check out our website or give us a call. It would be an honor to help you decorate your home this year. Flowers are so beautiful. They bring vibrant color to our world. Flowers add a wonderful sense of warmth to your holiday decorations. Not to mention that they fill your home with an aromatic scent that is just fabulous.

 

 

 

Photo Taken At Our Last Emerald City Website User Group Summit

This photo was taken at the Amicalola Falls State Park Lodge. That was the site of our latest Emerald City website user group meeting. Flyline hosted the meeting and we had great participation from the user group side. The results that we have been able to produce for customers using the Emerald website platform have been nothing less than amazing.

 

 

Meet The Future Of Flyline Search Marketing

The current team at Flyline is one of the strongest in the floral industry. We are a very talented and highly skilled group. While there isn’t any immediate changes coming to the leadership team at Flyline, over the next ten years, you need to become familiar with these new names. The newest members of Flyline Search Marketing are, Matthew Lein, Brandi Lein, Payton Lein and Madison Lein. These guys are the future of this great company. They are already working hard for Flyline, earning their strips the old fashion way. They are learning this business from the ground up. You guys are going to love these guys when you meet them. They are young, energetic and super talented. We love the fact that the future of our business will someday be in these capable hands. If you have always thought that the current generation of Flyline leadership is relentless in helping our customers succeed, wait until you see how these guys operate. They will bring a new meaning to the word relentless. I predict that they will help deliver incredible success for the clients who join us in the years to come.

 

Hall’s Flower Shop Is One Of The Fastest Growing Florists In Atlanta Georgia

Flyline Search Marketing

Comprehensive Marketing For Flower Shops

Flyline Search Marketing is a full service Marketing Agency. We provide comprehensive marketing programs for flower shops and other e-commerce firms. One of our newest clients is Hall’s Flower Shop. They operate a beautiful floral design center in the Atlanta area. Hall’s Flower Shop is also one of the few flower shops in the southeastern United States that also operates both retail and wholesale greenhouses.

Hall’s Flower Shop hired Flyline Search Marketing in June of 2019. One of their primary goals in hiring our firm was to help them restore the overall financial health of their business. They have been operating in the Atlanta Georgia area since 1946. The Hall’s family has been serving Atlanta area customers longer than just about any other flower shop in the city.

We just finished reviewing the online sales data for December 2019. The data is abundantly clear. Hall’s Flower Shop is now one of the fastest growing flower shops in the Atlanta market. In fact, the growth we are producing for them is truly stunning. Overall online generated sales and revenue for December grew by more than 126%. This includes online sales that processed through the website shopping cart and call-in sales generated through our paid search campaigns. The total number of actual online sales transactions grew by more than 101% for the month. This is especially impressive when you consider the fact that Hall’s is up against some significant local competitors and national order gatherers who spend huge amounts of advertising dollars trying to win Atlanta area business.

What is really gratifying for our Flyline team is the fact that we are helping a local, family owned and operated flower shop. The Hall family is really wonderful. They are just great folks who produce a wonderful product and provide outstanding customer service. The floral designs they create are gorgeous. These arrangements contain beautiful, farm fresh flowers and each floral design is backed by Hall’s 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. If for any reason you don’t absolutely love the design they have created for you, simply call the shop. Hall’s will replace that design, with one of equal or greater value, absolutely free of charge. Customers in Atlanta have been clamoring for years for a flower shop willing to produce luxurious, upscale floral designs that are affordably priced. Well Atlanta, if you haven’t tried Hall’s Flower Shop, we encourage you to give them a try. You won’t be disappointed. They offer gorgeous roses, beautiful orchids and all of your other favorite flowers and plants.

In addition to traditional fresh flowers, Hall’s also creates gorgeous wedding flowers. They create stunning bridal bouquets, beautiful flowers for the ceremony and gorgeous reception flowers. The wedding and event flower team at Hall’s Flower Shop offers a turn key wedding package that includes venue set-up. If you are planning your upcoming wedding, we encourage you to reach out to Hall’s Flower Shop. They provide FREE wedding consultations to all Atlanta area brides. Their wedding team is extraordinary. They have years of experience with wedding flowers and have handled weddings in most of the top wedding venues in the Atlanta area. The Hall’s event team also creates gorgeous event flowers for corporate clients all over the Atlanta area.

When we took on Hall’s Flower Shop as a client, we decided early on that we needed to upgrade their web platform. They were using a Big Commerce website. Don’t get me wrong here. We love the BC platform and our firm is actually a Big Commerce web design partner. That platform is a solid tool for a vast array of e-commerce clients, however, we have a secret weapon that we use for many of our flower shop clients. Flyline works with the Emerald City web design team. They have created one of the floral industries best web platforms for flower shops. We have moved many of our floral design clients over to the Emerald website. Some have converted from TeleFlora sites, others from Media 99 and others from Big Commerce. When combined with our comprehensive marketing program, the Emerald City floral website is allowing our team to deliver eye popping results for flower shops all across the United States.

If your flower shop sales are not what you want them to be, we encourage you to reach out to us. We can help you generate your own lead stream, reduce your dependence on wire-in orders, improve your wedding and event sales, increase sympathy orders and grow your overall sales and revenues in a smart and sustainable way.

 

 

By |2019-12-29T14:07:59+00:00December 29th, 2019|Categories: Flower Shop Marketing, Flyline Search Marketing, Hall's Flower Shop|Comments Off on Hall’s Flower Shop Is One Of The Fastest Growing Florists In Atlanta Georgia

Radebaugh Florist Signs Multi-Year Contract Renewal

Flyline Search Marketing

Announces New Multi-Year Contract With Radebaugh Florist

This weekend, Flyline Search Marketing announced that Radebaugh Florist has signed a new, multi-year contract extension. Radebaugh Florist is a third generation, family owned and operated floral design firm. They operate a beautiful floral design center in Towson, Maryland. They also operate multiple retail and wholesale greenhouses. The greenhouses are co-located with the flower shop on the same Towson property. Radebaugh Florist was voted best florist in Baltimore, Maryland.

Flyline Search Marketing offers a turn-key, comprehensive marketing program that is specifically designed to help flower shops grow their sales and revenues. This marketing program has a proven track record of delivering success for flower shops all across the country. Many of the most successful independent florists in the United States work with Flyline. We serve flower shops such as Veldkamp’s Flowers in Denver, Allen’s Flowers in San Diego, Pugh’s Flowers in Memphis, Flowerama in Columbus, Mayfield Florist in Tucson, Radebaugh Florist in Baltimore and many more. The most recent firm to join the Flyline Search Marketing floral group is Hall’s Flowers in Atlanta, Georgia. For the month of November 2019, online sales for Hall’s Flower Shop are up by 81.94% and their online revenue is up by 84.75%. Bussey’s Florist also recently joined the Flyline group. They operate multiple flower shops in Floyd and Polk county Georgia. For the month of November 2019, online sales for Bussey’s are up by 160.0% and their online revenue is up by 172.87%.

 

Flyline Welcomes Newest Client Rockcastle Florist

Rockcastle Florist Hires Flyline

Rockcastle Florist has hired Flyline Search Marketing to manage the Marketing program for their firm. They recently signed a multi-year service agreement that will position their firm to enjoy a long term working relationship with Flyline. Our organization will be providing a comprehensive, turn-key marketing program that includes strategy development, lead generation, social media marketing, blogging, public relations, web development, content management and consulting services.

Rockcastle Florist is a second generation, family owned and operated floral design firm. The company is currently being run by Keith and Wendy Rockcastle. They operate two floral design centers in the Finger Lakes New York area. One flower shop is located in Rochester, NY and the other is positioned in Canandaigua, NY. The Rockcastle organization has been in business since 1951.

Rockcastle Florist joins an elite group of florist who utilize the services of Flyline Search Marketing. That group includes nationally acclaimed floral design firms, such as; Carithers Flowers in Atlanta Georgia, Allen’s Flowers in San Diego California, Veldkamp’s Flowers in Denver Colorado, Flowerama in Columbus Ohio and Pugh’s Flowers in Memphis Tennessee. These and other flower shops throughout the country entrust the marketing programs to the Flyline team. What makes us different is the partnering approach we take in serving our clients and the results we deliver. All of these flower shop clients have opted for multi-year service agreements with Flyline Search Marketing.

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By |2017-08-13T12:28:17+00:00April 9th, 2017|Categories: Flower Shop Marketing, Flyline Search Marketing, Rockcastle Florist|Tags: , , |Comments Off on Flyline Welcomes Newest Client Rockcastle Florist

Florists Growing Revenues at a Record Pace

Flower Shops We Support Are Flourishing

Are you in the flower business? If so, you are no doubt aware that the number of independent flower shops operating in the United States has been dropping over the past 5 years. The United States Department of Labor projects a 7 percent overall employment growth rate for all occupations, between the years of 2014 to 2024. At the same time, Bureau of Labor Statistics also projects that employment in the floral business will drop by 3 percent, over the same period of time.

If you are in the floral industry these numbers probably don’t give you much confidence about your future. Let me share some thoughts with you. At least some of what I have to say may ease your concerns. The numbers say there will be less florists ten years from now than there are today. The data also says there will be fewer jobs in the floral industry. What those stats don’t speak to is demand and supply. If you look at the supply data, you will quickly see that growers are planning to increase supply over the next ten years. Why would they do that you ask? Well, the answer is demand. People love fresh cut flowers and beautiful green and flowering plants. As population in the U.S. continues to increase, the need for fresh cut flowers, wedding flowers and event flowers grows as well.

What Is Causing So Many Flower Shops To Close

If you ask the question around the industry, “What is causing so many flower shops to close?” you will get a bunch of different answers. We have our own opinions on what is causing the decline. Here is what we would describe as the problems.

  1. Flower Shop Reliance On Wire Networks
  2. Order Gatherers Keeping Larger Percentage of Sale
  3. Rapidly Changing Shopping Patterns
  4. More Competition for Fresh Cut Flower Sales

Lets take these bullet points and review them in more detail. Why would we list flower shop reliance on wire networks as a problem. Many small and medium sized flower shops have historically relied on the wire networks for orders. At the height of the wire network effectiveness, a florist could set up shop, hire employees, purchase product, then turn on the order wire and wait for a steady stream of profitable orders to flow across the wire networks. In today’s world, that strategy just does not produce the same result. Take a look at the shops who are closing their doors. Many relied heavily on the wire networks for order volume.

What has changed that makes wire network reliance such a huge problem in todays world? We believe that the order gatherers are keeping a larger percentage of each wire order and passing through a smaller amount of revenue to the flower shop who actually fills the order. What is most likely driving that is the fact that the cost of order acquisition has increased for the order aggregators. In addition to the cost of acquisition, many of the order aggregators are also facing increased pressures by their owners and share holders to increase profitability. Well, how to you increase profitability? The most obvious ways are to increase the number of orders you gather, or increase the percentage of each order that you keep.

What Do We Mean By “Rapidly Changing Shopping Patterns”

The Internet is changing many aspects of our lives. One very clear change is how people are choosing to shop. In the past, if you wanted to purchase something, you generally went down to the store that carried the item you wanted and made a purchase. In today’s world, you can simply order right from the Internet, in the safety and comfort of your own home. The data is clear, online sales are growing at an incredible rate. Check out this data. comScore reported last year that retail spending in the U.S., conducted on desktop computers for the first 30 days of the November-December 2015 holiday season, had reached $27.9 billion. That was a 6% increase versus the same time period the previous year.

Folks, that was just online shopping, done by people using desktop computers. When you look at online sales from all devices, you really begin to see just how dramatically the Internet is changing shopping patterns. 2015 statistics reflected that more than 191 million Americans owned smartphones. That number has continued to increase. People using smartphones are searching the Internet at staggering rates. In fact, searches from smartphone and tablet devices have now exceeded the total number of searches being conducted on desktop and laptop computers. These smartphone shoppers aren’t just researching, they are buying!

Lastly, competition in the fresh cut flower business has increased, even though the number of independent flower shops in the U.S. has declined. The competition for florists is coming from grocery stores, Costco, Sam’s Club and other wholesale and natural foods stores. Seems like everyone who sells groceries wants to offer fresh cut flowers, vases, balloons and plants. That clearly wasn’t something that traditional florists had to worry about in the past.

Florists We Support Are Flourishing

Seven years ago, we met a man named Charles Carithers. He was the owner of Carithers Flowers in Atlanta, Georgia. We had just opened our doors for business a few months prior to meeting him. In January of 2009, we sat down with Charles and developed a PPC program that was designed to create a steady order stream for Carithers. The idea was to move away from the reliance on wire orders and to replace those orders with sales that we had generated on our own. That program delivered in a big way! From there, we studied the other issues facing Carithers. We went on to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy for Carithers that allowed us to build brand recognition, customer loyalty, wedding and event sales and more. In essence, we focused on a global strategy that would allow Carithers to grow, while the rest of the floral industry scrambled to find solutions to declining order volume, increased competition, lower value wire orders and overall declines in gross revenues.

Over the past seven years, we have added even more florists as clients. In fact, we have taken on a number of very notable flower shops, including; Veldkamp’s Flowers in Denver, Allen’s Flowers in San Diego and the Ozment Family, who own and operate four Flowerama shops in and around Columbus Ohio. As we took on each new client, we extensively studied the demographic differences of their market, versue markets we already compete in. We also identified the unique elements of the competitive environment each florist was operating in. Armed with this new competitive knowledge, we tactically adjusted elements of our strategy, then deployed the comprehensive program for each shop owner. The end result of all these learnings and tactical adjustments is a program that produces eye popping results.

Shops we serve are achieving historical highs in both sales and revenues. Florists we support are no longer just making a living, they are thriving. The best part of the whole process for us has been the development of long term, strategic relationships with the florists and families we support. For us, the relationship we enjoy with our clients and watching their families grow and flourish is worth all the hours we put in on our end.

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2016 Mother’s Day Flower Sales

Year over Year Sales Growth Objectives Achieved

Flyline Search Marketing® provides comprehensive marketing services for florists all over the United States. We serve a very distinguished group of flower shop owners. That group includes firms like; Carithers Flowers in Atlanta Georgia, Allen’s Flowers in San Diego California, Veldkamp’s Flowers in Denver Colorado, Allen’s Flower Market in Long Beach California, Flowerama of Columbus Ohio and Flowers and Company in Houston Texas.

These are not your average independent flowers. They are some of the floral industries most successful, lead by some of the industries brightest minds. These florists are also some of the most creative flower shop owners in the flower business today. We consider it to be a huge honor that these florists have strategically partnered with us. They brought us in to handle their online advertising, lead generation, social media marketing, brand management, content development and public relations duties. Our mission is to help our florists win today and build for the future.

Even though each of these flower shops is unique, there is one consistent theme that each of the owners is focused on. That theme is growth! All of the shops owners we support are experiencing growth rates that exceed industry averages and all have either achieved a dominate position within the cities they market to, or are on the path to doing so.

This year, Mother’s Day fell on the 8th of May. In 2015, Mother’s Day fell on the 10th of May. That lead most florists in our group, and many around the country, to project lower estimated sales for the period May 1st through May 8th 2016, versus May 1st thru May 10th of last year. Well, the final sales numbers are now in. Flower shops we support actually generated more sales transactions and higher revenues this year than last, during that time frame. When you think about it, that was no little task. Especially considering each of our florists all enjoyed solid Mother’s Day sales campaigns in 2015.

CMS design over white background vector illustrationHow did we do it you ask? We did it by utilizing a comprehensive approach to marketing these flower shops. That program is designed to generate sales 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. We do make very specific tactical adjustments for the holidays, but, work to maintain our focus on growth all year long. We would be remiss if we also didn’t mention that the shop owners we support are some of the smartest, hardest working folks in the industry. All of them work relentlessly during the holidays to exceed the expectations of the clients they serve. I have never met a more dedicate or harder working group of business owners. These folks are some of the best and brightest in the floral industry.

I love being around the group of shop owners that we support. They are innovators and are always willing to try new ideas, strategies and tactics. Especially if they believe that the new idea, strategy or tactic will make for a better customer experience for the people buying flowers, as well as for the people they want us to deliver them to. Charles Carithers is always telling me that he truly believes that for his business to succeed, we must focus on innovation and marketing. I think Mr. Carithers is an extremely bright man! The fact that his sales, revenues and customer satisfaction results are continually some of the best in the country, I might not be alone in that thought.

Lets talk specifics about Mother’s Day sales and performance for a moment. In Atlanta, we generated more sales and revenue from May 1 – May 8 of 2016, than we were able to achieve from May 1 – May 10 of 2015. How much more you ask? Can’t provide the exact numbers, but, I will say this. Our online sales transaction totals during that time frame were 9.2% higher in 2016 than 2015. More importantly, our online revenues were 13.2% higher. In San Diego, online sales were up by 11.8% and online revenue was up by 13.5%. I think you get the point. Over an eight day span, we generated significantly more sales and revenues this Mother’s Day, than we did over the 10 day span in 2015.

Again, the flower shop owners in these markets are relentless in their efforts to achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction possible. They are not just focused on selling more product. They are focused on delivering a great customer experience, while striving to connect with an ever increasing client base. We are thankful that they choose to include us as part of their team. We and they see the relationship as a great fit. Our team matches their intensity and operates with the same tenacity and relentless approach. We don’t sleep much during holidays like Mother’s Day, but, we tend to think the challenge of achieving something special for one of our clients, trumps (no pun intended) getting some beauty sleep.

Depositphotos_31562021_xs (2)Our team focuses on all aspects of the buying process. We run advertising targeted to desktops, laptop and mobile smartphone devices. Why you ask? The reason is simple. Shopping patterns are changing dramatically. In-store shopping is dropping and shopping from mobile phones is rapidly increasing. Google advises that from “2011 to 2013, smartphone adoption in the U.S. grew from 36% to 61%. They also advise that tablet ownership has also increased. Tablet ownership is typically associated with high disposable income. As a result, shoppers are now using these smartphones and tablet devices to conduct their research and to connect with businesses offering products and services that match their interests and hobbies.

Lets look at some actual Mother’s Day phone data from San Diego. We utilize a number of tools that allow us to capture phone calls, phone sales and revenues attributed to mobile devices. Tracked and recorded calls for San Diego increased from 371 (May 1 – May 10 2015) up to 492 (May 1 – May 8 2016). More than 30% of those calls lead to actual online sales conversions. The importance of this data is simple. From one year to the next, calls grew by 32.6%, year over year. That would seem to confirm the data provided by Google about the rapid growth in smartphone usage and the need to focus a portion of your advertising program budget to reaching this segment of the market. While we shared some basic stats from San Diego, this same trend played out in other large markets like; Atlanta, Denver, Columbus Ohio, Long Beach and Houston as well.

 

 

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Mother’s Day Marketing For Florists

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Carithers Flowers Luxury Collection

Secret To Marketing Flower Shops

What does Mom spell when turned upside down? It spells WOW that’s what!

The Flyline Search Marketing team is hard at work, deploying well thought out tactics and strategies, specifically designed to support Mother’s Day flower sales for the flower shops we support. We offer a comprehensive marketing program for florists that is highly effective. This program is delivering stunning results for our clients. Our customers routinely tell us that their monthly and quarterly sales and revenue growth numbers far exceed those of other flower shop owners who participate in floral industry groups they data share with.

What is our secret you ask? It’s starts with first strategically partnering with GREAT clients, such as; Carithers Flowers, Allen’s Flowers, Veldkamp’s and Flowerama. Next we deploy an incredibly well designed strategy that is unique and comprehensive in nature. Add to that, our talented and dedicated staff. Who might I add are absolutely relentless in their efforts to drive success for every florist we serve. If you do decide to work with us, that will be the best decision you ever make. Like one of our flower shop owners told a prospective client not too long ago, if they do offer to serve your firm, sign the contract as fast as you can! That is absolutely true by the way. Our goal in strategically partnering with shop owners is simple. If we invest our lives and energy in you, we just want to know that you equally value us and the contribution we make to your business and to your family. Those who have hired us will tell you that we educate our shop owners along the way and approach the relationship with a spirit of teamwork and open sharing of ideas and information. We find that approach leads to florists who are informed and empowered!

2009%20FTD%20Top%20100%20Award[1]The marketing program we deliver was created with the help of one of the brightest minds in the flower business, Mr. Charles Carithers, owner of Carithers Flowers in Atlanta, Georgia. We first met Charles in January of 2009. He brought us in to revamp his Google Adwords program and our eye popping first year results provided us with an opportunity to grow the relationship. From that point forward, Charles taught us the flower business and we shared our digital and traditional marketing expertise with him. As you can imagine, Carithers Flowers has really grown during the past 6 years. They are now arguably one of the top and largest independent flower shops in the United States. As Charles will tell you, growing your flower shop requires an unrelenting commitment to innovation and marketing. From our perspective, Charles is the best in the business at both.

 

Comprehensive Marketing For Florists!

Comprehensive Marketing For Florists!

The advertising program that we began creating for Charles back in 2009, has morphed from an extremely productive tool, into a tactical marketing weapon. This program has been field tested over the past 6 years. We have expertly refined it over the past few years, using data gathered from real life experience, from all over the country. The program has delivered results in market after market. Shop owners from the East Coast to the West Coast have seen first hand how the program drives growth in all areas of their business. Our program is designed to grow walk-in, call-in, credit card, online, wedding and event sales and more. The program has delivered results in market after market, increasing overall sales and revenues for every single client who has hired us.

Want an inside tip? Work with us to strategically grow your business 365 days a year. Our approach is focused on growing our clients sales and revenue every single day of the year! While our efforts do produce incredible results during the two biggest floral holidays of the year, Valentine’s and Mother’s Day. We prefer to maintain a keen focus on driving day to day sales results.

 

The Floral Wire Networks

The Floral Wire Networks

Holidays like Mother’s Day require a very specific game plan in order to win. Historically, most small to medium sized flower shops relied on wire-in order volume for the majority of the daily and holiday flower orders. That reliance on wire-in orders is at least a major factor in why so many small and medium sized flower shops have closed over the past 5 years. The national order gatherers spend a ton of money on advertising to secure those orders. They keep an ever increasing percentage of each order they take in order to cover their cost of order acquisition and to provide the profit margin their owners demand. That leaves the poor local florist creating and delivering many arrangements at, or sometimes below cost. Not a formula for success.

all months of the year

Working For Florists 365 Days A Year!

Our team has developed both a year around approach for our florists, as well as a holiday strategy as well. Then we customize the holiday program, based on the specific needs and operating issues that each of our shop owners is facing. The goal at holidays like Mother’s Day is not just to survive, but, to help our shop owners thrive! If you are a flower shop owner, you know what we are saying here. Many of you work ridiculous hours during Mother’s Day week and walk away at the end of the day with little to no actual profit. The flower growers and wholesalers want more money for the flowers you need to buy. Your floral design staff expects to be paid overtime for the crazy hours you are going to need them to work. You don’t have enough delivery drivers so you either temporarily bring in a bunch of untrained drivers, or you give in and pay the exorbitant fees required by third party delivery firms. Everything is working against you making a profit!

I mentioned the term “Strategic Partnering’ with our shop owners, earlier in this post. A big part of what we bring to the table is the expert consulting advice and guidance that we share with our florists. We spend hours working with each individual client. Making sure that they have defined the end result they wish to achieve and have everything in place to achieve the desired financial results. We help them set up their websites for each holiday. That means ensuring the products being offered for sale are in alignment with the flower orders being submitted to the growers by the shop owner. Graphics on the website need to be updated, social media platforms need to themed for the occasion, blog posts must be written, press releases submitted, tweets must go out, radio spots must be created and recorded. The list of details sometimes seems endless. What makes this work is our relentless approach. We focus on the details and are just relentless in our pursuit of success for each client. Everything we do, must work in concert with the flower shop, if we are going to drive financial success during a holiday such as Mother’s Day.

Check out these Mother’s Day themed radio spots that we helped put together for Carithers Flowers. These are just one example of the customized approach that I mentioned earlier in the article. We run radio spots on multiple stations in the Atlanta market to drive increased brand awareness for Carithers Flowers. These spots are primarily targeted for year round sales opportunities, versus holiday flower sales. These particular spots will stop running the week leading up to Mother’s Day. We choose to end the spots early because we don’t anticipate needing marketing support from radio to achieve the tactical holiday objectives set by Carithers Flowers.

At the end of this coming week, we will reach Mother’s Day. The vast majority of the flower shops in the country will sell more flowers this week than during any other week this year. Most will struggle to actually make a profit from all of the work.

Flower shops that Flyline Search Marketing supports will thrive this week, next week and each week after that!

 

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