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Top Shops: The Social Florist
Terrafolia ventures into the world of Twitter |
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Written by Rebecca Schwarz
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At a Glance
Company Name: Terrafolia
Location: Montreal
Owner: Joseph Laudi
Facility Space:
3,800 square feet
Website: www.terrafolia.ca
Wire Services: Teleflora
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When I ask Georgiana Laudi for her job title at Terrafolia, one of Montreal’s largest florists, she has to consider it. Manager? Yes, but she’s also the webmaster, not to mention the marketing guru at the shop owned by her father Joseph.
Terrafolia opened for business in 1976 on Montreal’s West Island, close to the Montreal-Trudeau airport. Georgiana Laudi’s grandfather was a landscaper, and so was his son Joseph. As a result, the shop’s initial focus was on tropical plants and interior landscaping, but the Laudis decided to switch to flowers in 1978, seeking the repeat business that comes from selling cut flowers.
Today, the shop still offers tropical plants in addition to cut flowers. Three full-time designers work out of the 3,800-square-foot shop, which is located in a strip mall, the very place where the shop opened 33 years ago. In addition to the designers, the staff includes seven employees, three of which work part time on weekends in customer service. The shop’s design influence is all over the map.
“We do it all. Luxury, everyday,” says Georgiana Laudi. So what makes Terrafolia unique?
“We have a 500-square-foot display cooler, we are one of the larger shops in town, we have a large selection of cut flowers, quick, reliable service, and we’re family owned,” says Georgiana.
Both Montreal businesses and residents make up their clientele. “A lot of corporate accounts and a lot of clients come to us through Internet searches.” Corporate accounts include Bombardier, McDonald’s, Avon and La Senza. “That list is quite long, because we’re very close to industrial areas, close to the Trans-Canada highway, and because of our reputation. We’ve been around for 30 plus years,” says Laudi.
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It’s a family affair at Terrafolia. From left Aaron Laudi, Georgiana Laudi and Joseph Laudi.
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The shop does flowers for events and holidays, such as International Women’s Day, as well as weekly designs for hotel reception areas, and sympathy work.
Local residents also make up a big proportion of customers and have contributed to the increase in sales. “We get a fair amount of walk-in, especially on Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. It’s crazy, and it was much more than last year!” According to Joseph Laudi, that’s because people
may not be spending so much on big-ticket items, so people buy flowers “instead of a $200 dinner.”
So have the Laudis accomplished all that they have set out to do? Georgiana fields that one.
“I think my father’s goal was to be known as reputable and respected for delivering flowers in the community.”
She gives credit to the staff, and to the ongoing family involvement. “We have a great staff, we are all close, and my brother (Aaron) has recently joined, he does deliveries, some accounting and takes care of our eight computers. I have been involved since I was a kid and more heavily since 2002. My personal background is in communications, I have worked at ad agencies and freelance.”
Thanks to her background, Laudi is the shop’s one-woman marketing team. “It’s all done by me, we don’t outsource that at all.” Her focus is on the Internet. Laudi is passionate about building a strong Internet presence.
“I put up the first website in 2002, then in December 2008 we launched our latest bilingual site. I am the webmaster, and most of the marketing is on our site. If people Google flowers in Montreal, they will find us. We rank in the top three to five for all our primary keywords.
The site offers customers a breadth of information such as: “Our catalogue, information for corporates as well, a section all about flowers, like flower therapy, and flowers for seniors. Some are articles from Flowers Canada, some I wrote myself, and I have them translated into French,” says Laudi.
In addition to e-mail newsletters, social media is another tool she uses to promote the business (see sidebar).
“I joined Twitter in January of this year, Facebook within the last month. The average age of a Facebook user is younger than our audience, but it is growing fast for people over 50.”
When asked what advice she has for retail florists, Laudi is an advocate for the web world. “Stop neglecting your online presence. A professional online presence is essential,” she says. “Do not ignore that trend!”
Indeed, Georgiana says a second website is going up in a few months, just for bridal business.
Even though Internet business is up 50 per cent, and average orders have increased 60 per cent with their new website, Joseph Laudi isn’t totally sold on the Internet. “My father and I don’t always agree,” admits Laudi. “We disagree about how much time I spend online!”
He’s not the first parent worried their child is spending too much time in front of a screen, but so far, business is clicking for Terrafolia.
Terrafolia’s All Atwitter
 On the florist’s website, Terrafolia proclaims that it is “the social florist” and provide links to the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Georgiana Laudi has set up a business page on Facebook for the shop. “We have about 165 fans. I don’t know who they are, but 80 per cent are from Montreal, I check every few days.” On Twitter the shop has about 1,600 followers.
Laudi posts daily, even hourly, about shop events and sales. Laudi has found Twitter to be of particular use for the shop and uses it for a variety of functions. “I do a lot of research on the industry, articles about flower therapy, colours and emotions, fresh flowers that come in. I don’t get much from Facebook, but Twitter has a lot of research applications. I can look up how people are talking about flowers and I learned a lot about Internet advertising. I have discovered really great websites and SEO professionals and I follow them much more closely. I am all about Internet advertising!”
Terrafolia’s tweets reach a range of customers and business owners. “A lot of people in Montreal, local small businesses. Other florists everywhere are following us, from the U.S. and the UK. I believe we are one of the largest, independently owned florists on Twitter,” says Laudi. The shop also offers its customers a Twitter discount that can be used on their website.
So why should florists Twitter? “Twitter is a good way to reach your audience. The trend now online is finding local businesses and Twitter is one of the best tools online to find local businesses as a real time search engine. Having that presence will help us, to keep us in mind.”
But Laudi warns that keeping up with Twitter takes time and effort. “You have to dedicate a fair amount of time. I am in the store, I know what flowers are coming in, and I am always online, so I can post that. But people don’t need flowers every day, so we banter about what is going on in Montreal, we talk about things, local shows, hockey, and I try to keep it focused on Montreal.” |
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