October 2017 - (Philadelphia) IMPACT Marketing & PR, Inc. was recognized in the Philadelphia Book of Lists as a Top Woman-Owned business and Top PR firm for 2017. Suzi McCoy founded IMPACT Marketing 30 years ago.

Garden Media Group, a subsidiary of IMPACT, was founded 20 years ago to serve the horticulture, gardening and outdoor living industries. Our boutique public relations firm gets results fast because we have our finger on the pulse of the industry and the ear of influencers from top outlets – from Better Homes & Gardens and Magnolia Journal to the sweeping social media outlets. Our clients are both national and international and come to us to make them popular with their target market. We also publish an annual garden trends report, one of the most widely read reports in the industry.

Continue Reading to learn about our Queen Bee and how GMG was born.

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

With an increased connection between gardening and technology, gardening apps are on the rise. They help users identify plants, gain gardening knowledge with tips and DIYs and virtually design their garden. The apps vary in price range and typically become more expensive for more advanced gardeners.

Most gardening apps fall in three main categories: plant identification, gardening tips and garden design.

These apps are designed to make the gardener’s life a little bit easier. Here are some of our favorites from each category.

Continue reading to learn more about the top gardening apps.

Topics: lawn and garden public relations, Digital Branding, Trending Thursday, trends, internet media, Garden Trends, Garden Media

Think about the way you think. Yes, it's a strange question, but are you capable of changing the way you think?

Most people are set in their ways, which can be dangerous working in a creative environment.

Original ideas are essential to repeatedly impressing clients and customers. New ideas often stem from different ways of thinking.

Divergent thinking and inspired brainstorming sessions can be extremely beneficial in the workplace, especially when it comes to developing innovative solutions.

Read more to learn about divergent thinking.

Topics: PR Campaign, lawn and garden public relations, creating content, Garden Media Group, Brainstorming, leadership, decision-making

The travel and tourism industry is expanding every year. People are traveling more often, further away and for longer periods of time. These trips provide unforgettable memories, but can also serve as a unique learning experience. Traveling can teach flexibility, risk taking and crisis management, all of which are essential skills in the workplace.

Continue reading for more information about how traveling can help your garden business.

Topics: Public relations, lawn and garden public relations, garden business, Garden Media Group, travel

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

“Power pinners” and bloggers were not happy with Pinterest this month after the web-based inspiration board began to ban affiliate links posted by its users.  

According to Wired.com, “Basically, Pinterest is removing the ability for its most influential ‘Pinners’ to make money via outside marketing networks, including rewardStyle and Hello Society, according to an email obtained by VentureBeat.”  

Wired reported that Pinterest removed these links and redirects because they caused “irrelevant pins in feeds.”

Though the social site is making changes (that many assume will ultimately help it make money), PR professionals can still utilize pins to create a dynamic campaign.

Continue reading for more information about your brand can use Pinterest to create a successful PR campaign. 

Topics: Public relations, lawn and garden public relations, Pinterest, branding, social media

Garden industry jargon is sometimes as colorful as flowers themselves.

While insiders are familiar with terms like “annuals,” “nursery” and “landscape,” other words aren’t as common.

Recently, PR Daily released a list of made-up words useful for a variety of everyday situations.

In the spirit of sharing (and ‘making things up’), here is a list of terms Garden Media Group coined to describe what’s trending in our industry.

Keep an eye out for our 2015 trends report!

Keep reading to learn more about Garden Media Group’s trend jargon.

Topics: Public relations, lawn and garden public relations, PR Strategy, Public Relations Trends, trends, gardening, Garden Media Group, Garden Trends, marketing

With autumn starting in just about a week, now is a great time to finish this quarter out strong and prepare your garden brand for the new season, too.

Play it cool - learn how to make the transition between seasons as smooth as possible.

First, analyze how your garden business did in the past few seasons in order to make fall 2014 even better.

Read on to learn 3 tips to keep your garden brand flourishing this fall.

Topics: lawn and garden public relations, PR Strategy, garden trade show marketing, content marketing

In life, there are things that we recognize as necessary evils - paying taxes and doing dishes. But, we know we need to for our government and homes to run properly.

In the world of gardening public relations, the measurement metric, advertising value equivalency (AVE) has been getting a lot of flak lately.

Keep reading to learn the pros and cons of advertising value equivalency in the gardening public relations world.

Topics: PR Measurement, lawn and garden public relations, PR Strategy, advertising vs public relations, garden industry public relations

To thrive in the present and grow in the future, garden brands need to market, target and build relationships. This is important to do with all customers, but particularly crucial in appealing to Millennials. 

Millennials have a desire to create their own path, influencing how and why they opt for one garden brand over a competitor. Often called the "DIY generation", this growing consumer base's preferences will become increasingly important to your garden business. 

Millennials are already extremely powerful - and their buying influence in the garden industry is only budding.

Continue reading to learn 5 tips and tricks to sell and market gardening to Millennials.

Topics: lawn and garden public relations, garden marketing, Marketing to Millennials, internet marketing, Garden Media Group, content marketing