Social Media Marketing Helps a Flower Farm to Blossom
This specialty cut flower farm in Agawam, MA uses social media to share a compelling story of flower farming, family, and community. Photo Credit: Albert Grimaldi.
Business is Blooming For This Flower Farm in Western Mass.
Rooted Flowers is a small family-run flower farm based in the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts. Farmer/florist Rebecca Sadlowski and her partner Albert Grimaldi grow sustainably grown cut flowers and create seasonally inspired flower designs.
Since the duo started the farm in 2020, they’ve built a thriving business by sharing their story with eager consumers. Through social media, a website, blog, and online store, Rooted Flowers transports viewers to a sun-dappled farm where the flowers, children, and even the piles of dirt that Becky shovels look delightful.
Rooted Flowers Generates Social Media Buzz
Photo Credit: Rebecca Sadlowski (recorded on phone).
Rooted Flowers has an impressive 5.0 rating on Google; reviewers rhapsodize about the lush beauty of the flower arrangements and décor provided for their weddings.
The farm’s posts, reels, and stories typically get hundreds of likes, comments, and shares from their 18,900 Instagram and 5,500 Facebook followers. Becky also adds new blog posts and how-to guides to the website when she wants to go into more depth on a topic. Their YouTube channel is growing, too.
Becky likes to mix inspiration with education. “I want people to feel like ‘I can do this,’ even if they’ve never gardened before,” Becky says. “So I share lots of tips about starting seeds, transplanting seedlings, and arranging cut flowers.”
Diversifying Their Offerings
The farm frequently adds to its offerings to generate new income sources and build its following. In addition to cut flowers, arrangements, holiday décor, seeds, starts, and bulbs (available for local delivery or at their self-serve farm stand), Rooted Flowers provides flower arrangements for weddings and events and offers on-farm workshops. Their online store ships seeds, bulbs, and starts anywhere in the US.
Coming Up With All That Content
It’s not easy to create an everflowing stream of beautiful, fun, and informative photos, videos, and how-to guides. Here are three sources of inspiration for Becky’s posts.
Bringing followers behind the scenes. “Flower farming has its challenges, like all farms,” Becky says. “We don’t shy away from sharing the hard stuff. It reminds people that it’s not all butterflies and rainbows. And it helps humanize our brand.” She continues, “We take our customers behind the scenes so they can see that we grow all the flowers we use in our arrangements. It fosters trust.”
Answering questions and demonstrating new skills. “Our customers are always curious about our flowers, the farm, and the flower arrangement process,” Becky says. ”Many of our most informative posts resulted from something a customer asked.” She adds, “When one of the folks on our team learns a new skill or technique, I often grab my phone and start recording. I want our customers to see how committed we are to continuously learning and improving. And it helps our followers learn new skills, too.”
Sharing special moments. “Our business is full of moments that evoke a profound sense of connection and beauty,” Becky says. “When our daughter Julia learned the delicate art of “stripping” foliage from a flower stem, I wanted to share how special that felt.” Becky and Albert also like to share milestones and accomplishments, such as celebrating a successful harvest or reaching a goal.
“We enjoy announcing upcoming projects, products, and events. It makes our audience feel like insiders and keeps them engaged.” In addition, Becky says, “It allows us to express our gratitude for their support.”
Building a Community Around Their Brand
While not every farmer has the time, talent, and willingness to share so much of their lives on social media, it’s been an effective and satisfying marketing strategy for Rooted Flowers.
“We believe in showing up regularly, sharing our journey, and proving our dedication to our craft and customers,” Becky says. “Consistency has been key to growing our audience. Over time, we’ve been able to build a loyal and engaged community around our brand.”