May 18, 2020

Pollinator-Friendly Plants: How to Create a Buzz Online

In our previous article, we discussed a few ways to promote Pollinator Month in June, including using Facebook Live or Instagram Live to host virtual “seminars,” also known as webinars, on pollinators and native plants. This week, we’ll be diving in a little deeper on some best practices for these platforms, including how to promote your seminar, ways to make your presentation more engaging, and tips for using this platform to increase sales.

Try these tactics to grow your audience before event day!

Add an update to the homepage of your website. Use an eye-catching graphic with the time and date of your presentation and a link to your Facebook page.
Leverage your email newsletter. Dedicate a section of your email newsletter to announce the time and date of your webinar, and include it in all newsletters leading up to event day.
Announce the event more than once. Create awareness by posting an announcement about your event a week before you go “live,” and continue to post daily leading up to the event. People often need to see something three times before it sticks in their minds.
Share “teasers” of the information you’ll be sharing. When you post about your event, lead with intriguing information about the pollinators and native plants you’ll be talking about. Pique your audience’s interest with “did you know” questions, like “Did you know milkweed is the only plant that the monarch caterpillar can eat?”
Take questions from followers in advance. After your initial announcement, try asking your audience on social media what they’d like you to cover in your presentation. This information will help you tailor your webinar content to what your audience wants to know!

Make your webinar fun and engaging with these best practices.

Be aware of your backdrop. The best place you can host your webinar is inside your garden center, with plenty of colorful plants behind you!
Use American Beauties Native Plants® as props. Keep the pollinator-friendly plants, as well as other items you’d like to talk about, near you while on-camera. This way, you can hold them as you talk about them, and bring them closer to the camera to point out details to your viewers.
Describe what your viewers can’t experience. As you’re sharing information about your American Beauties Native Plants®, be mindful of the features of the plant that don’t come through on video. Does the plant have an interesting texture? Does it have a strong fragrance? Is it edible? Show and describe these features to make the experience more interactive!
Appeal to your audience’s needs and wants. The key to keeping people’s interest is to make your content relatable. Always look for ways to relate your content to ideas that resonate with your audience, like garden design, low-maintenance landscaping, or living sustainably.
Play the “cute” card (if you can!). Should you happen to have a dog that will sit still on camera while wearing a bee costume or butterfly wings, it can’t hurt to have them as a co-star!

Convert a viewer into a buyer with these tips!

Highlight plants and products that help pollinators. Your webinar is a perfect opportunity to show the value of your products!
Include mentions of your other services. If you offer landscaping services, planting services, or other services that can help customers achieve a more eco-friendly yard, shout them out!
Catch more flies with honey. Offer a special promo code for your online store that you’ll share with your audience at the end of the video. Let them know about this code in your promotional efforts and at the beginning of your webinar to keep them watching until the end!

Finally, the most important tip of all; be confident! If you’re not used to being on-camera, it might feel odd to take center stage. Do a few practice runs in the days leading up to the event, and test your technology, so things run smoothly on the day-of. Good luck, and you’ve got this!