garden center marketingYou might be thinking that you’ve got all of the marketing tools to grow your business in-house. But with so many options available, where should a busy plant retailer start? In this post we’ll review different strategies and compare traditional brick and mortar businesses vs eCommerce stores along with some unique insights on which strategy is best for each type of company.

Being a successful modern-day retailer means acquiring new customers and keeping the ones you already have. There are many different approaches to customer acquisition, but they all share one goal: getting shoppers in your store so that they can buy something from your shelves at least once before leaving for good. This article covers what it takes to be an effective retailer today by both reaching out and encouraging them back when possible through shopping loyalty programs, increased online product variety, marketing campaigns targeted towards specific demographics or locations where sufficient foot traffic exists etcetera.

  1. Keep it pretty:- all the marketing media to attract a steady flow of customers

Garden center marketing is a unique challenge particularly if you aspire to be the biggest and best drawing from a large geographical area.  If you dream to become a destination store where customers spend hours and $$, then these tips are for you.

Our first tip is keep it pretty in everything you do.  You are selling creativity and the potential to beautify any space.  All your plant nursery marketing media from brochures, flyers, social media, website design, and in-store signage need to be on brand and beautiful.

2. Create stickiness in your brand experience

Sticky Marketing: the art of making people stick around and come back for a rewarding experience.

When we think about marketing, what comes to mind? Advertising campaigns designed with a finite timeline in mind. The whole goal is to get them from Point A (not knowing your product) all the way through Point B (purchasing it). But how many times have you seen an ad and then not remembered who/what they were advertising for until days later when another one pops up? Surely that person was ‘sticky’, but chances are those feelings don’t come back again anytime soon. Stickiness refers to how long someone spends at your website or store – so keeping customers engaged will help promote future transactions!

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking about how you can create stickiness with your garden center or greenhouse retail store.

  1. Create an exceptional customer experience
  2. Offer something new or different
  3. Up-sell and cross-sell
  4. Create and increase lifetime value to your customers
  5. Develop loyalty and referrals
  6. Create a tailwind for your business
  7. Differentiate your brand
  8. Do good for your community and the world
  9. Fuel passion
  10. Use digital marketing; email, SMS, social media to keep your brand top of mind

3. Deliver an amazing online marketing experience that builds anticipation for in person visit

Presell all areas of your garden center and those high-margin add-ons, cross-sells and upsells prior to the visit.  Use all your channels to build excitement and awareness through video, testimonials, tips, tricks, and events.

When choosing which platforms to use, it’s important not only to see how many people are using them but also what your target audience is on those sites. For example, Instagram has more than 800 million daily active users so that platform may be the best one for you if your customers make up a large percentage of its user base as well. But don’t forget about other powerful channels like search engines or Pinterest boards either!

You may not be aware of the high levels of engagement you’re receiving on your digital channels. Advertising online gives marketers a new world to explore and measure their success, but it also provides an opportunity for businesses with physical locations as well. Measure and monitor all aspects of advertising so that they can work together in harmony (and create higher ROI).

4. Local SEO is a game changer and national SEO can make your business soar

When searching for ‘garden center near me’, make sure your business is the #1 result.  Carefully select your web design and SEO agency.  Our recommendation is Bloom for garden center web design and SEO.

Harness the power of Google when you get top local and national SEO positions. Web design built for great performance in search engine optimization will help your business succeed, both locally as well as nationally; it is important to provide a good customer experience with your brand message resonating through every aspect of your website or digital marketing platform.

5. Stay fresh (as a daisy) and engaging

There are a lot of different ways that you can promote your brand and get people to show up. This is important for retail stores as it allows them the opportunity to sell their products or services, but also gives shoppers a brand experience. Here are 10 ideas ranging anywhere from free food giveaways all day long (a great way to take advantage of hungry customers) with kids activities like face painting or balloons combined with some light music so there’s something fun happening even when they’re waiting outside.

  1. Workshops & classes
  2. Community events to do good
  3. Fundraisers
  4. Launch parties for new products
  5. Meet an expert, influencer or local celebrity
  6. Parties, parties, and reasons to celebrate
  7. Events that attract interest groups
  8. Runway shows
  9. Honor local heroes and amazing stories
  10. Take your store on the road as a pop-up shop to local businesses, community groups, schools, and events

6. Open an eCommerce web store to sell plants across the country

You could take your retail experience online and expand sales with an eCommerce store. The top platforms are Amazon, eBay, Facebook Shop, Woocommerce and Shopify.

7. Don’t forget social media and website design

In the beginning, web design was more about creating a product or service-focused site. Now, designers are focusing on how to make a website do more by designing it with user experience at forefront and built around engagement for conversions.

Your website is just one channel to deliver your message. Social media that entertains and engages can take your brand to next level of success! We recommend you start a conversation with the talented team at Bloom who could help you grow business in this space – plant nursery marketing, greenhouse marketing (or) garden center web design.

By Published On: August 14, 2021Categories: Uncategorized5.3 min read1052 wordsViews: 646