How To Leverage Social Media For Your Garden Center

The average time one person spends using social media is 2 hours and 29 minutes daily
. Considering it only takes a person 2.6 seconds to form a first impression of your online presence,
 2hrs is enough time to make a lasting impression and gather a loyal following over time. The obvious question to ask is how? Social media allows you to reach millions of people with one click. But to make the most of it, you must understand the psychology behind social media and how to harness it for your garden center. Here's how:


The Psychology Behind What You Share And What You Ignore

How often do you spend an entire day on different social media platforms but only share posts, videos, and images you can count with your fingers? What drives you to share only a few and ignore the rest?

Notice that most of the content you share is something you find funny, educational, or inspiring. If you look closely and honestly, you realize that your connection with the content in the video, post, or image is the primary reason you share.

Innately, you want people to know how you perceive things in the hope that the content raises your status and that of others. Consider the business products you have shared on your social media pages. Chances are that:

All these reasons are important, but we can sum it up into two primary reasons that drive most people to share business products and services on social media:

According to statistics, 94% of individuals will carefully consider how the information they share on social media helps the recipient
. And if a brand continuously posts irrelevant content, they inevitably lose followers because effective content is positive and exciting.


So, How Can You

Leverage

This Knowledge

For Your Garden Center

You want to hit the mark with more than labeling your business as a family-owned and experienced garden expert. So this is what you do:


  1. Harness The Power Of Visual Appeal

Get a photography expert and take the most beautiful high-quality pictures of your garden. They should be visually appealing and inviting, which should be easy because it's a garden, wink! The same idea applies to your video content.

Use a professional camera or videographer to take videos of your gardening processes. Include your employees in the videos and photographs you take to enhance the human element in your posts. Why does this matter?

70 to 93% of human communication is visual
 since the brain responds fast to images that stimulate visual appeal, meaning your audience will love to engage with an aesthetically pleasing page, especially on Instagram.

Additionally, the visual system in humans processes information two times faster than text, meaning it reaches the brain quickly. It also has a lasting impression. Therefore, visual appeal triggers emotions that are likely to be shared. So start by creating an aesthetically pleasing social media profile for your audience.


  1. Know When To Post

Every social media platform increases engagement at specific times of the day and depending on the target audience. The type of content you also post matters since videos get better reception in the morning hours while images work best in the evening.

Therefore, as you post regularly, try and tailor your content when your audience is most active. That is:

Your Facebook business page and Instagram business account tell you when your audience is most active during the day.


  1. Be Strategic

Ensure you create content for different social media platforms based on your target demographic. The best combination is Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Learn how the algorithm on each social media platform works and use it in your favor.

For instance, Instagram stories have a 24hr lifespan, but they reach a wider audience than your posts. They also offer more engagement. Therefore, post in-trend stories like your in-store designs on your stories and add the stories to your highlights so that your customers can watch them at their convenience.

If your target audience is gardeners aged between 13 and 65, focus your attention on Facebook to improve your online presence
. Take advantage of live streaming to host online events where you can answer some of your audience's FAQs or give tips on the best gardening practices.

Record this session, post it on your YouTube channel, and have a written version posted on your website blog. Alternatively, break the session into smaller parts and assign the mini-videos as reels.

If you are a small business trying to grow
 through social media, seek an expert garden center to feature you on their social media pages. Pay influencers to feature you on their pages if you have the budget.

Also, for every content you share, include a link that is assessable for any client that wants to follow you or purchase from your online store. Choose the platform for your webstore
 carefully, then optimize it for efficient performance with tools like SEO that increase your ranking on search engines and, consequently, your click-through rate.

Don't forget to personalize the buyer's experience using machine learning and AI that recommend client-specific products and promotions. Overall, keep up with trends that enhance your social media engagement, like posting regularly and keeping your message on brand.


That Said,

Knowing how to use the psychology of social media sharing is a powerful tool for thriving as a business. Take a page from Buzzfeed. The company's ability to tap into nostalgic emotions
 among its readers has led to some of the most successful viral shares on social media.

So, before creating content for social media, determine your target audience and how to connect with their emotions and need for status. Figure out how to strike a chord with your audience that instinctively gets them to share your content. And for best performance, get your employees on board.


Where We Come In

Erply understands that no POS is an island. As such, we have an integration service that lets you revolutionize your garden center with eCommerce integrations that seamlessly take your business online. Our API makes it easy to connect your chosen eCommerce shop to your existing software without affecting your current retail store processes. In fact, our Garden POS solution makes your gardening processes more transparent and efficient by giving you updated and automated ways of handling your inventory, employees, and customers. Try our demo today or get a free consultation
 and see for yourself.