It's easy to give your own Twitter account a little personality just by sharing what's happening in your life, talking about what interest us or what doesn't, or posting great pix of your summer at the beach.

But how do you give a plant brand or garden product a personality? How do you make it real and likeable? Here are five tips to help your brand becomeing engaging on Twitter. Afterall, we love doing business with people we know, people we like and people we trust. That's what garden marketing public relations - and Twitter is one of the tools in our PR tool bag - is all about.

1. Put a face on the Twitter avitar with your company logo.

Suzi McCoy

@SuziMcCoyGMG

The Garden Plot is about all things 'Gardening!' You'll discover the hippest, hottest gardening news & trends - before everyone else. www.gardenmediagroup.com

Kennett Square, PA · http://blog.gardenmediagroup.com

At Garden Media, all of our active Twitter staff use their name and GMG with our logo on their avitar to create brand awareness and consistency.  It puts a name and a face to the brand.

2. Use a company logo for your Twitter account, but humanize it with real people

 

Stephanie/Marketing

@rescue

RESCUE! products offer environmentally responsible solutions to problems with pest insects such as flies, wasps, hornets, yellowjackets and stink bugs.

Spokane, WA · http://www.rescue.com

In this Twitter bio Stephanie Cates uses her photo and her name AND her job description on the @RESCUE twitter account. This is very transparent.  People would much rather follow a real person than a logo.

3. Host Twitter chats

GardenChat is a weekly chat with several thousand avid gardeners every Monday night.  Real Garden brands and companies host the chat and answer questions and engage in conversations with a great garden market. This is a great way to gather people in your industry together and allow them to get to know the human side of your brand. 

 

 

 

4. Use Twitter to Answer Questions

 

Delta Assist

@DeltaAssist

We’re listening around the clock, 7 days a week. We try to answer all tweets but if you require a response pls visit www.delta.com/talktous or call 800-221-1212

I've read that if you want an answer from Delta just tweet it.  They are "listening" 24/7.  But many companies don't understand that customers aren't always calling customer service or checking out the FAQs on the companies website.  Be sure to monitor and answer customer complaints on Twitter because 70% of customer complaints on Twitter go unanswered. 

I know it's hard to answer every question but at least address the most pressing customer needs, issues and complaints. The question of one could be the question of hundreds.

Follow us on Twitter @SuziMcCoyGMG

Topics: garden marketing

Every year the American Society of Landscape Architects surveys its members who specialize in residential design and asks them to “rate the expected popularity of a variety of residential outdoor design elements”. These popular trends are important to know for any garden marketing executive who wants to get ahead of the curve. Not surprisingly, the category of gardens and landscape spaces was at the top of the list with a 96.6% rating it somewhat or very popular. It was followed closely by kitchen and entertainment outdoor livings spaces at 91.5 percent. Surprisingly, across all categories grills rated higher – 97.4% than the demand for low maintenance landscapes which scored a close 96.6%, followed by fireplaces/fire pits - 95.8% and dining areas 95.7%.  Which leads ASLA to conclude Americans want outdoor spaces for lots of entertaining that are not demanding on their time? This easy living at home in backyards for entertaining has been a trend since we first saw it emerging in 2001, and this love affair with the backyard shows no sign of slowing down. According to the 2012 Residential Landscape Architecture Trends survey, consumers still want kitchens and dining options, comfortable seating, and water features. Lighting remains popular with a score of 93.1% “as Americans plan to take more of their lives outside once the sun sets.” The economic recovery and bad real estate market continues to drive Americans to stay home and turn their yards into a paradise. The staycation is still alive and well. The survey showed that Americans still love their pools (79.2%), but love their spas a little more (80.4%). But other decorative water elements such as waterfalls or bubblers top even those scoring almost 90%. The good news for gardening companies is that Americans are being more practical and sustainable in their gardening practices.  Some 86.3% say their customers want native plants -- yeah! -- 85.4% drought-tolerant plants and 81.2 % are planting food/vegetable gardens. And more than half of them prefer to be organic 61.2%. There is hope. Additional information on residential landscape architecture can be found at www.asla.org/residentialinfo. Want to know more trends? Download our 2013 Garden Trends Report hot off the presses from the OFA Short Course.

Topics: lawn and garden public relations, garden marketing, horticultural marketing communications, Garden Media Group, garden industry public relations, Garden Trends

Listen to this anecdote by Sheldon Baker, Senior Partner
at Baker Dillon Group, and see if you can determine what this company could have done better:

Recently, I met with a retired business executive (we'll call him Tom), I hadn't seen for over 15 years. During our visit, Tom and I talked about the many public relations strategies that were developed for his company. He originally hired me to help orchestrate the public relations strategy of his firm that was merging with another company. One of initial projects included developing a new corporate brochure that required design, photography and copywriting.

Topics: lawn and garden public relations, hiring a public relations person, garden PR consultant, lawn & garden public relations, garden industry public relations

Topics: trends, Garden Media Group

Topics: social media

People like to buy from friends.

That's a fact. I'm not talking about virtual friends either. I'm referring to real professional relationships with people where you work and live.

But how do you "make friends"? By getting involved. The more involved you are, the more people you'll know and the more who will know you and want to do business with you, their "friend."

Involvement in the community takes many forms--joining the local Chamber, sponsoring a Little League or bowling team, or getting "locked up" for a cause. Whatever your involvement, make a good impression. It is not advisable, however, to get involved simply for the business contacts. This could backfire and give you the reputation of being unreliable or indifferent to the community.

Topics: Public relations, garden industry public relations, marketing

The Garden Media Group has been spotting garden and outdoor living trends since 2001. How do we predict these trends?
We begin by looking at consumer home and fashion trends on a global level to see how these fit into the garden industry. Plus we follow what’s happening in American fashion, real estate and food industries.

Topics: lawn & garden public relations, horticultural marketing communications, garden industry public relations, Garden Trends

“If the cake is bad, what good is the frosting?”

 

If you want to serve the most delicious cake, you need to carefully pick the right ingredients – and worry about the frosting last.

Topics: branding, image building