Garden retailers are not exempt from creating an exceptional shopping experience for their customers. Bree Cady, our Retail Brand and Strategy Expert, is sharing with you three actionable tips on how you can easily activate a Brand Soul strategy that cultivates a deeper, more meaningful connection with shoppers by unleashing the fun, magnetic personality of your brand.

TIP #1: Be Authentic

It critical that you demonstrate who you are as a brand.  Branding is not about your logo or having a cool website, but it’s the small nuances that fall between the cracks when talking about your products or pricing. It’s the little, but important tidbits of what sets you apart from the other garden centers in the area. First you need to identify your core values and what makes you unique as a retailer.  Once you have determined what those are, make efforts to reflect that in your retail layout, merchandising strategies, and in how your staff interacts with your customers.

TIP #2: Be Knowledgeable

You may be the garden center down the road, but aren’t you also the source of knowledge on how to NOT kill the hydrangea? Millennials especially are increasingly becoming more interested in gardening, but don’t know where to start or how to care for the plants they purchase.  You need to be the information source for your customers by educating them on what plants pair well together, tips for planting, or how much water a plant may need.  You can do this by hosting education events at your store, creating focal displays that put plant pairings together, using signage and graphics around your store that provide helpful tips and tricks, and having educated staff on hand to help customers as needed.

TIP #3: Be A Destination

Enticing shoppers to come back again and again hangs heavily on designing a retail environment that is fun and exciting. Keeping the space new and inspirational will create that coveted brand loyalty every retailer desires. Make space for visual and inspirational focal areas throughout your retail store that tells a story. Make a DIY project come to life with refreshing and easy to accomplish ideas that inspire your shoppers. Give your customers a sense of ownership and the confidence to create these ideas at home and you’ll see them again and again.

Activating your Brand Soul doesn’t have to be hard, just be yourself, be the go-to source of information and give your shoppers a reason to come back. Every brand has a soul, it’s time you activate yours! For more ideas on Activating your Brand Soul check out our 2017 Live Goods Look Book.