Events, conferences, trade shows, it’s a common tool for buying and selling in the green industry. But it seems like every week we hear of another show cancelling due to COVID-19. Many are choosing to go virtual.

Yes, virtual events can be a headache to attend and plan for, they do offer some unique opportunities to build brand value and trust. The internet can be a strategic resource that can help your business pivot and adapt.

Event marketers agree (97%) — going forward, the most rewarding events will have a virtual component

Read on to discover how you can use online events in your digital marketing campaign and profit from them.

Read on for the four surprising finds of the 2020 holiday season.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is Peggy Riccio of PegPlant!

Peggy is a garden writer, speaker and blogger out of the DC area. She has her own website, PegPlant.com, as well as a podcast with our good friend, Teri Speight, called Gardens n’ Plants where they talk about what they are growing, how their plants are doing, and all things gardening!

Peggy is an expert when it comes to cooking with herbs, especially for the holiday season.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is a fun one! We got to hangout with the Illustrating Botanist, Chris Thorogood.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie, is none other than THE Crazy Botanist, Derek Haynes.

Derek’s love for all things plants came at a young age, and he carried that into adulthood, graduating from North Carolina State with Bachelors of Plant Biology.

Derek is also involved in the Plant Daddy Hangouts, which focus on celebrating and connecting those at the intersections of Blackness, masculinity & plant love.

He is also part of the podcast The Plant Kiki! Check that out here.

If the sight of Christmas decorations next to Halloween candy on store shelves makes you raise an eyebrow, you may want to get used to it – because a trend has arrived that garden retailers can’t afford to ignore.

In recent years, 43% of holiday shoppers planned to start shopping in November. But signs are indicating a major shift this year, and retailers need brace themselves: holiday shoppers are shopping EARLY in 2020, and their preferences have changed.

Read more to learn 3 must-have tips for positioning your brands this holiday season.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is the Garden Manager of McMenamins Anderson School, Riz Reyes.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie, is Emmy-award winning producer, television host and garden writer, Doug Oster.

Doug is the floral shoe wearing, Emmy Award-winning producer, television host and garden writer. Many things have come and gone in this industry, but Doug has been a constant. You can hear him on The Organic Gardeners Radio Show, see him on KDKA-TV's Pittsburgh Today Live and find him on social media. He is an amazing story-teller, and truly love to garden. 

With gardens and houseplants shifting from white-hot trend in 2019 to full-blown national obsession in 2020, the faces at the front of the new wave are social media influencers with legions of followers and backyards that make us—yes—green with envy.

Why should businesses in the horticulture industry pay attention to garden influencers, who range from tattooed and pierced ‘plant dads’ to proud grandmothers with enviable backyards? Because they have a direct line to the eyes, ears and wallets of millions of consumers. And the numbers tell us that these customers trust and take their buying queues from social influencers.

Smart companies are asking two questions:
• What are garden influencers doing right?
• And how can we work with them?

Read more to learn the 1-2-3’s of influencer marketing to green industry businesses.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is landscape designer, Susan Cohan.

Susan is the principal and design director of Susan Cohan Gardens, a full-service landscape design studio located in the New York/ New Jersey metro area. Her and her team have created landscape designs for discerning regional and international clients for over fifteen years, and they have won many awards for their work.