connect-2-consumer's podcast

Next week (June 19-25) is National Pollinator Week. Bridget has some ideas to help you highlight this notable week to customers. Keys to engaging customers include information about both food and habitat. Pollinators need seasonal nectar, so an emphasis on the flowering diversity of herbaceous and woody plants is helpful. One aspect of habitat might be to show them how to make a shallow bowl to fill with water and add stones on which to rest (like these cool Petoskey stones). While they've surpassed their goal of a million registered pollinator gardens, your customers may still be interested in the movement.

This week, Bridget talks about inspiring your customers to grow and used edible flowers. Her research shows that people who buy both flowering and edible plants derive more benefits than those who buy one type or the other. Inspire customers to share their uses of edible flowers on social media.

If you enjoy traveling to Europe and seeing some of the best garden retailers, you need to join the IGCA Garden Congress 2022. From August 28 to Sept. 2, you will visit some amazing garden retailers but also the floral auction at Aalsmeer and the Floriade. I'll be going and hope you might, too!

Bridget and Katie Elzer-Peters (Owner, The Garden of Words, LLC) had a chat recently about the June 2022 cover of Better Homes and Gardens. Katie said her two worlds collided in that cover. She and Bridget share some insight about what that cover means to our industry and how horticultural professionals can capitalize on the ideas behind it.

We want our customers to be happy with their purchases but Jessica Hicks DeGraaf (former M.S. student of mine) showed that it was customer delight (not satisfaction) that influenced people to buy a plant again. We revisited her work to better understand the role of plant benefits on customer delight (that feeling of joyful surprise) and making a subsequent purchase. 

Mother's Day is Sunday May 8. While this holiday is typically quite busy for most horticultural businesses, there are some things you might do to enhance your marketing. Could you entice some customers to buy mom (or grandma) a gift card and take them shopping at a less hectic time? Or, offer remote shopping by appointment (hopefully at a later date). Partner with a local food establishment? If mom goes out for lunch or brunch, you could get some additional exposure (and vice versa). Brunch and browse could combine two of her favorite activities! If there is a new child or grandchild in the family, why not suggest a tree be planted to commemorate the new addition? This is a GREAT holiday for a selfie station in the retail outlet, too! How about the gift of a custom-color-combo? Kids activities are great, but a challenge that weekend but something to consider offering.

Axiom Marketing Group published a study on March 2, 2022, about the top outdoor projects Americans plan to engage in for this year. Bridget talks about how to incorporate these planned projects into your marketing and merchandising efforts this spring. Plenty of opportunities will arise for bundling plants together or plants with hardgoods. There are also numerous potential partnerships with other professionals that may lead to future sales.

Recently published in the Journal of Environmental Horticulture and funded by the Horticultural Research Institute, Bridget and colleagues showed that customers "read" displays much like they read a book. In other words, consumers viewing horizontally displayed products can process that (think about it) faster compared to vertical stripes. Not surprisingly, displays with multiple genera take longer to think about (which can be a good thing) compared to single plant displays. Bridget also talks about how to use the results.

Lindsay Daschner of Forget-Me-Not Farms is back on the podcast this week to discuss some strategies for beginning B2B sales. She and her side-kick, Tater, made calls together with fresh flower samples to help win over new business.

Bridget talks about several different kinds of customer loyalty programs and how to measure their effectiveness. Listen for some tips to make your program a notch better.

This week's guest on the podcast is Michigan State graduate Lindsay Daschner, entrepreneur and founder of Forget-Me-Not Farms in southeast Michigan. Lindsay was the MSU Hort Club president a few years ago and embarked on her journey to produce top-notch locally-grown cut flowers. She recently joined the newsletter team for Ball Publishing with Bloom Beat (you can sign up for the newsletter here). Lindsay is often accompanied by her faithful side-kick, Tater. She and Bridget talk about her farm and the newsletter.

We are seeing QR codes in more places since the onset of the pandemic. How can your business benefit from using QR codes? Bridget suggests four ways this week. First, consider using them to communicate key product information before (during and after) purchase. Second, link customers to your website with QR codes used in print advertisements. Third, you can use them to direct people to information about (or even sign-up for) events you are hosting. Lastly, QR codes can help link consumers to places where they can leave favorable reviews about their shopping experience with you.

Imagine trying to drive your car without a dashboard. You can still drive the car, but without that key information you may not be running well or safe. Your company should have a financial dashboard, posted where key employees can see it, to help them make better decisions. Bridget discusses what you might include on yours, where it might be posted, and why this is an essential business tool.

Earth Day is important for all of us and can be a great time to connect with consumers! There are several ways you can connect with them. Consider marketing plants since woody trees and shrubs sequester carbon and many perennials and annuals provide pollinator habitat and food. Feature how you recycle plastics and how that might be done in your community. Promote water conservation by focusing the spotlight on drought tolerant perennials, shrubs, and trees. Discuss composting and the ways consumers can reduce landfill waste (the USDA has a great list of ins and outs of composting here). Why not host an Earth Day party where a group of customers does a make-and-take? There are lots of ways to engage consumers with your business for Earth Day.

Bridget and Mel Knuth talk about some recent research they collaborated on  to investigate how consumers react to different complexity levels of retail signage. While consumers find more complex signs more attractive, they don't read everything on them. The eye-trackers found consumers "cherry picked" what they wanted to read. So, which type of sign sells more plants? You'll just have to listen to find out.

In this time when labor is in short supply, consider amping up your training. Cultivating a culture of training means that all employees share knowledge using the three key ways each of us learns. Businesses that invest in training are safer, more profitable, have better employee retention, and are more resilient when employees can't be at work.

Bridget and Dr. Melinda Knuth (North Carolina State University) finish their three-episode conversation about the American Floral Endowment-funded study on houseplant purchasers. This week, they discuss how many people believe houseplants make them happy (great news!) and some interesting results on people who have not recently purchased houseplants (a good opportunity to get them back as customers).

Bridget and Melinda Knuth continue their conversation about Mel and her team's research into houseplant purchasers. This week. Bridget and Mel discuss pricing perceptions, rooms where most/many people do (or don't) display houseplants, and where they buy their plants. The in-store versus online customers provide an interesting point of conversation.

Bridget and Dr. Mel Knuth (new assistant professor at North Carolina State University) discuss Mel's research on houseplant/foliage plant purchasers. Funded by the American Floral Endowment, it is packed with information about who is buying foliage plants.

Happy New Year and Welcome to Season 5 of the Marketing Munchies Podcast! This week, Bridget dives into the Garden Center Magazines' 2021 State of the Industry Report. With information from > 300 North American garden retailers, this report has some great stats that will help you with benchmarking and strategic marketing for 2022. Most (84%) were single location operations that generated revenue (for most of the participants) between $100K and $1 million. But it was the price increases and average sales per customer statistics that I think are incredibly helpful to all businesses as we look forward to another great spring of sales.

With the increase in pet ownership since the pandemic, you might consider (or reconsider) your pet friendly policies. Bridget discusses some practical advice to create an experience that is more inviting to pets and their parents. Clearly stating your leash policy, having some clean water and small treats, as well as great signage on pet-friendly plants are just three ways to make your retail outlet more pet friendly. The ASPCA has a great poster that might be useful.

Ever have sticker or tee-shirt envy? Now you know the power of swag marketing. Swag (stickers, tee-shirts, water bottles, etc.) is a great way to boost your word-of-mouth marketing by having the champions of your businesses promote it for you. This week, Bridget talks about the Net Promoter Score and how giving or selling some sway this spring may help you connect with your customers.

Bridget and Katie Dubow continue their conversation this week on Plant Trends for 2022. The last four trends are Living Television, On-Demand Flowers, Wild Curation, and In Living Color. The Garden Media Group identifies up and coming plant trends for the following year to help retailers, wholesalers, and growers better connect with their customers. Which trends will resonate with your customers?

The Garden Media Group has been forecasting trends for over 20 years. This week, Bridget's guest is the President of the Garden Media Group, Katie Dubow. They've dubbed 2022 as the year of Innovation (after the Great Reset of 2021). They discuss the first four of eight trends from The Creator Class to Bridging the Gap. Growers, wholesalers, and retailers can readily employ many of these trends for successful communications with their customers.

Bridget has Ag Economist Dr. Charlie Hall return to the podcast this week to talk about inflation and price increases. Inflation increases have been in the news a lot lately. Why is a 13% price increase the "magic" number for 2022? Listen to learn more about why inflation is such a concern, how the supply chain disruptions played a role, what the labor availability might look like, and why it is imperative to increase prices.

It all started with an email with the subject line, “Shouldn't we charge what consumers are willing to pay?” and I was immediately intrigued. A few emails later and he agreed to be my guest on the podcast. Mark Javier founded Plants Without Borders to help connect foliage plant growers (many of whom are small farmers) with nurseries, greenhouses, and garden centers in the U.S. Transparency is a cornerstone of his business. Bridget and Mark discuss prices of rare and unusual plants and how he keeps up with inventory. This former employee of a crypto-currency issuer who has become a plant wholesaler has some interesting insights for sure!

A great example of a field study was orchestrated by Joe Perlaky, Executive Director for the Maumee Valley Growers (Ohio). This week, Bridget and Joe discuss the findings of their 2021 study. Purchases were made many times in 5-7 seconds and most often by women. Compared to the older customers, the younger age cohorts took longer to make a purchase decision, perhaps because it was among their first purchases. Some individuals who considered the purchase too long didn't make a purchase, perhaps because they decided it wasn't worth it. Employees who noticed customers considering a purchase for a long time helped by asking questions of the potential customer. Empty spaces on the bench seemed to attract some attention, too.

Bridget has Joe Perlaky, Executive Director for the Maumee Valley Growers (Ohio), as a guest this week. He orchestrated a great example of a field study earlier this spring. Growers, wholesalers, and retailers can benefit from what Joe and his grower/retailers did and saw. With a Specialty Crop Block Grant, the group investigated generational differences in plant purchases. Working with four retailers and 1-2 displays in each store, they used motion-activated security cameras to study who stopped and made a purchase from those monitored displays. They had over 10,000 camera events to study. The group used merchandise that was moderately priced but added some lower-priced items soon after the start of the study. Using Blink cameras with only the video, they were able to better understand who bought plants in those stores. We discuss the results next week.

Dr. Pat Huddleston is back on the show this week to discuss some recent research on the first luxury or splurge item that Americans purchased during COVID. With 360 responses, they found the most frequently mentioned category was entertainment (e.g. video games and puzzles).  Nearly 10% bought something for the home with some specifically mentioning plants (with $40 to $60 in expenditures). Pleasure and mood improvement were the two most cited purchase motivations. Food for thought as business plan their spring 2022 communications with consumers.

Bridget and Trey Malone surveyed a national sample of 1350 consumers last November about their plans for holiday horticulture purchases. What they learned may help you market plants, trees, garland, wreaths and more in 2021. Bridget shares four take-home messages from that study.

Dr. Patricia Huddleston is back on the show this week to talk about sales projections for the upcoming holiday season and what it might mean to retailers and shoppers. She says the projections are already out, earlier than in previous years especially because shoppers have started their holiday shopping ALREADY and anticipate continued supply chain issues. Employee shortages will certainly affect many dimensions of holiday shopping, including package delivery. Provide realistic expectations on delivery. It may be helpful to some customers to provide some home décor ideas for gift givers, too!

Leslie Halleck is back as a guest to talk about working with plant influencers. Many plant influencers have their roots outside the industry and are energetic, enthusiastic, engaged amateur (as in plants aren't their profession) influencers who truly do influence consumers and their plant perceptions. Leslie's new adventure with Maria Failla (Bloom and Grow Radio) revives the Plant Society of days gone by. In this offline space, members can interact virtually with the benefits of plant societies that had members enrapt with their plants. Bridget and Leslie talk about this new type of consumer interaction.

Bridget and her guest Katie Elzer-Peters talk about fall festivals and how community involvement can be an incremental step to recruiting more new customers. Pop-up markets are another means to take a limited product offering out into the community to build awareness of your business operation.

Returning guest this week is Katie Elzer-Peters. Bridget and Katie continue their conversation which migrates to micromarketing. Do you have a couch? You might consider yard-sale or second-hand store shopping so you can display this cool Instagram worthy spot and adorning it with some trendy houseplants. As Katie says, "the youths" will flock to it and you might even sell the couch!

We have many women in the horticulture industry, but do we still have a problem with where women are in the industry? This week, Bridget and her guest Leslie Halleck recap some of the conversations in and out-of the luncheon at Cultivate21 hosted by AmericanHort and Syngenta (thanks to them both!).

With summer coming to a close and schools back in session, it's time to turn our attention to fall decorating! The Pantone company released their fall 2021 colors earlier this year and now is the time to take a look at them and plan some fall displays. Consumers will be primed to see these colors in digital and print media, so incorporating them into your displays (and selling plants with those flower colors) will be easier. It's also a great time to think about the fall decorating package(s). Consider offering them in regular, super, and premium (three price points) to boost sales of the intermediate offering.

Are you effectively managing your digital media? Bridget's guest this week is Katie Elzer-Peters owner of The Garden of Words, LLC. Bridget and Katie discuss some of the challenges and strategies to handling your digital media.

Marketing Munchies this week features Leslie Halleck (Halleck Horticulture) with her new book release "Tiny Plants: Discover the Joys of Growing and Collecting Itty-Bitty Houseplants." This BIG plant trend for small plants is just beginning to grow. Bridget and Leslie chat about the aesthetics of decorating with these gems and how plant collections could be a part of your retail space.

Earth Day is April 22 this year. Are you ready with your marketing strategy? First, consider the ways your company is environmentally-friendly. Can you document pesticide or water reductions? This is great stuff for your website or social media. How will you promote planting and what will you contribute to planting? Give some thought to your Earth Day marketing this spring!

The National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture is a great resource for retailers to leverage their marketing. I've spoken many times about the need to communicate the benefits of plants, and the folks at NICH have some great, free infographics for you to download and use online or in the retail space. The bright folks at NICH did the hard work for you, so this is a great place to leverage your marketing efforts on indoor foliage plants, pollinator plants, and much more.

Foliage plants are selling well in most areas of the country, but marketing them is still essential. Take a cue from some online foliage plant retailers to organize your foliage plant department. Marketing plant benefits is really important for this category as well.

What safety protocols will you enforce this spring? Health officials are still recommending social distancing, handwashing and sanitizing, and wearing masks. Enforcing mask wearing can be difficult, but is your choice (in many areas). How do you have that tough conversation about wearing a mask (if you're going to enforce it)? Listen for some tips about that this week.

As you tweak your production and advertising schedules, now is a good time to consider the 4 S's that you should be communicating this spring: Safety, Shop early, Sales? Forget ‘em, and Stay Social. Bridget discusses these important concepts this week to help you stay one step ahead of the important conversations you should be having with customers this spring.

Social isolation created a lot of boredom last year. Many new customers purchased plants to help change their scenery. Recent research funded by the Horticultural Research Institute and conducted at Michigan State University showed that younger people were more prone to boredom compared to older people. With restrictions still in place in most areas, you can and should position some plants to help alleviate some boredom. Plant subscriptions might have their moment soon. Positioning new vegetable and herb cultivars might help people get out of their food rut, too.

Last spring, most retailers had a big time selling food-producing plants and this spring should bring much of the same. Boost your revenue and save some labor by communicating about the most local production they can have: in their own space. Select some smaller cultivars for people who have limited space or simply want the plants close by. Create bundles or collections to sell more than one plant at a time, including potting mix, fertilizer, stakes, tags, and even containers. Also, the food-producing plants are ideal for social media conversations and questions.