It's all digital

Why growers need social media

Social media remains the ‘The Wild West’ of marketing with few rules. Even so, the time to jump in is now.

Ornamental plant growers who wish to broaden their base of advertising and reach the coveted Millennial Generation can do so relatively cheaply, by using popular social media networks. The key to a successful social media campaign is to create an experience that people will want to share with their friends, says Ryan Vet, entrepreneur, marketer, and featured speaker at last year’s OFA Short Course.

While traditional advertising (radio, TV, and newspapers) is still good for getting a product in front of people, social media can allow growers to speak directly to current and potential customers, especially Millennials that not only expect to connect with your business via social media, but also hope to get information they need to be successful gardeners.

“The majority of people don’t see themselves as gardeners,” says Susan McCoy, of Garden Media Group, a home and garden marketing and public relations firm. “Growers can, with social media, inspire and educate people.”

Many of the customers you serve are already spending a lot of time on social media sites, especially Facebook, You Tube and Pinterest, according to Stacey Hirvela, social media marketing Ssecialist at Spring Meadow Nursery/Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs.

“If you’re not there (on social media), you’re missing an opportunity,” says Hirvela. While she admits that this type of marketing isn’t for everyone, she says it is important to get your business in front of those who are continually logging on to social media sites to see what others are doing and sharing their stories.

The best way for newbies to get into social media marketing, says McCoy, is to start out with one network, such as Facebook or Pinterest, and learn how to use it consistently before adding another.

One of the best things we can do for our customers in this field is to provide them with inspiration and education. The goal of any social media marketing campaign is to direct people back to your website. This is where growers like Costa Farms really shine.

“We push people to our website,” says Marta Maria Garcia, marketing director at Costa Farms. “We have a robust plant library there.”

Garcia says Costa Farms uses all of the social media platforms and is also dabbling with Tumblr, a blog sharing site frequented by the Millennials.

Whether that’s right for you depends. One simple strategy is this: See what local businesses are using successfully. and then dive in. – Neil Moran

Sources: Garden Media Group Blog and www.Ryanvet.com

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How to optimize your SEO

So, now you’re digital. You share pictures on Facebook and tweet daily. You drive as much traffic as you can back to your business’s webpage and yet, there’s one small snag. You’re still not showing up in web searches.

Search engines are rapidly changing the criteria they use to determine the rankings of websites. What are some things you can do to help your site?

Here are a few simple tips that might help:

Simplify your language. If you’re new to the online world then your page might be filled with insider lingo and corporate speak. Remember that your audience is probably searching for generic terms like “Valentine’s Day flowers” or “growing tips.”

Craig Lister, Head of Reprise Media, told The Guardian that one of his firm’s clients, ExxonMobil, was using the phrase “commercial vehicle lubricants” on their website. Most of their potential customers were Googling “best oil for BMWs.” ExxonMobile identified keyword search terms their customers were using, updated their page, and now appear in the top five when people search “oil for BMW.” Could a similar simplification benefit you?

Clean up your design and be sure links work properly. One of the new metrics used by search engines is bounce rate — how quickly people leave your site, and website performance — how quickly your page loads and if it loads properly.

After your site launches, click through your links periodically to ensure functionality. Try launching your page in different browsers and on different computers.

Finally, don’t make it difficult to access your content by overusing key words; this will result in search engines pushing your site down in their rankings.

For more: http://goo.gl/KY45oj
 

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