Pushing Buttons

If you walked into any sort of industry think tank today you would likely hear people discussing ideas to “reach Generation Y”. It’s true of every industry out there. Everybody knows that in the next ten years purchasing demographics are really going to start shifting. Some industries are looking to just maintain engagement. Anybody in the technology industry is sitting pretty right now. They are nailing the younger demographics, whereas in the horticulture and agriculture industries we are really trying to find a foothold. We want to engage these younger consumers. We want to be able to connect these people to gardening. We try marketing with social media and we develop apps for mobile devices. Sure we are picking up some new followers, but are we really seeing a swing in the amount of Gen Y individuals who are interested in gardening or farming? Are we merely catering to the same audience that we had before?

I know that I have talked about Generation Y before and about how we really need to focus on what I’ve deemed the “new consumer”, but today I want to take the discussion back to getting younger individuals involved with what I will call “green activity” (not necessarily environmental, just activity associated with plants or food production).  What are we missing that the rest of the world is offering people? What aren’t we doing to get new faces in those garden centers? We have Facebook pages and Twitter profiles but if our only followers are people that are already loyal supporters and avid gardeners, we aren’t achieving what we wanted to through those channels.

I’m going to say it plain and simple. The reason why more people aren’t interested in “green activity” is because we’ve made things in our industries boring. We aren’t exciting, and if people are excited it may simply be for other reasons (the whole GMO debate). To non-plant people gardening is boring. It’s a waste of time and money. Sure you and I may think the latest color of geranium is breathtaking, but to the average Gen Y individual it’s just another flower. Honestly sometimes to me it’s just another flower. I can actually understand how people get bored. When I used to listen to kids in college talk about plants (using Latin names that I’ve never heard of) it often seemed like a foreign language and I’d zone out. I’d lose interest.

You know what people don’t lose interest in? Shark Week, South Park, Taco Bell.  They don’t lose interest in these things because they are edgy. Honestly sometimes things get pretty crazy. That’s what these industries need.  We need to do something crazy to break us out of the shrinking consumer sphere that we seem trapped in. We are too reserved when it comes to getting our ideas out there. I mean I’ll admit there have been some attempts to get something going. Those guys who did “I’m farming and I grow it” were on to something, but that flash has died and nobody carried it on.

 If we really want to reach the younger generations we have to become something that we’ve never been before. We have to be risqué in a way. We have to create content that makes people go “Woah I can’t believe they just said that”.  We can’t sell plants like we always have. We have to make something of it. Honestly we need to take more risks! I’m not talking about the risks with growing more or less or changing products, I’m talking about taking the risk of offending someone. Too often I feel we are so reserved that we will do something someone will find distasteful. I’m not saying we should go nuts, but hey selling plants that “Kick Ass” might not be a bad idea. It’s a thin line but it seems right now we are staying as far away from that line as possible. In order to sway any of those younger people into gardening we have to walk right on that line. Look at the Oscars this year. You’re telling me that Seth MacFarlane wasn’t a simple ploy to get Gen Y individuals (especially males) to watch the awards show? Whether or not it succeeded is in the air, but at least they took the risk!

Just thought I’d open up a can of worms tonight. I’d be interested in hearing what people have to say on the topic. I’m not saying that the hort and ag industries need to become the bad boys of the business world. I’m just saying it might be ok to get our first tattoo.

Reach Me!

www.twitter.com/mday55

www.facebook.com/nextgenhorticulture

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233  

Ahh, Tweet Success

What do you do now? With the busy season coming up for many people in the horticultural and agricultural industries, businesses are finding themselves scurrying around trying to make sure that everything is going according to plan. Everybody is trying to stay in line with the big picture. Where does that leave social media? Often social media strategies can fall by the wayside this time of year. It’s often a last minute thing, or the kind of thing that people don’t put much thought into. Is that a good idea? What do you think? My obvious answer would be “NO!”, but we can agree to disagree if you want to be stubborn about it.

You have a Facebook account; it’s got quite a good following. Your customers see it as a valuable resource for pictures and a good way to let you know how they feel.  You aren’t so concerned about Facebook. You want your business to expand its social media horizons, so you turn to the next biggest thing: Twitter. You might even have a Twitter account. There are probably a few random tweets here and there. You might even have a decent number of followers. You sit down and look to post something new, but you find yourself staring blankly. You have no idea what to do with Twitter.

Take a deep breath. It’s going to be ok. I’m going to help you with that.

When looking to post on Twitter, you first have to ask a few questions. Who am I talking to? Is it customers?  Industry leaders? Suppliers? Or is it some twisted combination of all of those? No matter what the case may be there are a few things you have to remember about this social media monster.

1.  Twitter is one giant conversation. Think of it as a constant ongoing networking event. Everybody has a name tag and it’s really ok to talk to anyone. It’s ok to ask questions. You might not get an answer from some people, but generally if people are active on Twitter they are looking to be a part of an active conversation.
2. Think of it as show and tell. You only get 140 characters per tweet. That’s really not a lot of room to say something. That’s why you will see links all over Twitter. If you want to talk about a topic, state your brief opinion and link to a webpage that goes into further detail. Use Twitter as the bait to your own hosted content. Because you are limited in what you say. You have to make it count. 
3. It’s ok to share. Twitter was built for sharing. See that “Retweet” button? Use it. People LOVE it when you retweet their content. It lets people know that you’re interested in what they have to say, and it gives them exposure to your followers.
4. Be personal. Nobody wants to follow a robot (well normal people anyway). Don’t post useless drivel. If you have something to say then say it. If you don’t, then go out and find something cool that you think your followers would be interested in and share it. Unless you’re a celebrity nobody wants to hear all about you all the time. Sales pitches get boring, and boring gets un-followed.
5. Thank people. If somebody follows you actually take a look at their profile. If they are someone who might interest you follow them back! I don’t suggest following everyone who follows you but at least look into them as a candidate. If someone retweets you acknowledge them for it.

By following those five tips tweeting can actually become pretty simple. It lets you “show off” to a lot of people. It can help you become a business that is known as an industry leader. Twitter has the ability to give your followers the feeling that sometimes they are getting a chance to interact with you on a one on one basis. That’s the biggest thing to learn here.

Twitter is all about give and take. You really get what you give, and it can be a lot of fun. Maybe it’s just because I’m a social media FREAK, but Twitter is where I go to hang out. It allows me to be myself and I get to chat with some really interesting people that maybe otherwise wouldn't know that I existed.

Find me here:

Email: mday55@gmail.com

Facebook: www.fb.com/nextgenhorticulture

Twitter: www.twitter.com/mday55

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233

Change In location!

Hey everybody. I just wanted to let you know that this blog has moved for the time being.

I am now located at  http://socialshortage55.wordpress.com/  . I hope that everyone is able to find it and that I have your continued support. Email me if you have a problem at mday55@gmail.com . Also be sure to keep an eye on the Facebook page for the new movement http://www.facebook.com/NextGenHorticulture. See you all at Wordpress!

Real People and Fake Friends

When you think about your social media strategy what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you think about connecting with your customers (or the customers of your customers)? Is it about spreading a message and championing causes? Or is it simply about getting as much publicity as possible to help generate profits from your products and services?

Let’s be honest everyone who owns a business and uses any form of Social Media in their marketing strategy is hoping to see a boost in profits because of it. This is completely understandable. However, lately in the news we have been hearing about instances on Facebook and Twitter where users have generated thousands of “followers” or “likes” that are now turning out to be fakes. Also every time you go on any type of Social Media information site on the web, ads pop up telling you that they can get you thousands of followers overnight, but does simply appearing to have a large following really help when it comes to marketing your products and services? I would say it’s about as good as having a thousand invisible friends. Sure you can look at yourself and think you’re doing big things and make up stories about how you know all these people, but when other people find out you’re talking about individuals that don’t exist they are going to call you out on being a liar (and in the case of invisible friends, probably just plain crazy)!

The problem goes deeper than that though. Yes, it’s wrong that businesses are lying to their consumers and trying to seem more influential than they actually are, but the real problem here is that these businesses and individuals have lost sight of the true importance of Social Media and perhaps marketing in general. When you are creating a marketing strategy, specifically a Social Media Marketing strategy the first thing to remember is that marketing is not simply about selling. In order for marketing to be successful it has to be informative and truthful. If you aren’t truthful eventually people will begin to sniff through all the lies. In Social Media this even goes a step further. Here people really expect you to be transparent and open. You are trying to get into their personal surroundings, and if they are going to let you into that personal environment then you have to give them a personal feel as well.

The notion of fake followers also disturbs me for another reason. Social Media Marketing is about connecting to people and showing them that what you’re doing is important and can benefit them as well. It’s about connecting to REAL people. What good can 10,000 fake followers do? Sure it might make you more noticeable, but how many real people does that really bring to your page? Are those even the people that you truly want to connect with? I know that if I produced a product that I really thought was something great and marketed through Social Media, I wouldn’t simply be looking for fans that liked me because I simply had thousands of fans already. Also when it comes down to it, what is the true point of these fake followers? You can’t market a product to a fake person. Well, I suppose you can but I doubt they’ll end up buying anything from you. Bottom line here is that only real people lead to real sales that lead to real money.

The real message here is that we as an industry shouldn’t fall prey to these deceptive strategies that other industries have begun to use. The people who we want to reach are real hardworking people, and so are we. If we show this in our Social Media efforts it will be appreciated and will lead to better business. This should be the goal of any marketing strategy: connect with your customer and prove that you can offer them the best product/service at the best price. Let your “popularity” speak for itself.

On another note, I am thinking of moving this blog to Wordpress. If that would be a problem for any readers out there please let me know. If there are a number of people who would prefer me to stay on Blogger, I will gladly do so. I am even thinking about simply doubling up and posting the same posts on both sites. Please let me know what you prefer/think.

In case you need to contact me for any reason my contact information is:

Email mday55@gmail.com

Twitter @mday55

Or search for me on Google +, LinkedIn, or on Klout. 

Keeping the Connection and some Sesame Street too!

Recently I moved back into my college residence. Yes, I’m still in college; I hope I didn’t lose any readers who didn’t know this previously! Things have been pretty hectic around here signing up for classes and looking for jobs (as I’ll be graduating in December). At the same time I am coming into this last semester with my eyes and ears open. I am looking at things differently. I am trying to pick up on the subtleties of my generation that I may have never even noticed before. If I can gain knowledge about a generation by being vigilant I can then turn around and share my findings with you and then as an industry we can move forward and adjust our marketing strategies accordingly.

The last few days something has become really apparent to me that we as an industry need to take note of if we want to make gardening “cool” to Generation Y.  Being on a college campus again reminded me that Generation Y is more connected than any other generation before. Students no longer have to walk to other students residences to see what they are doing later – they just send a text. Students no longer have to call multiple people when they want to hold any sort of event – they just send an invite on Facebook. Even when students go to a football game or concert and want to know what other students thought about it they no longer have to ask each individual person – they simply look up a hash-tag on Twitter.

The bottom line is that Generation Y is used to being connected at the touch of a button. Through Social Media, millennials can access millions of members in their generation in a matter of seconds. Here in lies the problem that our industry faces. How can we start a movement to create a spark for a generation wide movement to make gardening something of interest? I understand that there are various movements on the big social media sites. However we as an industry need to get it out there. I can tell you that there are very few people on most college campuses that think about gardening on a weekly basis.

This is something we have to change.  The reason why other industries are so successful is that they introduce products to people at a young age. Lately gardening isn’t reaching the younger people in this nation. When we think about marketing we can’t think merely about selling a product. We also have to think about selling the future of our industry. If our industry can somehow make gardening cool to kids in elementary school, middle school, and high school we have embedded gardening into the minds of young people.

I think that this is the main problem with our industry. We are too reactive and not proactive. By establishing kid friendly garden centers and sponsoring kid events or even starting gardening websites for kids we have made it easier on the future of our industry. Currently we are trying to market to a group of people that are already set in their ways.

Some people will say that marketing to children is wrong, but believe me companies out there who are doing these same things are offering a lot worse. We are offering a healthy lifestyle to the future of the world.

Today was really a 2 for 1 post. I’ve had two topics burning me lately and needed to get them out there.  In the coming weeks I’ll be diving back more into the logistics of Social Media yet again. I just needed some time to set up my new “office” and get set to continue my research.

Please feel free to contact me for questions or comments. I return all emails and Twitter mentions.

Email: mday55@gmail.com

Twitter: @mday55

Or find me by searching LinkedIn or Klout!

Also I’ll make a shameless plug that I am currently a gun for hire. I’ll be graduating this semester (a semester early) so if you know of or have a job available please feel free to let me know! Thank You!

Take the "Off" Out of Your Offseason!

August is quickly coming to an end and Labor Day is just around the corner. For people in the industry (especially in the Midwestern and Northern states) this means one of two things. Mum season is about to start or that the selling season is pretty much dead for the year. Sure there might be poinsettias and other special crops to worry about from now until April, but without the need for herbaceous plant material the market is reasonably shut for the year.

As anyone in the industry knows, once one season ends the next begins. Today’s post deals with staying connected to your customer even when things aren’t in season. Trust me, if you can keep the name of your business relevant in the minds of your customers through the winter, you’ll be the first place they look to next spring. How do you stay connected? You already know what I am going to say, but I’ll say it anyway: through Social Media!

Through the use of Social Media pages and blogs your business can keep people up to date on interesting things that are happening in the industry and new products that will be available next spring. Also this time of year can prove to be a great time to boost trust with clients of businesses that sell perennials. For example: the main concern of anyone growing any sort of perennial is its hardiness. If your business does a lot of perennial business why not make a name for yourself and make some helpful videos for consumers displaying proper techniques and tips for making sure that their perennials will reappear next spring? Or in January and February why not make some videos displaying how to protect early emerging perennials from damage? Videos like this provide value to the end consumer and can help establish a relationship of trust. They are valuable to any company in that market channel because they can help establish pull through.

Another easy way to stay in the mind of your customer is to put your product listing for the spring onto one or more of your Social Media pages. Highlight a product or two each month and post a couple different pictures about it each week. For growers this allows retailers to see through interaction what products are going to be hot next spring. If you are a grower and throw up a picture of a brand new Begonia variety that you’ll be offering and it gets hundreds of likes and shares retailers will know this is a product with a lot of interest and will be more likely to try it and order your product next spring or later this fall.

Also the winter is a time for the 2 H’s: Holidays and Humor. Stay relevant by posting cute holiday images involving plants or your products. From my experience these posts ALWAYS get lots of attention. You may not think people are going on Facebook on Christmas, but for Generation Y, Facebook is one of the only ways they send holiday wishes. So if they are on Facebook posting and so are you there is a great chance they will see your post and again be reminded of your products/services. As for the other “H”, we all know that in a lot of places January and February can be cold and depressing. People need to be cheered up. That’s why if you can make people smile with a cute garden joke or photo then you are only getting further ahead of your competition. Research says that the greatest impressions come not from how you look, but how you make people feel, so make your customers happy!

I know this post is a little preemptive, but it’s better to start thinking about this stuff now ahead of time. If you get to January and just start thinking about this kind of stuff, you’re probably too late. As we get deeper into the fall and winter we will undoubtedly be talking about more of this kind of stuff. For now however enjoy the sun and have a great Labor Day weekend!

You can always find me all over the internet! Email: mday55@gmail.com ; Twitter @mday55 ; LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233 ; and shoot me some +K on Klout if you think this was/is worthwhile!

Mobile Movement

Whew! I’m back! It has been a crazy week of moving and getting things straightened out, but anyways I’m back and ready to put my brain out there and let you know what’s going on in the realm of Social Media, Generation Y, and Horticulture in general.

Last week I touched on the topic of music and how the youth have always been “in tune” with music and how we need to find a way to tap into that. A day after I wrote that piece Nielsen released a study stating that YouTube is the number one way in which the youth listen to music. YouTube has surpassed internet radio and I-tunes. This got me thinking about a few things.

My first thought was that the horticulture industry needs to tap into this. We need to find a way to get our products connected with the music scene on YouTube. How do we do it? I guess an easy answer would be to start advertising on YouTube before music videos, etc. However, I think one of the overall goals should be to somehow get musicians to promote gardening in general on YouTube. If we can get Blake Shelton or Adam Levine to do a one minute piece on their YouTube channel about how they love to relax in their garden, I think we could see them have some influence over the youth. I don’t know how the industry could do this but there has to be a way we can come together and send out the message that gardening is “cool”.

Generation Y wasn’t raised in the garden. They feel out of place there. We have to show them why they should be gardening.

The other thing this YouTube trend got me thinking about was how it could be possible that a website was the most popular place to listen to music. It wasn’t that hard actually. On my morning walk today I saw five people listening to music – all of them on their cell phones. Cell phones have revolutionized the music industry and made new music available to anyone at any time. I’m guilty of it I’ll admit! If I want to know what a song is called or just hear a song I haven’t heard in a while, I’ll just look it up on YouTube on my phone.

But how does this apply to our industry you ask? Well clearly YouTube has catered to this mobile revolution of having a “computer” in your pocket wherever you go. Have you? Does your company’s website have a mobile version that is easy to use on an Android or I-Phone? If not you might want to consider making one or hiring a company to make one for you. Take a look at your Google Analytics page (If you aren’t using this already you need to start), and see how many of your visitors are coming from mobile operating systems. My bet is that number is higher than you think it would be.

Think about it: if you are getting a significant amount of traffic from mobile devices, and your website is not easy to navigate on a small screen scale, isn’t it worth the change. It even makes it easier on yourself if you are out and about and want to show a client something online. You don’t have to fumble through a clumsy webpage if you have a clear cut and easy to use mobile page.

In this instance it’s not about creating new content, it’s about making the content that you have easier to find in the palm of your hand.

Again I apologize for my absence this last week. I’ll try to get back to posting in a more regular fashion. I would love to hear your thoughts on these subjects or any other related topics. Leave a comment!

You can email me at mday55@gmail.com , find me on Twitter @mday55, find me on Klout here: http://klout.com/#/mday55 , or find me on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233