Guide
Flower Shop Marketing Ideas That Actually Bring Orders
The flower shop marketing that brings the most orders is usually the cheapest: a complete Google Business Profile, a steady stream of reviews, and a direct order link on everything you hand out or post. After those, holiday pre-orders, reminders to past customers, and partnerships with local businesses bring repeat orders that a social post rarely does.
Below are twelve ideas we use or have tried, ranked from free and quick to bigger projects, and the four things we would stop doing first. You do not need all twelve. Pick three, do them every week, and measure what comes back.
Free ideas you can start this week
These cost nothing but time, and they work on the people most likely to order: those already searching for a florist near them, and those who already received your flowers.
01Finish your Google Business Profile, then keep it alive
When someone nearby searches for a florist, this is often the first thing they see, before your website. Fill in every field: hours, holiday hours, delivery area, categories, a link straight to your order page, and current photos of what you actually make. Then add something new every week or two so it never looks abandoned.
02Ask every happy customer for a review
Google lists reviews among the things it weighs for local results, and they are what a stranger reads before trusting you with a funeral or an anniversary. Make asking a habit: a short link or QR code on the card that goes in every delivery, and a line in your order confirmation. Answer every review, the good ones briefly and the bad ones calmly.
03Put a direct order link everywhere
Your website, your Instagram bio, your Google profile, your email signature, your receipts, your van. Every one of them should lead to the same page where someone can choose an arrangement and pay. A customer who has to call to find out what you sell will often order from whoever made it easier.
04Use the card in every order
Every delivered arrangement already reaches someone who likes flowers. Tuck a small second card in with the gift message: your shop name, your order link, and one reason to order again, such as a note about your weekly bunches or your next holiday menu. It costs a few cents and goes to exactly the right person.
For the photos side of the profile, we wrote a separate guide on what to post on a flower shop’s Google profile, including which popular tips are myths.
Low-cost ideas that build repeat orders
These take a little planning or a simple tool like a spreadsheet or an email service, but they keep people coming back instead of finding you once.
05Run holiday pre-orders with a short menu
For Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, publish a limited menu of three to six designs a few weeks early, with a clear order cut-off. Pre-orders tell you what to buy, smooth out the rush, and give you a reason to post and email more than once. Customers like knowing it is handled.
06Send occasion reminders to past customers
Anyone who ordered for a birthday or an anniversary will likely need flowers on the same date next year. With their permission, keep the date and send one friendly reminder a week before. This is the most personal marketing a shop can do, and it only needs a spreadsheet and a calendar.
07Post on Instagram with prices and a way to order
Pretty posts get likes. Posts that say what the piece is, what it costs, and how to get it get orders. Mix finished work with process and a little of the people behind the shop, and make every product post answer the question "can I buy this?"
08Send one useful email a month
A short monthly email to people who signed up: what is in season, the next holiday and its cut-off date, one featured design with a price and a link. One email a month that people expect beats a burst of sales emails that teach them to unsubscribe.
If Instagram is your main channel, our list of Instagram feed ideas for florists has nine post types and a weekly rotation that is easy to keep up. For the holiday menus, the Mother’s Day marketing plan lays out a posting calendar you can reuse for any holiday.
Bigger projects that pay back over months
These take more of your time up front. Each one can turn into a steady source of orders that does not depend on an algorithm.
09Build local business partnerships
Funeral homes, hotels, restaurants, salons, offices, venues and event planners all need flowers repeatedly. Bring a small arrangement and a one-page menu with your contact details, and ask what they currently do for flowers. One reliable weekly account can be worth more than a month of social posts.
10Offer standing weekly or monthly orders
A weekly reception arrangement for an office or a monthly bunch for a home customer turns one sale into a schedule you can plan and buy for. Keep it simple: one or two sizes, a fixed price, designer's choice of flowers, easy to pause.
11Teach a workshop in a slow month
A wreath class in December or a spring centerpiece night in a quiet month brings people into the shop, pays for itself, and turns students into customers who know your name. Keep the group small, price the flowers into the ticket, and photograph what they make (with their permission) for your next post.
12Show up in your community with flowers, not cash
School fundraisers, charity auctions, local markets and church events. Donating a gift card or a centerpiece costs less than a cash sponsorship and puts your work in front of local people at a table, not in an ad they scroll past. Always attach your card and your order link.
What should a flower shop stop doing?
Marketing time is limited, especially in the weeks before a holiday. These are the things that take the most time or money for the least in return.
Paid ads before the basics are done
Ads send people to your profile and your website. If those have old photos, no prices and no easy way to order, you are paying to show people a closed door. Fix the free items first.
Deep discount deal sites
Heavy discounts attract people who buy the deal, not the shop. Many never come back at full price, and the discount comes off your labor and hard goods as well as your flowers. If you want a promotion, offer something you control, like a free card upgrade on pre-orders.
Being on every platform at once
Pick the one or two places your customers already look, usually your Google profile and one social account, and do them well. A neglected account on five platforms looks worse than a good one on two.
Chasing follower counts
Giveaways for follows bring in people from anywhere who want free things. A smaller following of local people who order is worth far more. Judge your posts by orders and messages, not likes.
Which three ideas should you start with?
If you are starting from nothing, do ideas 1, 2 and 3 first: the Google profile, reviews, and the order link. They are free, they work on people who are already looking for a florist, and every other idea on this list sends people to them anyway.
If those are already in good shape, pick the next one by your calendar. Ahead of a holiday, pre-orders and the monthly email matter most. In a slow month, partnerships, standing orders and a workshop use the quiet time to build the orders you will have later. Our slow season ideas for January and February turn that into a plan.
Almost every idea here asks people to look at your work before they order, so it helps to have clear, current photos of what you actually make. Our guide to photographing flower arrangements without a studio covers that with just a phone.
How do you measure what is working?
Add one question to your order form and to the way you answer the phone: “How did you hear about us?” Keep the choices short (Google, Instagram, a friend, a past order, a business we work with, other) and tally them at the end of each month.
For example, if a month’s tally showed 40 orders from Google, 12 from past customers, 6 from Instagram and 2 from a sponsored school event, you would know where the next hour of effort belongs. Those are made-up numbers to show the method; your own tally is the only one that counts.
Give each new idea at least two months before you judge it. Reviews, partnerships and reminders build slowly, and one quiet week tells you very little.
A weekly marketing checklist
- Add one new photo or post to your Google profile.
- Reply to every new review.
- Check that your order link works on a phone.
- Send this week’s occasion reminders to past customers who agreed to them.
- Post at least one piece with its price and how to order it.
- Make one contact with a local business, venue or event.
- Note where this week’s orders came from.
Marketing starts with a good photo.
Turn a phone photo of your arrangement into a clean product photo. 5 free photos, no credit card.
Transform my first photoQuick answers
What is the best marketing for a flower shop?+
For most local shops, the best marketing is a complete Google Business Profile, a steady flow of reviews, and a direct order link on everything. These are free and reach people who are already looking for a florist. After that, holiday pre-orders and local business partnerships tend to bring the most repeat orders.
How can a small flower shop get more customers without spending much?+
Start with the free ideas: finish your Google profile, ask every customer for a review, add a reorder card to every delivery, and send past customers a reminder before their occasion next year. These cost almost nothing but time, and they work on people who already know or are already searching for you.
Should a florist pay for ads?+
Only after the basics are in place. Ads send people to your profile and website, so those need current photos, clear prices and an easy way to order first. When you do run ads, start small, send them to one specific page such as a holiday menu, and judge them by orders rather than clicks.
How do I know which marketing is working?+
Ask. Add a "How did you hear about us?" question to your order form and your phone script, and tally the answers every month. It is not perfect, but it is far better than guessing, and it quickly shows which two or three things are worth more of your time.
How far ahead should I market for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day?+
Publish the holiday menu and open pre-orders about three to four weeks ahead, then post and email a few times as the cut-off approaches. Starting early gives customers time to decide and gives you real numbers to buy flowers against.
Do florists still need a website if they have Instagram?+
Yes, if you want orders from people who do not follow you. Many people search on Google, not Instagram, and they need a page where they can see what you sell, what it costs, and pay. Instagram is great for showing your work; a website is where the order actually happens.
Written by the BloomShot team. Built by a working florist.