GROW! Marketing and Public Relations Tips

We love trends. Mostly garden trends but we are also suckers for social media trends. This year, the team behind social media management tool Hootsuite has released a list of what they deem to be the most likely social media trends in 2020, following a survey of over 3,000 marketers.

As the new year starts many of you are busy in your content marketing planning. First, stop and  plan for the next big moments in social.

Their top picks included personalized messaging, bold political statements and the continuing rise of TikTok as a platform giant, among others.

Read more for a deep dive into the four game-changers for social media, according to Hootsuite.

As we roll into our 33 year in business, we've worked with hundreds of garden brands and horticulture companies to improve marketing and growth plans. 

You know what we've noticed, many of you face similar issues. When it comes down to it, when you make three important shifts it impacts your brand beyond belief.

Read more to learn how to change your perspective in these three areas and magnify your brand's growth this year and beyond.

This release originally appeared on Garden Media's website.

I have some wonderful news.

As we enter this new decade, Garden Media Group ushers in the biggest change in our history.

On January 1, 2020 I purchased Garden Media from my mom, Suzi McCoy, and am taking over as owner and president.

While my brain swirls with inspiration and desires for the company, I’d like to take this time to shine a light on Suzi, and thank her, my best friend, biggest supporter, and mother, for her endless passion – or enSuziasm – for me and for Garden Media. Mamma, there is no one like you!

It took me until my adult years (and then some) to realize what this business is and the courage it took to start it. As a woman and a single mother, starting a business in 1987 wasn’t easy and running it successfully for 33 years must have been extremely challenging and rewarding.

Through it all, one of the things Suzi never faltered on is fun. Life was chaotic at times, but she always managed to find the good in any situation and have a good time.

My training for this job began in kindergarten. In the stories about people like you, companies and plants (so many plants), she passed down intangible lessons as my mentor and mother. From her I learned everything I know about running a business, about being fair, setting the bar high and then higher.

And now it is her time to relax. She worked hard to create the relationships and reputation we have. I won’t get to see her face every day, walk into her office for advice or share lunch when I forgot mine. But I have her intuition. And for that I am eternally grateful.

It's a new decade and a new chance to revamp your social media strategies.

When it comes to social media, does it feel like you’re throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks?

Brands today are having a harder time getting visibility, engagement and conversions from social media than years prior.

Facebook shows about 1% of your organic posts to your fans. Additionally, once a fan likes your page, you only have 2 weeks to get their attention of they are lost as an organic fan forever.

Luckily, there are strategies you can use to see more results with your social media efforts (and investment).

Read more to learn how you can start the year off strong by making these 4 changes.

We have a Thanksgiving tradition at Garden Media. Each Thanksgiving, we stop, think, and share our gratitude with each other and our clients.  

So before Black Friday madness kicks off, we'd like to spend a few minutes reflecting and being thankful for what we have.

From friends and family to the little things, discover what the Garden Media team is thankful for this year.

Plantfluencers are taking social media by storm.

These expert gardening influencers are popping up on every channel making posts on everything outdoors/indoors to more niche plant varieties like orchids or carnivorous plants.

Here at Garden Media we love working with plantfluencers. Our clients have partnered on a tremendous amount of video and blog content, co-hosted and sponsored events and worked with influencers to simply grow brand awareness.

Before we jump ahead of ourselves, let’s start with the basics.

Read more to learn about working with plantfluencers.

On our personal Instagram feeds, the accounts we follow fall into a few categories. While we obviously keep up with our IRL friends (and some memes), we also love to double-tap on inspiring indoor and outdoor posts.

And there are some accounts that we could endlessly scroll through and get our inspiration fixes for both.

A few designers and gardeners have a passion for plants that they love to foster within their Instagram accounts. Whether they are photographing their own beautiful gardens or posting curated pictures, they never fail to make our scrolling a little brighter.

Want to see what members of the garden set you need to follow? Read ahead and find something new to like (or double tap.)

Facebook and Instagram are visual mediums. And lately, they have turned the focus from photos to video. If you ask most marketers which content dominates social media, we say video.

BuzzSumo studied 777 million Facebook posts and says, there’s no better way to boost engagement than through video content.

Video posts generate 59% more engagement than other post types.

It’s not just organic posts that see higher engagement from video on Facebook either. Rounding up content from all of our clients shows, video is queen. 

Do some types of video work better than others on Facebook? Yes. Facebook Live has 10 times greater reach than all other forms of Facebook content and earns 6 times more interactions than pre-recorded video.

So whether you share video in an ad, an organic post or by live streaming, videos on Facebook and Instagram can be a great way to build an audience, as well as to kick off your customer journey…but how do you get started?

Read more to learn how to use Facebook and Instagram videos to build an audience.

For nearly 20 years we have peered into the crystal ball searching for future industry trends. This year is no different. The 2020 Garden Trends Report, Seeing 20/20, offers a peek into what will trend in horticulture in 2020 and beyond.

Why trends? Staying on top of trends allows garden-focused businesses to take advantage of new opportunities and stay on the cutting edge.

Read more to learn about the 2020 Garden Trends.