Plants, like marketing initiatives and customers, have differing needs. Ignore them at your peril!
Whatever is the opposite of a Green Thumb, well that is me.
I like flowers as they are colourful, add a brightness and cheerfulness to a home. The only trouble is I tend to kill them.
Having tried many different plants, spent more time and money than I should you can see from the picture this is my latest result. Not very pretty is it?
Apparently little green worms had attacked and I used the wrong stuff to get rid of them as well as getting the care of them wrong.
As I was talking to a friend the other day about my misadventures it dawned on me that there are marketing lessons in what I have been doing.
Fantastic gardens, marketing success and as Chris Brogan has shared in blog posts overnight success does not happen with the click of your fingers.
So, here are 4 lessons I have learnt from being a hopeless gardener.
Patience
I wanted colour now and expected the flowers to last over spring and summer. As you can see they will not even make the end of spring. My expectation was based on what I was told at the nursery and read on the pots. Also they were inexpensive I thought just pot them give a bit of water to start.
Having relooked at a couple of the labels, they say the may last that time. Also I didn’t even consider planting seeds or thinking through which plants would be really suitable as I wanted instant results.
Marketing Lesson: Often when marketing your small business, you read about doing this or that and just sitting back and watch your business grow. Successful Marketing takes time and strong customer relationships do not just instantaneously happen.
It is tempting to be all action; however sitting back and thinking through what you want to achieve and deciding your overall game plan (marketing strategy) before selecting the activities for the next year can lead to better results.
Treating Everyone the Same
A flower is a flower is a flower. Right?
Well they make look similar but they are different in their needs to stay strong and healthy. I have learnt this the hard way and different flowers and plant can need different attention.
Having told the helpful person at the nursery that we get sun all day, I neglected to also say it is full sun, is affected by winds and the home is just near the beach. So certain flowers and plants do not do well in all those circumstances. Also when he said water the plants two or three times a week I did. I neglected to consider that some need a bit more water and nurturing than others.
Marketing Lesson: If you have a number, even a small number of customers you will find similarities, but you will also find differences. Grouping similar customers together can make it easier when you are communicating, promoting your products and services etc. Also different customers can have different nurturing or customer care needs and if you know this then it is a lot easier to strengthen the relationships.
Understanding
Over the years I have built up a little knowledge, but upon reflection my understanding was only at a superficial level. Whilst the fundamental have stayed the same, the impact of the weather, the tools, plants etc have changed and I have not increased my knowledge or how they impact on the garden.
Marketing Lesson: The environment in which you market your products and services can change over time. This is also true of your customers as their needs, desires; attitudes and behaviour do not stand still.
There are new tools, tactics and platforms available today that you can use, you just need to make sure that they will strengthen your customer relationships and help grow your business.
Time and Money
If I had to add up the time and money I have spent it would be quite large. Especially if you add, different pots, gardening tools, mulch, potting mix and my time. I don’t normally think it is a waste but if I potted the flowers properly in the first place I would have time and money to spare.
Marketing Lesson: Time and money is precious. Conducting hit or miss marketing activities and riding the rollercoaster of success is not very wise. The latest marketing tactic or tool may seem a good idea at the time but if it is not part of a thought out marketing strategy with your key customers at the centre then you could be wasting your time and money.
Well, I thought at least one plant was hanging in there but seems it has given up on me. Whilst trying to revive another that was going to die, I forget to concentrate on the one that was still surviving.
So it looks like yet another trip to the nursery, but this time I will learn from past mistakes and take advice from a friend who said why not test just a couple of plants, do it properly instead of making the same mistakes.
Post Update: Since I wrote the post Paul Hassing from The Feisty Empire sent me a messge on Twitter to add a caption, which I had not even thought of. My attempt wasn’t good and his I believe does capture the essence of the story, so thank you Paul.
Do you have other marketing lessons we can all learn from?
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What a delightful article, Susan! I was worried your analogy might wear out, but you brought it home with vigour.
My dear departed mum created a massively beautiful garden from tiny cuttings given to her by neighbours. Usually, in the giving, the neighbour also imparted the tips and tricks which had made their plant successful. By carefully following their instructions, Mum was able to reproduce their results.
From a marketing aspect, then, the message could be: save your money, cultivate relationships with your peers, see what’s working for them and heed their advice!
Keep up the ace work, Susan. I look forward to your next post. Best regards, P.
Thanks Paul.
I like your marketing aspect. When I think about it a great friend who has a terrifc garden gives me tips just like what happened with your mum. The only problem was that I wasn’t smart enough to take the time to consder them properly and follow them. I went ahead and did my own thing. I think this also unfortunately happens with small business marketing as well.
A great pitfall of small business is doing things ‘your way’ and too fast. It kind of comes with the territory when you’re omnipotent. I make these mistakes all the time.
Fortunately, the more people I chat with online, the more ideas I can float before shooting off on yet another tangent!
Paul, I agree with you about online chats and ideas. One thing I learnt years ago when I was in marketing and working with ad agencies. If the creatives kept suggesting something, I found myself after a little while to really take notice and listen. The reason was that they were only trying to help the brands and the results were always better.
Also thanks for the other 2 ideas.
Susan
Funny you should say that about the creatives. I worked in two big agencies. The account managers who got off their high horses and listened to the studio staff invariably met with more career success than those who treated us like dish pigs. A valuable lesson!
Paul, I was actually the client, working for a large multi national on major brands. We weren’t known to take advice. It funny but 2 that stand out were copywriters at the time and went onto being creative directors of major adv agencies.
BTW, Susan, could you add a caption to your pic? I’ve heard that captions invite readership. And it’d be nice to read about your poor flowers before getting into the main article. Just a thought.