[Hua11.com Original] We are in an era of Internet explosion. Many Internet companies, in their quest to attract traffic, launch activities such as gift exchanges, free purchases, adding friends, and giveaways. Perhaps influenced by this trend, when our flower shops and floral studio entrepreneurs open for business, they may also directly adopt similar methods without much consideration.

The most common approach is to add WeChat friends and offer them a single rose for free.

The purpose of this activity is clear: to rapidly increase the number of your WeChat friends. By doing so, when you promote your shop's goods and activities, more people will become aware, leading to expanded publicity.

But is this activity truly effective?

First, let's examine why Internet companies can afford to give away goods for free.

In reality, it's quite straightforward. Most Internet companies engaging in promotional activities like this have secured financing. In other words, they're using someone else's money, not their own.

In today's business environment, Internet companies find it easier to obtain financing compared to physical stores. Additionally, with the Internet boom, new mobile Internet companies emerge daily. They face fierce competition across the entire network (rather than just regional competition for physical stores), making subsidies for promotion a reasonable strategy.

However, your situation is different. You're using your own funds. Even if the amount isn't substantial, if the expected results aren't achieved, why waste this money?

So, can this activity truly achieve the intended "publicity expansion" effect?

The process of adding friends and then offering a free rose is simple. However, because there's no threshold, you'll attract a large group of people seeking small advantages. These individuals constitute your activity traffic.

If these people won't pay to buy flowers, attracting them for free merely results in useless traffic. This traffic won't convert into paying users. It's highly likely that someone will add you as a friend, take the rose, and then promptly delete you.

This phenomenon has been observed in official account promotions. Many official accounts give away free items to grab attention. However, the total number of fans often drops significantly afterward because people unsubscribe once they've received the gift.

In essence, the free bait attracts non-relevant individuals—they nibble at your bait and swim away.

Consider this: People who seek small advantages will always seek them from you. Even if they don't delete you, when you launch paid products or activities, they'll turn away if the price is slightly high. Alternatively, they might demand unreasonable discounts. Managing such customers becomes troublesome.

In summary, traffic attracted through this type of activity is nearly useless.

Of course, there may be a few successful cases, but the probability is relatively low and not easily replicated.

As for Hua11.com, we've never engaged in highly discounted or free activities (although, as a semi-public welfare brand, we offer high cost performance). Nevertheless, we've managed to attract students from all over the country, with representation from 13 different countries worldwide.

OK, if we must engage in this type of activity, how can we optimize it?

You can approach this from two angles.

1. Increase Customer Effort Thresholds:

- Beyond simply adding friends, consider asking them to perform other tasks. For instance, encourage them to introduce five friends from their circle into the customer group.

- By setting these additional requirements, customers will value the rose you provide more. Remember that the cheaper the item, the more it can harm your brand. Avoid compromising your store's subsequent operations and customer positioning.

2. Adjust the Price:

- Instead of offering roses for free (0 yuan), consider charging a nominal amount, such as 1 yuan or the cost price of a single rose.

- This change will make customers perceive the rose as valuable, and it won't undermine your brand.

While this approach may attract fewer customers, the quality of those attracted will significantly improve.

In our opinion, it's even more meaningful to engage in active ground promotion alongside such activities. For detailed insights, refer to [Hua11.com · Marketing First Step Series 8] Why prioritize ground promotion for flower shops and studios? Isn't online marketing easier?

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This article is an original creation by Hua11.com and is included in the “How to Run a Flower Shop and Floral Studio” Ebook. The content of this article may be periodically updated and is initially published on the Hua11.com official website blog. You can find the article at this link: https://hua11.com/blog/4706.html.

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