Social savvy

Social media is all the rage these days. On a daily basis you are likely to hear someone mention Twitter or Facebook, and if your company’s not on those sites, you might be missing out on big opportunities.

Hort Couture, an independent brand for independent garden centers, is currently spread out across social media. The company has a Facebook page, a Pinterest page, a Twitter account and a Youtube account, as well as two blogs.

Facebook was the first account they started, back in 2007.

“In the past year we’ve really stepped up our game,” says Jen Hatalski, merchandising coordinator for Hort Couture. Because of the seasonality of plants, it is often hard to keep customers interested year round. Using Facebook and Twitter, the company is able to post updates on products, she explains.

Posting photos is also a big push for Hort Couture.

“Since we are exclusive to the independent garden center, we like to show our independent spirit and share as many photos as we can of retailers and growers,” Hatalski says.

With photos, another useful site is Pinterest. In fact, according to Hatalski, Pinterest directs more traffic to their website than Facebook.

“We started Pinterest a year ago and it’s just amazing,” she says. “Initially it was a lot of work but, the maintenance isn’t that big.”

Using Pinterest, Hort Couture is able to post pictures of product lines and link them directly back to the website. They also join group boards, which expands their visibility on the social media site. Hort Couture pins photos to expected boards, such as gardening and succulent boards, but they also post to women’s fashion and home accessorizing boards.

“That’s the fun part about Hort Couture,” says Hatalski. “We have that flexibility. We like to cross into the fashion side as much as we can. To be able to pull that side in from Pinterest too is just really fun.”

The great thing about Pinterest is that it can be used as a sales tool. People don’t have to sign in or register, they are able to go to the Hort Couture website, click the Pinterest link, and then view all of their products. On top of that, the products are all in one place and they’re organized for easy viewing.

Hort Couture also has a Twitter page, but the company doesn’t use it as much as Facebook and Pinterest.

“For some people, Twitter works better than Facebook and for some people Facebook is the end all deal,” Hatalski says. “I don’t think anybody can be perfect in all of them across all the different social media aspects.”

The number one rule of social media, according to Hatalski, is to make sure to keep up with any and all accounts you create, whether you use them on a daily basis or not.

“You don’t want to create something and then disappear from it. That’s the most important thing. Don’t bite off more than you can chew,” she says.