Whewf! Here we are amidst the true holiday shopping chaos. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but the holiday shopping season is just gaining momentum.

For the next month, we will all be bombarded with Christmas advertisements everywhere we go. Print, television, and digital ads galore!

But, get this: social media is the biggest influencer for customers’ holiday purchases.

Don’t spend oodles and oodles on advertisements! PR has the true impact you’re looking for.

So go ahead, put away that advertising check and invest your time and money in a public relations plan focused on social media.

Drum roll please! Pinterest is finally embracing its role in public relation media plans! Yes, businesses have been using Pinterest to promote new products and connect with customers.

But, until recently, commercial use of Pinterest was actually prohibited! Some rules are just made to be broken! Garden Media Group has been getting a ton of buzz for being one of the first PR firms to properly harness the power of Pinterest.

Now, it’s your turn! Learn the ins and outs of the new business accounts on Pinterest. Apply these tips to your garden business’s Pinterest page.

• Though many competing claims exist, the most familiar story of the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts, in 1621. More than 200 years later, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving.

• Congress finally made Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday in 1941.

• Sarah Josepha Hale, the enormously influential magazine editor and author who waged a tireless campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in the mid-19th century, was also the author of the classic nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

• In 2001, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Thanksgiving stamp. Designed by the artist Margaret Cusack in a style resembling traditional folk-art needlework, it depicted a cornucopia overflowing with fruits and vegetables, under the phrase "We Give Thanks."

Just a few days ago, we were reflecting on the importance of including videos in press releases, but today, we’re going to take it a step further.

After a video is made, it cannot just be used in press releases! It must be mass-distributed. YouTube is the internet’s second most popular search-engine, right after Google. 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute of every day.

With that much content, SEO optimization for videos should be a critical and thoughtful task.

Lately, we’ve been identifying key ways for press releases on PRWeb to get more pick-up. The press releases we publish at Garden Media Group always get more coverage if they have a video.

As it turns out, that’s not uncommon! According to a survey by PRWeb, 94% of PR professionals see the value in including video in their press releases. But, a mere 12% of those same professionals actually follow through!

Online press release platforms, like PRWeb, allow you to be more interactive and creative! But, many PR professionals don’t know how to properly harness the power of the video.

We've compiled our favorite tips for creating and integrating videos into press releases.

It’s always the little things that matter the most, even in business! While a ray of sunlight can brighten your outlook any day of the week,  integrating these tips will brighten your garden business’s bottom line.

We often talk about how fantastic Twitter and Facebook are for connecting with customers, but LinkedIn is best for connecting with fellow professionals.

LinkedIn is the platform for expanding professional contacts; here, you and fellow members of your garden business can make meaningful connections with fellow garden innovators.

Below are 6 quick and easy steps to maximize your garden industry connections on LinkedIn.

Businesses and corporations used to be able to fudge the truth. Check out this Coca-Cola advertisement from the 1950’s! It never fails to make me laugh; their copy is just so silly and untrue.

We’ve come a long way since then! Now, businesses are held accountable for their actions—especially in the garden industry. Customers want businesses that act ethically in their business practices. But, lately, customers want even more: they want corporations to embrace their role in social reasonability.

85% of consumers have a more positive image of a product when the company supports a cause they care about. Plus, more than 278 million consumers across the US want to know what your garden business is doing to benefit a cause. Read more about how cause marketing affects the bottom line here.

Below are a few of Garden Media Group’s favorite green cause marketing campaigns.

When you hear or see a creative public relations campaign, it grabs hold of you immediately. Some can move you to laugh or tears or inspire action. Powerful campaigns can change the public’s perception seemingly overnight about a brand, product, or social movement.

Nobody understood this more than the father of public relations, Edward L Bernays. As blogged about previously, the father of spin understood that it was the combination of the news, not advertising, and the manipulation of people’s unconscious through endorseme nts by doctors, celebrities, and other experts that truly made the difference.

Writing press releases is a key part of any and all public relations plans. But, reporters and editors receive 1,000 pitches every single week. Your press release has to stand out!

Creating unforgettable press releases that get lots of coverage is a blend of art, science, and magic! Magic, really? Yes! Public relations experts have perfected the combination, producing thrillingly magical results. Check out our latest release here on garden trends here!

To continue to perfect press releases for your garden business, use these tips every single time you write a press release, and watch your impressions bloom.