Image Credit: Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Garden centres are often thought of as completely brick-and-mortar businesses. While it is indeed true that most locations cater to physical customers, there are plenty of reasons why garden centres such as Atkins have enjoyed so much success in recent times. This involves how businesses present themselves to the online community. Let us examine some expert tips and tricks.
Leverage the Scope of Social Media
Anyone who is even moderately familiar with the online community is aware of the benefits associated with social media marketing. Social media campaigns are excellent ways to connect with a target audience and better understand how an ongoing marketing campaign performs. Let’s also keep in mind that posting images of popular plants and gardening products will introduce potential buyers to what the physical store offers.
Curate Quality Content
High-quality content is extremely effective at keeping website visitors interested. This is also important from an SEO point of view, as the website will enjoy higher rankings within a search engine results page. However, we are referring to embedding the appropriate keywords and optimizing HTML in this sense.
The term “organic” is actually quite appropriate in this context, as it applies to garden centres that hope to better connect with their audience base. Creating personalized posts offers many advantages, including:
- It helps to build an authentic audience.
- It is a budget-friendly marketing technique.
- Readers will feel that their unique needs are being addressed.
- Customized content is often associated with positive user reviews.
Furthermore, it is wise to curate content regularly. Search engine algorithms place a great deal of importance on how often a site is updated. This will once again lead to improved rankings.
Optimize the Website Homepage
Homepages can be thought of as being similar to a real-world billboards. These both help generate first impressions, and they are often crucial in establishing a positive brand identity. Judging a digital book by its cover is therefore perfectly reasonable in this sense.
Similar to the entire website, the homepage should exhibit a user-friendly layout. This allows visitors to quickly find what it is that that they are looking for. Here are some elements which should be present within any streamlined homepage:
- The logo and any relevant branding.
- The top-selling products.
- Any special discounts or ongoing promotions.
- Contact details such as a telephone number and physical address.
- A navigation menu.
- A call-to-action (such as the ability to be redirected to a contact form).
A palatable and appealing homepage will always help to increase sales over time.
Newsletters and E-Mail Campaigns
Customer loyalty is not created through a single purchase. Instead, it requires a great deal of time and effort. Connecting with your digital audience is therefore critical if you hope to avoid one-off purchases. Newsletters and similar email campaigns are both great ways to keep clients updated with what you have to offer. For example, if Atkins were trying to promote the sale of Robot Mowers to customers, they would include a big piece of content explaining the benefits of them in the product in their newsletter.
It could likewise be prudent to embrace the notion of email automation. Automated emails provide several bespoke benefits. They do not require daily intervention. They will help nurture new leads, introduce potential clients to sales representatives, and illustrate that the garden centre is proud of its products.
Discounts and Rewards Programs
The notion of discounts and promotions was briefly mentioned earlier, and they both deserve a bit more attention. So stated, online consumers will normally jump at the opportunity to receive free products and/or services. Here are some of how these strategies can be employed:
- Scannable QR codes.
- Newsletters containing digital vouchers.
- Banner advertisements promoting discounts once they are clicked.
- Referral rewards (such as if an existing customer refers a friend or family member to the garden centre).
Clients certainly appreciate these opportunities, and those who choose to take further action are much more likely to remain loyal into the future.
Outsourcing Digital Marketing Solutions to a Third Party
While all of the suggestions outlined above are certainly valid, many garden centres do not have the time to enact such changes. This is why it may be prudent to seek the help of a third-party marketing service. These professionals are well aware of the latest trends, and they will provide invaluable advice.
Keep in mind that the advice highlighted above is just as relevant for larger firms as it is when dealing with a smaller start-up enterprise catering to a local audience. Do not hesitate to refer back to this article for future guidance, as you will be quite pleased with the ultimate results.
Author Bio
Leslie Vincent is one of our experts at Atkins. Atkins is one of Ireland’s biggest garden centres advising gardening enthusiasts and professional landscapers on all their gardening needs.
