Your Weekly Guide to Thriving in Social Media Marketing

In the fast-paced realm of social media marketing, maintaining a competitive edge is crucial for businesses striving to expand their online reach. We are delighted to introduce our new Social Studies program—a series of ten carefully curated emails designed to elevate your social media presence in the vibrant world of gardening- Sign up here.

Our new 10-part series is tailored to equip garden businesses with invaluable insights, expert advice, and actionable strategies that will boost your social media following. By subscribing, you gain exclusive access to a comprehensive toolkit, empowering you to craft a successful social media presence, unlock the potential of captivating content through photography and videography tips, and establish a profound connection with your audience.

Social media trends and best practices are constantly evolving. With our new newsletter, you'll stay ahead of the curve by receiving up-to-date insights and expert advice directly in your inbox each week. Whether it’s new social media platforms, changing algorithms, or trends, our goal is to equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to adopt, create, and thrive in the dynamic landscape of social media while staying true to yourself!

Read more to find out what you’ll learn!

Meltwater, an online media monitoring company, recently launched a report that shared current trends in social media for 2023. 

The report offered findings from over 1,700 marketing and communications professionals globally. The short: paid and organic social media are expected to increase in 2023. Garden businesses must stay at the top of their game and adapt while also increasing their skillset. 

In the report, social media platforms were ranked by usage and popularity. Facebook is still holding the top ranking, followed by LinkedIn and Instagram. YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok remain relevant while being slightly less popular than the top three. Short-form video is hot right now on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. 

Read on to learn more about how social media has maintained and even gained importance during the current economic development. 

A love of gardens and plants have been prevalent throughout history at many major event spaces and attractions. Recently, the love of gardening is breaking into the sports world and has become the center of attention at some major league baseball (MLB) stadiums. With interest in gardening continuing to become more and more popular, even the players and faculty have joined in to help create these gardens. Here are some of our favorite gardens in the MLB.

Gardening is on the tip of everyone’s tongues as unprecedented millions took to plants during the pandemic. Are you speaking the new gardener’s language?

This report analyzes millions of social media posts and articles written across the course of the pandemic. These gardening posts reveal key patterns in language and sentiment – and represent a significant shift in the way the public talked about plants before and after COVID-19.

Navigating emerging pandemic trends and topics, Mind the Gap helps readers better relate to the gardening public – and gain the trust of the new gardener.

In the modern digital age, new social media platforms pop up every other day. And as quickly as they come, they often fizzle out faster than you can say YikYak, ClubHouse, or Vine. It’s a whirlwind for anyone trying to create a digital marketing strategy!

When TikTok came to the stage, many assumed it, too, wouldn’t last. Yet it continues to be the number one downloaded app, and users average 80 minutes a day scrolling through endless videos. We predict it is here to stay.

Read more to learn how this “clock” app works and how your garden brand can use it. 

The headlines seem to be everywhere – skyrocketing plant sales, seed shortages, and a cut flower frenzy. On the heels of the pandemic, 2021 has seen a fervor for plants and garden goods that our industry hasn’t experienced in years.

As industry struggles to meet the demands of the massive “plantdemic” gardening trend, many are acutely aware of how limited supplies are this spring.

And this has led to an important question: how much of the “sold out blues” are consumers feeling? 

This spring, many gardeners (including first-timers) arrived at the garden center ready to shop, only to be met with empty shelves and in some cases, unfulfilled wishes. In our visions of worst-case scenarios, we imagine them getting frustrated and giving up – even abandoning the hobby.

Luckily, social media is giving us insight into consumers’ thoughts and feelings…

Read more to find out what they’re posting - it isn’t what you might expect!

Over the past year, millions have sunk their hands into a bag of potting soil and fallen in love with gardening. Whether it was a new indoor plant for the at-home office, or starting vegetable seeds, these new gardeners are here to stay! Getting started can be intimidating and there is no shortage of options of where to find info on gardening.

Read more to find out WHERE these new gardeners are going for tips and tricks.

With gardens and houseplants shifting from white-hot trend in 2019 to full-blown national obsession in 2020, the faces at the front of the new wave are social media influencers with legions of followers and backyards that make us—yes—green with envy.

Why should businesses in the horticulture industry pay attention to garden influencers, who range from tattooed and pierced ‘plant dads’ to proud grandmothers with enviable backyards? Because they have a direct line to the eyes, ears and wallets of millions of consumers. And the numbers tell us that these customers trust and take their buying queues from social influencers.

Smart companies are asking two questions:
• What are garden influencers doing right?
• And how can we work with them?

Read more to learn the 1-2-3’s of influencer marketing to green industry businesses.

Today on Grow! With Katie, we got to *virtually* hang out with our bestie and best-selling author and speaker, Brie Arthur (shhh, it’s her birthday!).

Brie’s first book, The Foodscape Revolution, laid the groundwork for realizing the full potential that every landscape offers, planting with purpose to grow fruits and veggies alongside traditional plantings.  What a perfect topic for right now! 

Social media has become increasingly important over the past five years as an integral part of your overall trade show strategy.

Social media can be a great way to drive traffic to your booth at the show when used properly. It is in your best interest to cut through the noise and not only be active on the show floor, but also active online in the coming weeks and days before the show. 

By taking a proactive approach before the show, you are allowing yourself the opportunity to meet as many people as you possibly can.

During the show, we suggest assigning someone to “real-time” social media monitoring. This person can monitor the show chatter as it’s happening, drive traffic to your booth and quickly respond to photo tags and direct messages. This is usually someone who is not onsite, but able to dedicate his or her undivided attention to reaching out to as many people as possible during the show. It is an investment in time and resources, but one that can make a huge difference in your brand’s visibility during the show.

Read on to learn five ways you can utilize social media to start spreading the word and drive foot traffic to your booth at the show before you’ve even set it up.