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How Loyalty Programs Benefit Independent Garden Centers
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Is a loyalty rewards program right for your independent garden center -- Here are some points to consider and tips to make the most of a loyalty program.

Using the “About” Page to Build Trust in Your Independent Garden Center
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Trust is everything in business, especially for independent garden centers. Here are some tips for using your About page to build trust with consumers so they choose your small business.

Connecting With Customers Through Newsletters
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Independent garden centers can stand out from the competition by connecting with customers on a personal level through email marketing and newsletters. Newsletters should be personal and friendly, with a unique voice and perspective that customers will connect with.

How Independent Retailers Can Prepare for the Possible TikTok Ban
by: The Garden Center Show Team
TikTok has given entrepreneurs access to an audience they would not otherwise have, but a ban could threaten their livelihoods.

SMS for ICGs
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Text marketing, also known as SMS marketing, is exactly what it sounds like: sending marketing messages to customers via text message. Many businesses already use text messages for promotional purposes.

The Power of Email Marketing
by: The Garden Center Show Team
One of the most powerful marketing tools you have at your disposal is your email list—not ads, not social media, but email. The biggest advantage of an email list is that it is yours.

Should Our Garden Center Join TikTok
by: The Garden Center Show Team
If you're passionate about not just selling but educating and entertaining, TikTok might be the platform for you. Don't just do a video on a new plant you have in stock; teach viewers how to best care for it. And above all, keep it real.

Halloween Marketing Ideas for 2022
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Halloween's popularity is growing each year among kids and adults. US consumers are expected to spend $10.5 billion this season, up from $3.3 billion in 2005. The holiday owes its popularity to Millennials and older members of Gen Z, who have transformed many of their childhood hobbies into adult passions.

Earth Day Celebration Ideas for Garden Centers
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Earth Day is a great opportunity to bring both new and existing customers into the garden center. This article lists a few things garden centers can do to promote Earth Day.

What’s Our Brand? Benefitting From Both Business and Personal Branding
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Many business owners focus on creating a brand identity for their business, but building a personal professional brand can be professionally beneficial, as well.

What is the Metaverse? Does My Business Need to Worry About It?
by: The Garden Center Show Team
The metaverse can be a confusing concept full of big claims. This article covers basic concepts and past applications and offers some practical ideas for garden centers.

Should We Be Doing Text Marketing?
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Text marketing is the practice of sending promotions or other marketing materials to consumers via text messaging. This article covers how businesses can reach smartphone users with text marketing.

Social Standouts to Help Your Social Media Presence
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Gardening, houseplant, and floral design influencers on Instagram and TikTok provide social media models for garden centers to follow to make their social media presences successful.

The Pantone Color of the Year: What It Means for Independent Garden Centers
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Pantone has announced the 2022 Color of the Year: Very Peri. This article discusses the meaning of the choice and how independent garden centers can incorporate it into their merchandising and marketing strategies.

2022 Trends to Watch Out For: Sustainable Gardening
by: The Garden Center Show Team
The pandemic has brought millions of new gardeners to the hobby—over 18 million, in fact—and independent garden centers are keen on keeping interest in gardening alive.

Sharing the Joy of Gardening this Holiday Season
by: The Garden Center Show Team
The holidays are a great time to introduce someone to a hobby that will bring them joy for years to come. While some of the items listed above might not be ideal for the more experienced gardener, they certainly make the idea of gardening fun, simple, and exciting for the newcomer.

Getting the Most Out of Your Social Media Accounts
by: The Garden Center Show Team
We all know a social media presence is necessary for any business, but there’s more to it than just having a profile on Facebook or Instagram that you update when you remember it’s there. Getting started on social media, gaining a following, and reaping the rewards seems like a daunting, time-consuming task, but with a little forethought and dedication, it can be a rewarding experience.

2022 Trends to Watch Out For: Outdoor Spaces
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Though the front and back yard trends of 2022 take a variety of forms, they all have one thing in common: using available outdoor space as more than an expanse of grass to tend to. Whether turning a porch or patio into another “room” or placing bird feeders and planting wild gardens to bring nature closer to home, garden centers can provide examples of these new outdoor trends and inspiration for consumers.

30 Days of Content by Amanda Thomsen
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Suffering from social media block? This graphic will give you 30 great content ideas you can use over the next month. Don't worry about next month - this calendar is so good you can just rinse & repeat!

Amanda Thomsen "Into the Unknown" Replay
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Did you miss it? Don't worry! Here's the video replay for Amanda Thomsen's presentation, "Into the Unknown." She spoke at Milaeger's Garden Center in Racine, Wisconsin on November 17, 2021 to an audience of independent garden center owners and professionals.

5 Gardening Essentials for 2022
by: The Garden Center Show Team
2022 is shaping up to be a year in which Americans focus on personal growth, undertaking projects that are meaningful to them. During the pandemic, many have already found satisfaction and meaning in gardening, and garden centers must do their best to help make gardening fun, easy, and satisfying for these customers. This list is just a small sample of the types of products that will help these gardeners achieve their personal goals. What other products do you expect to be big sellers in the coming year?

When Marketing, Stay On Your Path
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Using marketing tools wrong – or the wrong marketing tools – can cause you to waste a lot of advertising dollars, permanently reduce your average order value, and find yourself serving the wrong customers. This article explores how this can happen, and what you can do to avoid it.

How the Light Gets In: Stop Pursuing Website Perfection
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Stop thinking of your website as a creative product, and start thinking about it as a creative process. It isn't done, and it will never be done. But the act of working on your website a little bit every week or every month will mean it constantly evolves, and keeps your customers interested in the process.

Lost in the Weeds -- Make a Plan
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Retailers spend more time and money marketing than ever before. One way to make sure those marketing dollars perform to their full potential is to do the work of creating a marketing plan. This article talks you through the process in clear, simple detail.

Differentiation Strategies: How to Be the Same But Different
by: The Garden Center Show Team
What does it mean to differentiate your Independent Garden Center, and how can you differentiate enough to matter, without going so far out of the box that you confuse your customers? Read on to learn some differentiation strategies that will help set you apart and simultaneously build trust.

Courting Millennial and Generation Z Consumers
by: The Garden Center Show Team
Gen Z and younger Millennials are enthusiastic buyers of houseplants and garden supplies. But they're also frugal, they have strong opinions about lifestyle, and expect a lot from their retail relationships. This article shares information about how to appeal to and win Millennial and GenZ business.