I own and operate a flower shop in Columbus, Ohio. All the shops here are frilly, lacey...too feminine. We want to appeal to both men and women by being less feminine, more modern and clean. We eliminated all the frilly stuff from the shop and gave it a fresh look. So far, it's working, our customer base is about 50/50 men and women. Men spend more $$$ on flowers and are less picky. We want to increase our male customer segment. Any ideas on how to market towards men? There is a local spots talk radio station but radio is costly and out of our budget for the most part. We are small and gorwing, so the more "shoestring" of an idea, the better!

Thank you!!

You might want to look into partnering up with radio shows about gardening or flowers... Offer gift certificates to the radio show... They have you in as an expert, you get free media.

I can't imagine how one would go about marketing flowers to men. It seems to me that they either buy flowers or they don't. Of course, that's just been my personal experience.

Good luck.

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!

Men are not buying flowers, they are buying what the flowers will do for them....get them out of the doghouse, score brownie points, etc. They are buying the emotional impact of what the flowers do...the benefits, not the product itself. Thank you for your input!!

Maybe you could try you local radio stations.
Select an add that states something of these words. "hey guys are you in the Doghouse? Need a few browny points? Stop on in "flowershopname".etc.etc. Anyway try rock stations or early morning shows, After work. Anytime guys listen to the radio.

Anyhow just a suggestion

Bloom,

You are correct in your statement. Knowing this your promotion should be built around this premise.

You could do a seminar teaching men the art of buying the right flowers for the occassion. Not every woman loves roses. It more than just buying her flowers but buying her the right flowers. You could partner with the radio station on a on-site or on-air promotion and giveaway.

If you can't do a seminar then pitch the story idea to local media about what men should know about buying flowers for their special lady.

Hi Bloom - have you tried doing a cross-promotion with a business that also serves a lot of men? You would partner with another business by each offering a one-time discount on some product or service provided by the other business. So - in your store, give your male customers a coupon good for a percent discount from the other business, "courtesy of" your business. The other business will do likewise, giving their male customers a ticket good for a percent off something you want to promote - a special "Get you out of the dog-house arrangement" or something like that. Their customers come to you, get their one-time discount, AND you give them a frequent-buyer card good for a free (something) after they've bought several other "somethings." Be sure you partner with a non-competing business, but one that provides something else your target customer needs or wants. (Auto parts? Car washes? Great tacos? How about a romantic restaurant - flowers and dinner for two, the ultimate "get out of the dog-house combo"!)

Have fun with it!

Hi there,

Have you thought about sending out a direct mail campaign to a list of your ideal target market of males. Believe it or not, you could potentially buy a list from a broker of Married Males between the ages and 30 and 45 who have been married for 10 number of years with incomes between $50,000-$500,000 a year. I use this just as an example as I am not in the flower business and do not know exactly who your ideal customer is. After you have find your target market, you could take an online course or hire out a copywriter to create a sales letter for you. Either way you go, you will need an irresistible offer to bring customers in. Something like 53% off their first purchase of flowers (odd numbers have been shown to pull more then round numbers), but it's up to you what you want to offer. Another thing you could do would be to simply start taking down the names and addresses of customers coming in now, run a referral promotion maybe using an angle saying that stats show X % of men have never or rarely ever purchase flowers and you want to change that. So with all your existing customers you could send out a promotional piece explaining this and offer a free dozen roses to them if they refer 3 new male customers to your business. Also for mother's day (and many other holidays) you could hold a contest where every male customer that comes in will be entered into a draw (another great way of getting their info for marketing to them later) for 2 tickets to a monster truck rally, other sporting event, a bar-b-q, other gifts and have you some friends (or just yourself), tell the local radio about it and if the contest is good enough, chances are they will announce it over the air, giving you free publicity.

Just some ideas for now, hope this helps,
Curtis

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