April 2023 - 40

Abby
POHMER ON...
While returning customers are most valuable, you'll always need new customers to
expand your base and continue to build growth opportunities.
By Stan Pohmer
A
s an industry, we were blessed during the pandemic
when our sales and profits exploded, thanks to
both existing customers who were flush with cash
and more leisure time, and an estimated 16+ million new
customers who were looking to fill a void in their lives and
chose plants and flowers to satisfy this need.
Then in 2022, we lost some of these customers, as folks
had to deal with inflation and fears of recession, causing
discretionary spending to take a hit. And based on retail
reports for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of
2023, the trend forecast for 2023 is for a continued inflationdriven
discretionary spending pullback, and challenged
profits due to the off-price sales and discounts required to
capture the fleeting consumer spending. In 2023, more than
ever, every customer counts - but some more than others!
Reaching New Customers
You know better than I do just how difficult it is to attract
and engage a new customer to shop your garden center. The
expense of advertising in multiple venues - the internet,
cable or local TV, radio, newspapers, direct mail inserts,
billboards - needed to reach potential customers wherever
they may prefer and where there's a possibility they may see
or hear your message is huge. And then there's the expense
of dedicating (at least part time) someone to manage
and respond to your social media contacts and the cost of
discounts and sale price incentives to entice and encourage
them to come through your front gates for the first time.
Marketing gurus who study consumer behavior and
advertising effectiveness tell us that it takes between six and
12 times receiving a given message before a consumer even
hears what you're saying. And then it takes an additional
eight to 10 times before that message becomes actionable
by the consumer. So in a seasonal business like ours, it
becomes even more challenging!
In many markets, the season is too short for the new
consumers we're trying to reach to hear your message before
they can respond. And when extended rain and cool weather
persist, the consumer tunes out your message, so you
almost have to start over again to reach him or her when the
weather forecast is more pleasant. I'm becoming a believer
in the timing flexibility of social media; unlike print and
traditional broadcast media, where the lead times are longer
and you're relatively locked in to pre-planned timing, social
media allows you to deliver your messages when you see fit,
and with almost no lead times.

April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2023

April 2023 - 1
April 2023 - 2
April 2023 - 3
April 2023 - 4
April 2023 - 5
April 2023 - 6
April 2023 - 7
April 2023 - 8
April 2023 - 9
April 2023 - 10
April 2023 - 11
April 2023 - 12
April 2023 - 13
April 2023 - 14
April 2023 - 15
April 2023 - 16
April 2023 - 17
April 2023 - 18
April 2023 - 19
April 2023 - 20
April 2023 - 21
April 2023 - 22
April 2023 - 23
April 2023 - 24
April 2023 - 25
April 2023 - 26
April 2023 - 27
April 2023 - 28
April 2023 - 29
April 2023 - 30
April 2023 - 31
April 2023 - 32
April 2023 - 33
April 2023 - 34
April 2023 - 35
April 2023 - 36
April 2023 - 37
April 2023 - 38
April 2023 - 39
April 2023 - 40
April 2023 - 41
April 2023 - 42
April 2023 - 43
April 2023 - 44
April 2023 - 45
April 2023 - 46
April 2023 - 47
April 2023 - 48
April 2023 - 49
April 2023 - 50
April 2023 - 51
April 2023 - 52
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/september-october
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/november-december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/september-october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/may-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/thrive-guide-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/lgr-november-december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/september-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/lgr-july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/may-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/thriveguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/november-december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/september-october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/thriveguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/november-december-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/september-october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/november-december-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/september-october-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/july-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/june-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/may-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/february-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/january-2019
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com