Great brands realize that sometimes the best ideas come from outside of the office.

Social media crowdsourcing can be used as a way to find ideas, content and solutions from a large group of people who care about your product. 

The goal of digital crowdsourcing is to obtain information or services from your digitial fans. Many brands are using social media crowdsourcing to expand their product line and engage consumers. 

For example, are you stuck between two flower varieties to bring to market in the next year? Have your garden brand fans vote on which they like more. They'll feel value and immediately become invested in what your brand is working on. 

Read more below to learn how your brand can benefit from crowdsourcing.

Why Crowdsource?

It is now faster, cheaper and more efficient than ever before to find ideas using social media.

Hopefully, as more people weigh in on your idea, the better quality the end-product might be.

Crowdsourcing allows garden brands to build consensus, get feedback and find new ideas.  

Seek Opinions

Consumers want to have their voices heard and love speaking up, especially when there's incentive.

Ask consumers their opinion on colors, product improvements and even new names. Then, keep 'em happy by offering exclusive discounts or freebies.

Show your biggest supporters and loudest critics you're listening by monitoring and tracking your garden brand's reputation on social media.

Use Hashtags

Whenever you turn to social media to crowdsource, make sure you create a related hashtag to expand your reach. Using a hashtag will make your content easy to organize and allow others to search for those keywords.

Seek New Uses

Photo Credit: BrazelBerries®

There's always a different way to do something.

Chances are that someone has already posted your product being used for purposes other than what it was intended for.

Embrace these users and ask how your product is being repurposed. Pinterest is a great tool for finding new uses for old products.

Sharing these new uses opens up a whole new market for your gardening business.

See Why and How Trends Affect Your Garden Business Below.