April 2024 - 12

INNOVATIVE IDEAS
EVENTS
THAT GROW
FOOT TRAFFIC -
and Your Brand
Many of the best innovations come from
collaborations. Here's how CountryMax partners
with master gardeners to draw a crowd.
By Brian Rapp
A
t CountryMax, we take pride in our knowledgeable
employees. But to bring our customers even
greater gardening expertise, we team up
with master gardeners from the Cornell Cooperative
Extension. These growers have decades of experience
and many " soil secrets " to share. Their live presentations
take place in our stores and cover such topics as:
* Starting plants from seed
* Garden design
* Vegetable gardening 101
* Combating climate change
* Native plants
* Composting
Most of CountryMax's 18 stores have event rooms
that can host up to 30 people for a live presentation. In
locations without a dedicated event room, we rearrange
the aisles to create a space that works. Don't let the lack
of room hold you back - all you really need are some
folding chairs and a projector.
How to Connect With the Experts
Most states have some form of land-grant college with
a mission to research and support regional agriculture
through the federal cooperative Extension system.
That's where our master gardeners come from. The
organization charges a nominal fee, which we cover so
our customers can benefit from their expertise.
Of course, the master gardeners do not endorse
CountryMax or promote any of our specific products. But
the fact that we carry seeds, plants, soils, fertilizers and
all the tools necessary to plant and maintain a garden
creates a convenient connection.
One secret to our success is our dedicated events
coordinator, Kelly McMorrow. With 18 stores and a
variety of events for kids and adults, Kelly stays very
12 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | APRIL 2024
busy. Even so, a single-location garden center can make
these live, gardening-specific presentations happen
simply by reaching out to recognized experts in the area.
Promoting Your Collaborative Events
Rather than pay to advertise on TV or radio for
our master gardener presentations, we send email
announcements to our customers and post each session
on our social media channels. We also put up posters
and place graphics on our in-store digital signs.
These low-cost tactics usually result in sold-out
sessions. The sessions are free, so there can be quite a
few no-shows on the day of the presentation. For that
reason, we overbook by approximately 30%.
What We've Learned
After hosting more than 50 of these live presentations
over the past 24 months, we've refined the program in
several ways.
* One hour is the right length of time - 45 minutes
of content plus about 15 minutes for Q&A.
* Customers have a lot to contribute. The Q&A
session often includes valuable information sharing
among the garden-loving audience.
* FREE is a magical word. We experimented with
charging $2 and $5 for these sessions, thinking it
would result in fewer no-shows. That was true, but
it also resulted in far fewer sign-ups, so we're back
to offering them for free.
* Have a table of relevant products nearby. While
the master gardeners are not selling your products,
people come with gardening on their minds.
* Have fun with it! Whether it's trivia, giveaways,
hands-on activities or a few jokes, there's no reason
gardening topics can't be fun.
April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2024
