Lots of Millennial experts talk about how much time we spend on the internet. But, in truth, we never really leave the internet. Think about it. Our phones, tablets and other devices help us connect and stream at the touch of a button. Anytime. Anywhere.  

The 2016 Garden Trends Report recognizes this, and, urges industry leaders to embrace and adapt to new and ever-changing technology. Rising Millennials are constantly plugged in, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  

This year, consumers merge technology with nature, not as a distraction -- but as a way to explore, educate and entertain.

Continue reading for a sneak peek of the 2016 Garden Trends Report.

Topics: garden marketing, trends, Garden Media Group, Garden Trends, Garden Media

We sat down with Lauren Grow for this week’s speaker series. Lauren is a junior at West Chester University. She majors in communication studies and political science.

Describing Lauren as busy is an understatement. In addition to her role as Garden Media's Intern, she’s served as the president of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) for the last two years and is an member of Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communications Honor Society. She is also an executive board member of her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, and was elected to the governing body of Greek life on campus.

True to her name “Grow,” Lauren also gardens in her free time.  

Continue reading to learn more about Lauren and her experiences in the public relations and marketing industry. 

Topics: garden marketing, Garden Media Group, social media, Garden Media, Speaker Series

Earth day officially falls on April 22 every year. This creates an opportunity for people to celebrate the planet and all it provides for its inhabitants. 

It also creates an opportunity to show how your brand cares for and supports the planet.

According to the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of Americans identify a problem with the damages humans have caused to the earth and believe there is concrete evidence to support global warming. These percentages are set to continue to increase in the next several years.

For garden brands, every day is Earth Day. 

The holiday presents a great opportunity for garden brands to teach consumers about the importance of living a green and sustainable lifestyle.

Continue reading to learn more about how garden brands can use Earth Day to promote their brands and teach consumers about green living.

Topics: lawn and garden public relations, garden marketing, audience, branding, Garden Media Group, social media, blogging, marketing

In today’s fast-paced, connected world, people are 30 times more likely to read infographics than text-based articles.

As the world becomes more visual, it is no surprise that infographics have become a standard for communicating information with consumers and the press – and there is no end in the rise on the industry horizon. 

Brands can use infographics to dispense information, news and tips to readers in a visually stimulating and cost effective way.

Continue reading to learn how garden brands can use infographics to captivate and engage audiences.

Topics: garden marketing, branding, Public Relations Trends, Digital Branding, Garden Media Group, content marketing

St Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, which means thousands of people will join together next week to wear green and celebrate Irish culture and heritage.

After all, everyone is Irish on March 17.

Brands also join together to take advantage of the marketing opportunities the holiday provides.

According to prsa.org, “St. Patrick’s Day is becoming a widely celebrated holiday across the United States, and is proving to be a valuable sales, marketing and public relations opportunity. The holiday has seen more than a 10 percent increase in the number of Americans celebrating from 2010 to 2013. In addition to the ‘39.6 million Americans who claim Irish heritage,’ those without roots in Ireland partake in the large-scale celebratory activities as well.”

Public relations and St. Patrick’s Day have a lot in common – especially when it comes to PR in the garden industry.

Continue reading for more information on what Public Relations and St. Patrick’s Day have in common.

Topics: garden marketing, audience, PR Strategy, public relations media plan

Repurposing is a piece of content marketing that can be extremely beneficial to your garden brand.

In the past, public relations and content marketing were two separate entities.

Today, these two focuses rely on one another.

Read on to learn how important repurposing content can be to your garden brand.

Topics: garden marketing, audience, garden business, Garden Media Group, content marketing

It’s that time of year again!

You have been working hard perfecting your garden product all year round. How cool would it be to end the year with your product listed in a Holiday Gift Guide?

It's possible, but the prep time is now! Do you have all the details?

Continue reading to find out all you need to know about pitching your garden brand’s product to Holiday Gift Guides! 

Topics: Public relations, garden marketing, garden business, Garden Media Group, key influencers

Apology accepted, U2 – for now.   

According to Mashable, Bono recently apologized for automatically downloading the band’s new album into everyone’s iTunes library.

While some loved the idea, others didn’t appreciate the sentiment. (Honestly, who has enough iCloud storage space for things like this?)

Though U2’s cloud takeover garnered mixed responses from the public, it did serve as a valuable lesson for PR pros: Always make sure your pitches are timely and targeted to the correct media.

Nothing says “no response” like an irrelevant email sent to the wrong producer, editor or reporter. Errors like this can damage a relationship with a key influencer before it even starts.

Busy PR professionals spend a lot of time researching and crafting pitches – make sure this time isn’t wasted.  

Read on to learn how to deliver pitches to the appropriate target audience.

Topics: garden marketing, audience, PR Strategy, garden business, key influencers

Your garden businesses website is looking good and on-brand, but is it not driving the traffic you had planned for?

Have you been posting relevant, dynamic content that fits your target audience on a regular basis?

If not, now's the time to start. Creating content and answering the questions your shoppers are asking is not only going to attract but is also going to hold your audience’s attention.

Converting the traffic that visits your site to customers and then converting them into brand advocates is how you keep your website working for you.

Read on to learn how to create the foundation to your garden brand’s content marketing strategy.

Topics: PR Campaign, garden marketing, creating content, garden business, Garden Media Group, content marketing

Your garden brand is producing great content but for some reason it’s not catching your target audience's attention.

The messages you are sending out aren't hitting the goals you set, and now, you need to pinpoint the problem and solve it. 

Wouldn’t life be so much easier if interested prospective customers continually found you?

Continue reading to learn how to get your garden brand to capture attention and get clients to come to you.

Topics: garden marketing, creating content, garden business, Garden Media Group, marketing