FAQs
In a nutshell, a public relations firm builds your brand’s reputation so customers fall in love with your company, become loyal consumers and ask for your product by name.
We help shape, build and maintain your reputation by securing media placements, creating compelling content, setting up speaking engagements and managing social media marketing to help you break through the noise and reach your customers.
And we do it quicker and more efficiently than advertising. It is particularly important when launching a new plant or product to first introduce your brand to potential customers through a trusted source, such as a magazine or blog.
Public relations builds your reputation and captures the hearts – and minds – of your customers. Advertising maintains it.
Public relations enables your brand to go beyond advertising by shaping conversations, influencing consumer attitudes and changing opinions. Your brand gains credibility through strategic word of mouth.
Garden Media is always evaluating new programs and techniques to help tell your story, engage consumers and build relationships between your customers and your brand.
In advertising, you pay for the product to do all the talking for you and people can see it coming from a mile away. In public relations, a “trusted friend” is speaking about you, and people take more notice of what they are saying, believe them and are more likely to follow their recommendation.
This third party endorsement is priceless. The message is far more persuasive and memorable than an ad, far less costly and far more credible.
Just searching “public relations firms” in Google is not going to help you find the best overall fit for your business. However, it is a start.
Be specific and ask yourself these four questions:
1) Are they experts in your industry?
2) Do they share the same cultural values?
3) Do you like what you see in their portfolio of work?
4) Can you afford them?
Interview at least three PR firms. Then, check the PR firm’s references. Ask specifically what the firm did for their business, how long it took them to gain traction with the media, and whether or not public relations helped increase sales. The answers will speak for themselves.
We have to stay current with the evolving world of social media. Suzi, founder of Garden Media, calls social media the Wild, Wild West, as it is such an ever changing frontier. We consider “traditional” forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn as critical for all PR campaigns.
We also regularly tap newer mediums such as Instagram and SnapChat to reach consumers, market products and build brands. We can manage your social media reputation for you 100 percent or just help you stay ahead of the curve and supplement what you do in-house.
Either way, social media is just another trick in our playbook.
One of the most common reasons people don’t retain PR services is they think it costs too much. Dollar for dollar, however, you get more bang from your marketing budget with PR than with advertising.
The Wall Street Journal reports that companies under $20 million make the most efficient use of marketing resources with public relations.
All public relations campaigns differ in price, but at Garden Media we have budgets of all ranges. The budget is customized based on the needs and desired services of each client.
The length of the contract is mutually decided on between our agency and the client. Every contract clearly states the duration of the relationship. At a minimum, our contracts are for one year, but we know PR takes time and are most successful with long-term relationships. Many of our clients have been with us for more than 10 years.
We are known for working magic, but like a garden, PR doesn’t happen overnight. Every business wants their products on the cover of a big magazine, but it usually takes at least six months to begin seeing steady results.
Because this is our niche, we can fast track your results, but because of the nature of the gardening industry, it will take roughly two to three years before you see the media big placements on your wish list.
Our goal always is to exceed your expectations by delivering a high return on your public relations and marketing investment.
At Garden Media we work as a team. Every client is assigned a seasoned account manager as the lead. Senior management works directly with the client and account manager on strategy development and is always available for consultations. Depending on your budget and needs of the company, an assistant account manager or two may also be on your team to help with day-to-day projects. The team is rounded out by support staff and IT experts.
Our relationship is like any other — we need regular and honest communication. This allows both sides to meet the pre-established goals and objectives and provides the best opportunity for the relationship to flourish.
We need for you to treat us as your in-house team and keep us in the loop on your marketing efforts and activities so we can best leverage these in our PR efforts. And we need beautiful images of your plants, products or services. Even more today, a picture tells a thousand words.
Communication is the lifeblood of a successful partnership with all of our clients. In fact, we’re in this business because we LOVE to talk.
We talk to our clients almost every day, whether through scheduled phone calls, non-scheduled calls, text messages, emails or face-to-face meetings. It’s important to keep our clients up to date on our progress of meeting their goals and needs and to uncover PR opportunities you may not recognize.
We also schedule regular client calls with agendas and follow up immediately with call reports to make sure we all are on the same page.
Yes. When a member of the media is scheduled to do an interview with a client, we prepare them with talking points outlining important facts about the company and map out a plan that will help build their brand for the specific media market.
We offer suggestions on what to wear and more importantly, what not to wear. And since practice makes perfect, we can even hold a mock interview to ensure our clients are prepared and successful.
The first step is to start a conversation about what you want to achieve with a public relations program. After we’ve had these discovery calls, we map out a plan of action with goals, strategies, objectives and budget.
We review the proposal with you, answer questions and make any adjustments to the plan as needed. We provide you with several references from our current and even past clients so you can check us out.
Once we agree on a course of action and sign a contract, we put together an action plan with assignments and deadlines and start our PR engines to help you reach your goals and make your brand a star.
