Online florists Teleflora and 1-800-Flowers.com are launching ambitious social media campaigns this Mother’s Day to make the gifting process easier for consumers.
Both companies are tapping communities on Facebook and Twitter. Teleflora is using tweets and Facebook alerts to drive traffic to its Mother’s Day e-card site, which lets consumers send a free, “Talking Flowers” electronic greeting. “The idea is that your flowers can say exactly what you want them to say,” said chief marketing officer Laurie McCartney, adding that site visitors can choose from cards like “sassy” and “sweet.”
Teleflora introduced its e-card service on Valentine’s Day, but revived it to “[build] that personal relationship with the consumer,” said McCartney.
Meanwhile, rival 1-800-Flowers is turning to display, social and mobile media advertising to drive Mother’s Day sales. Kevin Ranford, director of Web marketing at the Long Island, N.Y.-based company, said 1-800-Flowers has implemented a new feature where consumers can make floral purchases directly via Facebook new feeds. 1-800-Flowers launched a “shop” tab on its Facebook fan page last summer, but found that it wasn’t effective unless it was actively promoting and incorporating the tab into users’ feeds, Ranford said.
“Adoption was a little slower than we’d hoped,” said Ranford. He added that this time around, the floral chain is promoting its “featured SKUs on news feeds, giving our fans the opportunity to see what our big Mother’s Day offers look like.” 1-800-Flowers has also designed four, free virtual floral gifts for Facebook users to send to moms.
Florists aren’t the only ones turning to social nets for the holiday. Hallmark, too, is using Facebook as a way to let consumers say “thank you” to mom. The greeting card company launched a “Meet My Mom” tab on its Facebook page where consumers can upload video testimonials of their moms.
For those who are selling traditional, Mother’s Day products, social media offers something beyond the “hard sell,” said Ranford. “It’s a way to offer interesting, compelling ways for consumers to shop, rather than just hammering discounts,” he said. “This gives them a different and fun way to shop.”
