TOOLS: Images, campaigns & sources
In this month’s topic, we guide you through the tools we have available to you via our corporate site www.flowercouncil.co.uk where you will find a wide range of resources for you to use, as well as how to use our consumer content as a valuable tool to you.
From free images in our image bank, to our national campaigns for you to get involved in, to the latest consumer style trends, care tips for flowers and plants for you and your customers.
Our corporate site is there for you to use to help you engage with your customers online and in store, and of course our inspiring content on our consumer channels are also there for you to share.
OUR CORPORATE WEBSITE:
This environment is there for the sector: you. Make sure you visit our site regularly so that you can keep up to date with any current news, campaigns and new images to see how you can use this to benefit your own business. Not only will there be free posters for you to download, or images from our image bank you can use free of charge, but our upcoming campaigns could also help your business.
OUR CORPORATE NEWSLETTERS:
If you’re not already signed up to receive our newsletters, make sure you’re signed up by contacting Chanel de Kock to request being signed up. Email: c.de.kock@flowercouncil.co.uk
We send monthly newsletters on the following categories:
FLOWERS
HOUSEPLANTS
GARDEN PLANTS
(Please specify which categories you’d like to hear about)
Furthermore, this is also where you will be the first to hear about upcoming campaigns (these are also possible for you to get involved in), events, and other consumer relevant news like our Style Trends and updates on The Green Gallery (an online magazine celebrating the beauty of nature targeting a very distinct audience).
SPECIAL DAYS CALENDAR:
This is a specially curated calendar to help you keep on top of special days celebrated in the UK. You can download and print the calendar out to help you make the most of these days, and don’t forget to add your own special days that are relevant to your local region line festivals or events where you can create your own content or special products or promotions around.
Visit: https://www.flowercouncil.co.uk/special-days-calendar
DOWNLOAD CALENDAR: http://www.flowercouncil.co.uk/file/70781/download?token=-TdkKMRQ
CAMPAIGNS:
We run monthly campaigns for all 3 our categories:
- Flowers: Flower Agenda
- Indoor Plants: Houseplant of the Month
- Outdoor Plants: Garden Plant of the Month
Furthermore, we also run bigger standout campaigns throughout the year, which some you might already be familiar with, like Favourite Flower and/or Vitamin Plant.
We send out a newsletter a couple of weeks before the new monthly item’s month starts so you have time to streamline your shop, web shop or communications around these.
Ivo van Orden, marketing manager Netherlands says: “Create a special space (instore and online) where you present flowers or plants in line with Flower Agenda, HPOTM, GPOTM or other relevant campaigns. You can create a special bouquet offer using one of these, and share content around these topics. You can also run competitions so one of the participating customers can win a special bouquet with this flower each month.”
“You can also run your own ‘Favourite Flower’ competitions for your customers, or come up with more creative ideas to get involved with our annual Favourite Flower campaign, so look out for news on these subjects.”
We create posters that you can download and print off to help with your promotions, as well as images for you to use for each category campaign, or you can simply follow our social media channels and share the ideas around each item you like of feel you can relate to for your business. If you scroll down the bottom of the article, you will find links for the posters, as well as a range of images from the image gallery that are easy to download and save.
Example: Click on article of interest, find interesting facts and trivia, care tips etc., and scroll down to download images and posters and create your own content! E.G. here’s an article on Aloe, our August HPOTM: https://www.flowercouncil.co.uk/campaign/august-2017-aloe-houseplant-of-the-month
Images for DIY articles, or just inspirational content around topics of interest or relevant to your business can also be found on both our corporate site (Image Bank, under Tools), and consumer sites.
IMAGE BANK:
As mentioned previously, our image bank is there for you to use. We have a wide range of imagery available from bouquets, to specific products by using key words like rose, chrysanthemum, Yucca etc. in the search bar, and you can also search the image bank by colour (which can be useful to search for ‘red’ when you’re looking for Christmas inspiration for example.
The images can be used on your website, or social media channels, all we ask for is that if you use it on your social media channels or your blog, you credit the images (as this is then considered as being published).
Image bank link: https://www.flowercouncil.co.uk/image-bank
WHEN USING OUR IMAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Credit or simply tag us if you’re not sharing or linking an article directly on your own platform.
IMAGE CREDITS:
Using images of flowers, credit: Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk
Using images of plants, credit: Thejoyofplants.co.uk
When using it on social media, you can also tag us on the social channel using the following handles:
FOR FLOWERS:
Facebook: @funnyhowflowersdothat, or simply share our posts (share via Facebook or copy link from our site and paste)
Instagram: @howflowersdothat
Twitter: @flowersdothat
FOR PLANTS
Facebook: @thejoyofplants, or simply share our posts (share via Facebook or copy link from our site and paste)
Instagram: @thejoyofplants
Twitter: @thejoyofplants
OUR CONSUMER SITES:
We have 2 websites that we use to inspire consumers. We do extensive consumer research to establish our target groups and then delve into consumer trends and their behavioural habits, and we know that they use online mediums as a source of inspiration. We also create content especially with their interests in mind, thus, we use all lifestyle platforms to keep flowers and plants top of mind with topics such as interiors, fashion, beauty, fragrance and DIY, which is a very big trend amongst consumers.
We certainly encourage you to get onto the DIY bandwagon by either creating your own DIY projects to post as engaging content, or simply share our DIY’s by simply copying the link and pasting it on your social channels (don’t forget to tag us!). We do not compete with you as we do not sell anything, but we hope that our content will engage with your audiences to inspire them to look at flowers and plants in creative ways, making sure flowers and plant are top of mind, and hopefully boosting sales of florists all over the country.
Many florists already offer flower arranging workshops where we’ve certainly seen an increase in popularity, and this proves exactly the fact that consumers really are keen to do it themselves, or a fun way for brides and bridesmaids to participate in a creative activity.
So, visit our 2 consumer sites often for inspiration, or to find relevant articles (content) that you can share with your own audiences. Use the search bar to find what you’re looking for to help narrow down your topics and a list of articles will appear for you to explore.
Examples…
FLOWERS Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk
A few examples of content that you can easily share:
1) UPDATE YOUR VASE WITH CLAY: https://www.funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk/diy-upgrade-your-vase-clay-and-peonies
2) PARTY SEASON (FESTIVALS) FLOWER CROWN: https://www.funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk/diy-party-season-flower-crowns
3) HALLOWEEN: https://www.funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk/day-dead-floral-tribute
TOP TIP: To shrink/shorten a long link (URL), you can use one of the following tools:
Bitly: https://bitly.com/
This tool also allows you to customise your URL so it is more relevant to you, as well as allowing you to see how many clicks your links are getting and where your audiences live.
Owly: http://ow.ly/url/shorten-url
PLANTS Thejoyofplants.co.uk
1) SUMMER ICE CREAM: https://www.thejoyofplants.co.uk/diy-rosemary-ice-cream-guaranteed-smiles
2) KOKEDAMA: https://www.thejoyofplants.co.uk/diy-kokedama-speciality-orchids
3) HALLOWEEN: https://www.thejoyofplants.co.uk/diy-freaky-pumpkin-planters
So, explore our sites and find a way to use our content, materials and tools to your advantage. Even if it’s just the care tips you use to train your staff so they can engage with your customers who come into your shops.
You can also download the above document if you wish to save a copy on file: best_online_tools_july_2017.pdf
