Today is the first day of Inbound 2012 and with 2,500 other marketers attending, I am stoked to learn some new tricks for our Garden Media bag. 

Topics: Public relations, marketing, inbound marketing

Having a LinkedIn account, not only for yourself, but also for a business in the lawn and garden industry is key in today’s garden market!

Essentially the professional’s Facebook, LinkedIn is known for its ability to connect and showcase companies, associations, garden centers and individuals across the globe with 160 million members and counting.

In our free e-book "Networking 101: Garden Marketing Tips and Tricks for Using LinkedIn," companies in the lawn and garden industry can learn how to create personal and company profiles, tips for getting started, and the extra features LinkedIn offers to extend business brands and engage with key audiences.

Topics: lawn & garden public relations, social media

How can Social Media Help Grow Your Garden Business? According to a recent Garden Writers Association report:  "More consumers are turning to social media sites and YouTube for gardening information, both showing an increase of 3-5% from last year." 

For your company, the question is not, "should I use social media?' But "what is my social media plan?"

Topics: lawn and garden public relations, garden marketing, social media

Topics: garden marketing, lawn & garden public relations

If you are looking to hire a PR firm, you should get proposals from a few contenders. But, how do you differentiate among public relations firms?

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

Topics: garden marketing, trade show public relations, Garden Media Group, garden industry public relations

I recently saw a post on the Facebook group for garden centers asking, "How do I write a mission statement?" WOW! This is a tough question and a hard task.

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

INC., online had an interesting article about how successful people in business, from the garden industry to the finance industry, approach their work, and how they think.  You'd be surprised to know that most of them share the same perspectives and beliefs.

Topics: lawn and garden public relations, PR Strategy, marketing communications

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

Facebook has evolved from a college student’s social network in 2004 to a leading force for a company’s marketing tactics, yet many businesses still are unclear how to use Facebook business pages to build brand awareness and attract new customers.

Topics: Public relations, PR Strategy, social media