You can successfully drum up local and national recognition for your garden center by running an integrated public relations campaign.
Many retailers forget the importance of media relations as a business tool. However, the media is your No. 1 contact between you and potential customers. New business is necessary, and media attention can help find that business.
Here are a few helpful tactics to bring publicity into your organization, and ways to manipulate it in your favor.
1. Press releases
If you don’t already have a compiled list of media contacts, get online and track down the e-mail addresses of local newspaper, TV and radio editors or news directors. Or make a quick phone call. This information should not be hard to find. Keep a running contact list then send, send, send! Journalists and news directors are bombarded daily with press releases, so the key here is eye-catching, straightforward information for events, sales, charitable donations and anything that your local community needs to know, that will drive traffic to your store.
“Pick and choose your usage for press releases,” said Amy Hager, public relations director for Wet Apple Media. “Publishers and editors can get annoyed if they are receiving releases from you every week.”
Here are some press release hints:
* Write the article yourself, as if you were the journalist.
* Send a comprehensive press release a few months before your event, highlighting all important information in the first paragraph.
* Follow up a few weeks before your event with a media advisory: a simply formatted who, what, when, where and why they should cover your story. “If a photo is appropriate, send it,” Hager said. “A head shot of a new employee or a new building on your grounds always adds appeal to your release.”
2. Media kits
Compile highlights of your business into informational packets and send the resulting packet to local media. The objective here is to make your business a convenient point of contact for journalists.
Highlight your special products, services and merchandise to establish your position as an industry expert. If you have specialists in certain departments, create a short biography highlighting their background and what makes them an industry leader. These employees will be a great resource for journalists and a publicity booster for your company.
Creating a media kit will make you an accessible source, which in turn will make journalists more inclined to call you when a gardening story crosses their desk.
Short and concise is the key here. Use bullet points, outlines and graphics for an easy-to-read profile of your business.
3. Search engine optimization (SEO)
With search engines running the world, Google, Yahoo and others have made it necessary to determine where your Web site ranks when users search specific keywords. Key search terms like “garden center,” “plants,” “home decor” and “nursery trees and shrubs” can be encoded into your Web site and will assure you a high rank in basic search results.
Dig deeper into the customers’ minds and include specific plant names, certain brands you carry and unique services you offer.
Many Web site providers offer a SEO keyword list. If yours doesn’t, work with your Web master to encode business-specific keywords into the HTML code of your site. This will help those popular search engines notice your Web site and list it higher in their results.
Any search engine user will tell you that they usually don’t look further than the first page of results to determine where they are going to find what they need. Utilizing SEO will drive traffic to your Web site and into your store.
While you focus on driving traffic, be sure to make your Web site user-friendly. “Be short and sweet,” Hager said. “Internet surfers don’t want a lot of information on the home page. General information like location, phone and hours of operation are key. Put company history, employee bios and other information on separate pages.”
A straightforward Web site will give the searcher a better idea of what they can expect by entering your store.
“Another Web site tool is to host an online press room,” Hager said. “This will attract garden writers to your business and possibly generate more editorial content.”
4. Electronic newsletters
Keeping contact with your core customers will keep them coming back to your store. With snail mail dubbed outdated, more retailers are reaching out to customers through e-mail.
Start a list of your customers’ e-mail addresses and develop an e-marketing strategy. This is an advanced and cost-effective method of reaching out to customers. Not to mention the impact on the Generation X and Y crowd. They are your tech-savvy customers and your future business, so keeping up with them is vital.
Find creative ways to obtain e-mail addresses through special events, contests or signups. Keep customers involved with your seasonal events, helpful gardening tips and product features.
Use these e-mails to remind customers that you are a reputable business and a leader in the industry for product knowledge and expertise. Colorful, succinct and informative e-mail will be opened and read more often.
Award your online customers with special offers, coupons or sales notices so they feel appreciated. This also helps generate lifelong customers. Don’t overdo it, though. Restrict your e-mails to important information and spread them out over the year, or you could be marked as spam.
5. Charitable donations
Every year, nonprofit organizations struggle with fundraising. Many turn to local businesses for donations for auctions or special events.
If you are constantly overlooking these, you may be missing some great publicity. As independent retailers, you have a close connection to the community, so be sure to pick and choose your charitable donations to reflect that. Work with the event organizer to arrange your signs, fliers and recognition for your generosity.
The media tend to look favorably on charity and will typically print coverage of either the event or your company involvement. Pick local, reputable, nonprofit organizations to ensure that you are giving back to the community that drives your business.
6. Special events
While it is important to host your own events and seminars, go beyond your front door and find community events where you can have an information table or even contribute with a gardening activity. Event coordinators will appreciate your initiative, and you will generate visibility where you live. Collaborate with local businesses as a cooperative effort to market your company to potential customers.
Your own special events are another publicity option. Be sure to contact your local media whenever your company is offering events or services in the community or at your store. Driving traffic into your store by offering events or seminars will continue to boost your business as well as your community image. Expertise in the area is a key selling point for you to steal business from box stores.
7. Crisis management
Public relations specialists agree that the ability to manage a media firestorm is based on strong relationships with those running the press. A public relations crisis can be as small as a misprinted time or fact to a negative exposé about the chemicals you use in your business.
While the gardening industry is more likely to see smaller crises, you still need to be prepared and track all media that involves your business.
The best way to prevent misinformation or misprints is to give reporters straightforward information, to avoid confusion. If you have to type out specific points of interest, or quotes, do so.
8. Chamber of commerce
“Join your local chamber,” Hager said. “Visitors to the area are most likely to look at the local chamber, and your participation will help your business.”
Chambers offer events and networking opportunities that will increase your visibility in the community.
“It is also a way to show that you are giving back to the community by sitting on the board or being on a committee,” Hager said. “Get to know the members and attend the monthly meetings. Don’t just join and not take part. To get your money out of your membership, it will take some time and commitment, but will be worth it.”
These are just guidelines for a successful public relations campaign. Don’t be afraid to get creative when it comes to your business and your community involvement: the more intriguing, the better your chances for coverage.
Publicity is a great business tool if it’s used correctly and managed with care. Put the same detail and thought you put into your advertising campaign into your public relations strategy.
For more: Wet Apple Media, (360) 876-7900; http://wetapple.com.
- Amanda Murdock
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Amanda Murdock is a freelance writer and marketing manager for Peninsula Gardens in Gig Harbor,
April 2008