If you read this blog regularly you know that social media is vital to any business.

But how is participating, or not, in this type of conversational marketing impacting your garden brand?

Want a glimpse into the future of what’s hot in social media for 2015? Allow me to let you in on a little secret: the future is already here and your garden brand needs to get on board. The fundamentals of social media haven’t changed, but their execution must. 

Learn about the 3 hottest social media trends that will drive customers to your garden brand. 

Coca-Cola just got personal – and it’s working.

The company has seen a boost in sales in the United States since June. This recent increase isn’t attributed to a new formula or logo design, but to the Share a Coke program, a marketing campaign that labeled bottles with popular millennial names and phrases.

If anything, the Share a Coke Campaign outlines a major PR industry theme - personalization is important.

This personalization and attention to detail is the key to developing better business relationships in the garden industry. The company who takes the time to get to know and interact with their clients, customers or fans will be more successful in the long run.

It’s easy to tell when a company is insincere; impersonalized pitches fall flat, poorly managed social media accounts have a profound negative impact on any brand and ignored complaints online lead to terrible reviews.  

Read on to learn how to take the time to connect with and really understand target audiences.

With the advancement of social media and the growth of online conversations, there are now many ways for your garden brand to reach its customers and for customers to reach their favorite brands.

This unlimited two-way conversation can drastically help or hurt your brand. It all depends on how you manage it.

And how your customers share it. Your customer now have the power to alter the perception of your brand with the information they post online.

Read on to learn 3 important tips to managing your garden brands reputation.

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.

Using and maximizing hashtags takes your garden business social media marketing game to the next level.

But what are hashtags, and how did they get so popular?

Though they weren't envisioned as a world changing innovation initially, they've revolutionized the way we interact.

First introduced 7 years ago on Twitter, the hashtag has made its home on nearly every social media platform and is now conquering other mediums, too - such as internet ads, marketing campaigns, television ads and even conversations.

Learn the hashtag basics, from what a hashtag is to how you can use it to boost your garden business.

The heart of a successful garden brand lies simply in the story it tells.

Today, media is ever-changing. New forms of social media constantly pop-up, and 33% of adults under 30 get their news on social networks, according to Pew Research.

But it’s not the media determining the fate of your grand brand.

The significance and power of your story is what links people to their favorite brands, and keeps them coming back.

A powerful story will always resonate, no matter what platform it’s read on.

Learn three concepts to create powerful stories that will resonate with your target audience.

This week, Garden Media joins BlogHer’s 10th anniversary #Selfiebration in San Jose, Ca. That's right, a selfiebration.

The selfie trend has continued to rise over the past year and both big and small brands are adding it to their marketing arsenals.

BlogHer makes the trend its own by utilizing selfies to acknowledge the growth of the internet and bloggers over the past 10 years and to generate internet excitement.

Check out these tips to learn how selfies can help bring exposure to your garden brand.

Return on investment (ROI) is the ultimate goal of public relations for garden businesses. Everyone wants to see tangible results. 

PR firms gather data to demonstrate their ROI using many variables. Measuring PR's effects can often be quantified with hard data. Sometimes, however, it cannot.

Trust is an essential element of any successful, long-term gardening business.

Before building brand ambassadors, you first need to earn trust. Once earned, trust can easily be lost if business leaders fail to communicate honestly and transparently with their consumers and shareholders.

Everything you do or don’t do affects the perception of your brand, and in the long run your trustworthiness is your most valuable asset.

Below learn four tips to boost your brand reputation and build fast, long-term trust in your company 

Looking to build brand recognition for your garden business and attract new customers at the same time?

Tapping the first stage of the buying cycle, the awareness stage, with stellar digital content may be your solution.

By creating digital content, your gardening business can help gardeners become inspired or learn how to tackle a new DIY project. Armed with knowledge you’ve shared, customers feel confident in solving a problem, and best of all, you’ve earned their trust by sharing your expertise.

Read on to discover 4 ways to attract new garden consumers to your gardening business by enhancing your digital content.