July 2020 - 37

SOCIAL MEDIA
welcome to customize these graphics with their logos. Bench
cards for all of our varieties are also available on the Google
Drive. These are printable and can help answer customer
questions on specific varieties especially in situations where
staff interaction is limited.
Retailers are encouraged to try out a new resource from
Proven Winners, " Plant Your Own Recipe " guides. IGCs can
download bench cards for this year's National Recipes or use the
template and instructions we provide to create cards for other
recipes they are promoting or to use to promote kits they might
be creating for easier virtual shopping (pwwin.rs/RecipeCards).
3. Club Sprout
We want to help independent garden centers be a hero
to their customers. Our team can definitely empathize with
parents and caretakers who are finding themselves at home
with the kiddos all day, every day. So maybe out of a bit
of self-preservation on our part, Club Sprout from Proven
Winners was introduced now!
Kidding aside, our true mission is to help children develop
a life-long appreciation of gardening while spending time
with their families. We have introduced several educational
garden-based activities for elementary school aged children
to learn the care involved in planning, nurturing, and enjoying
the benefits of gardening and environmental stewardship.
Each project includes a PDF handout that can be customized
with an IGC's logo and a social media graphic. Some projects
are also accompanied by a shareable video.
The program debuted in April, and in an effort to be
sensitive to weather limitations and garden center access,
we have a mix of activities that can be done indoors and
outside with most of the materials being available at garden
centers. Striving to present another way for IGCs to reach
their customers directly, we are currently only sharing these
projects through the Proven Winners IGC Connect Facebook
page and Retailing newsletter and all of the assets are housed
in the Club Sprout folder on the IGC Connect Google Drive
(pwwin.rs/ClubSprout). This is a great opportunity to drive
shoppers to their local garden centers by tying these projects
to grab and go kits. Look for new projects to be introduced on
a weekly basis through the spring and summer.
For many, going to the garden center to pick out plants is
a large part of the experience; however, the passion for and
benefits of gardening are so great that consumers have been
willing to adapt their shopping habits. Kudos to so many
garden centers for adapting along with them. We have enjoyed
following the tremendous innovation and resilience of the IGC
community through social media and shares in the Proven
Winners IGC Connect Facebook group. Our hope is that the
digital enhancements garden centers made out of necessity in
2020 bring value to their businesses for years to come.
Jessica DeGraaf is a regional account manager for Proven
Winners. She can be reached at jessica@provenwinners.com.
Meghan Owens is a Proven Winners retail account manager.
Contact her at meghan@provenwinners.com.
GROW
YOUR STORE'S
ONLINE SALES
GET A FREE
CONSULTATION TODAY!
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www.smartsolutions.media
An online store is invaluable for retailers
when it comes to increasing sales and
engaging with your customers - especially
when they can't make it into your
brick-and-mortar store in person.
SmartSolutions can work with you to
improve and increase your online sales.
Don't have an online store yet? We can set
one up for you.
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July 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2020
