There’s a lot of chatter on the internet, from marketing companies, and even amongst fellow shop owners about the importance of having a strong brand presence as a florist. Does this sound familiar: “With a stronger brand presence, your pay-per-click marketing would be cheaper”? Or even “I live near 4 other shops but I always see the same competitor online. Their name is everywhere”? Taking the time to build a strong brand presence can enable your floral shop to grow.
What is Brand Presence?
But what does “brand presence” mean? In the simplest of terms, having a high brand presence means people in your area know your business, regardless of if they have purchased from you before. In practice, this means people need to have purchased from you, seen your name, or heard about you from others often enough to remember your shop the next time they need flowers. Your brand is something that sticks with them long after they first heard it– they remember it. And your brand presence is a sum of all the efforts you put into making your flower shop unforgettable.
As people are more likely to be paying attention to their phones than their physical environment, you should strive to have a strong online brand presence: a website customers can find, an attractive Google Business Profile (GBP) page, a delightful Yelp business page, scrollable and engaging social media pages, with mentions and tags from customers the other people can be enamored with. It can sound like a lot, but without building up these presences, it will be harder to differentiate yourself in a sea of websites for consumers to choose from and grow your business.
Where does your brand live online?
Having a floral website that is search engine and generative search optimized is a great way to ensure that your website can be found when potential customers go hunting for a business like yours. But having a branded website is only part of the equation. Did you know that Facebook has more visitors today than Amazon and is the 4th most visited site in the US? Or that your GBP listing typically generates 1 in 5 visitors to your website and nearly 2 in 5 orders on your website?! Or even that having both your sponsored paid search ad and a high-ranking organic link to your site show on the same Google search results page drives 82% more brand recall for your customers?
A lot of what we consider digital marketing is designed to scream your shop from the rooftops where new customers will here them. And so, your brand needs to be where those customers will see them:
- Google listing: your GBP appears high on the SERP, before any organic website listings do — yours or a competitor’s. Therefore, you need to make it count with pictures of your shop, a complete Q&A section, and recent favorable reviews. The more robust the profile, the harder it will work to grow your business.
- Facebook profile: consumers are exposed to a variety of brands and products when they are not actively searching for them, but passively while browsing their social feeds. Ensuring your business page has relevant content and is promoted/advertised to folks beyond your followers is critical to making the platform work for you.
- Paid search ads: Paid search ads and organic search results are complementary efforts to drive visitors to your websites. And for new customers, seeing your flower shop listed multiple times in the search builds credibility for you, leading to a higher chance of a sale.
If you’re not sure where to start and have an eFlorist website, we are here to help you. From just helping you create an action plan to providing information about eFlorist services, our eMarketing Support team can provide some guidance about building your floral shop’s brand presence. Visit the eMarketing page on MyTeleflora.com to learn more about the programs or set up an appointment to speak to our team using this link here.
