Looking for ways to make your business bloom just like the flowers and plants you sell? You’ve come to the right place!
In this article, we’ll provide you with tips and insight into garden center marketing. We’ll let you know what to do if you’re looking to build your brand, boost sales, and create a solid reputation for yourself in the public eye.
Read on to learn more.
1. Curb Appeal
Curb appeal is one of the most important garden center marketing efforts you can make.
A huge majority of your clientele will find you from simply driving by. Make your roadside appeal hugely attractive.
Show off your best, brightest, tallest, and most astounding plants wherever they can be viewed by the most people walking or driving by.
If you catch a person’s eye with an impressive floral display or a gigantic topiary shaped like a dinosaur, there’s no way they’ll be able to resist paying a visit.
2. Informative Website
Having a solid website is essential in today’s digital-focused world. People will often find you by searching the Internet.
Maybe they’re not even looking for plants or garden centers. Maybe they’re searching for ways to spruce up their small apartment. Or maybe they’re searching for the Best Hot tubs on inflatablegardenhottubs.co.uk.
Whatever they’re into, you want to give potential clients an appealing base to arrive at when your page shows up in their search results.
3. Engaging Social Media Accounts
There’s no question about it: Businesses today that want to thrive must have a social media presence. This is not an option but a necessity when it comes to garden center marketing.
Upload every day and provide a behind the scenes look at what it takes to run a garden center.
Announce when you get new arrivals. Post pictures of the unavoidable fiascos (but never use your social media accounts to complain, rant, or whine). Introduce the smiling faces of your friendly staff.
If you invite people into your brand in this way, they’ll have warm feelings toward you that easily translate into cold hard cash.
4. Deals and Promotions
Running special deals on overstock or seasonal offerings is a great way to expand your client base. People love getting a good deal, and you love moving your inventory quickly.
Offering a promotion is a great way to market yourself and make both new and existing customers very happy. They’ll buy more because they’re receiving more value in return, and then they’ll keep coming back, plant after plant.
5. Funny Road Sign
This goes back to having great curb appeal. Having a funny or memorable quote on your roadside sign will make your garden center stick in people’s minds.
Plus, you might also get free advertising! Oftentimes, when people see something that makes them laugh, they’ll upload it to Facebook or text it to their friends. This is cheap and simple word-of-mouth marketing.
Potential clients are sharing your business with other potential clients, and chances are some people will stop it solely because they got a kick out of your sign.
6. Reach Out to Residents
Your best and most regular customers should be the ones nearby! Reach out to local residents of your community however you can.
You could host exclusive events at your garden center for locals only. Or, you could create a mailing list offering a coupon to those who live nearby.
Whatever it is, get residents who live near you inside your doors. Once they know you’re there, they’ll come back again and again.
7. Offer Classes
Hosting classes centered around the plant world is one of the best methods of garden center marketing available today. People love to learn new things, and they’ll be ecstatic to join a class that teaches them about flowers and plants.
Offer a class on making flower crowns and watch how many young local women sign up! You could also offer classes on gardening, growing your own vegetables, creating mini herb gardens for the kitchen, and more.
Get creative, and have a regular schedule of events. The word will get out.
8. Drop Off Free Plants
Maybe you welcome new residents to the neighborhood with a tiny potted succulent. Maybe you drop off a lone flower to businesses nearby.
Whatever you do, use what you have at your disposal: plants! People love getting free stuff and surprise presents, so drop off plants to people who could be great assets to your business.
9. Ask for Reviews
Small businesses often have great success in offering something in exchange for a positive review on Yelp, Facebook, or other review heavy sites.
Maybe you give a small discount to anyone who checks in at your garden center. Or maybe you offer a free gift on their next visit if they post a nice review.
Don’t feel embarrassed to ask for a great review when people have clearly had a nice time and enjoyed your business. People love to help and feel important, so just ask them.
10. Be Instagrammable
In today’s world of social media, the best word-of-mouth marketing happens from people finding you attractive and wanting to share.
If you have a gorgeous ivy wall, a really lush garden full of colorful flowers, or a sun-dappled tunnel with killer lighting running through your garden center, the Instagram set will come. And then they’ll shop. They can afford plants, and succulents are so “in” right now.
There are so many businesses today that get featured in one viral video on Facebook and see their popularity skyrocket. Or maybe a social media influencer visits your garden center and posts a photo of them posing among the plants.
Whatever you have to do to attract younger generations who will come visit just for a good photo op, do it!
Need Extra Help With Garden Center Marketing?
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