Scotts Miracle-Gro: A custom social experience for every micro-community

Within days of the launch, the social media deployment on Scotts.com attracted thousands of visitors, helping Scotts build brand loyalty and attract new customers. As a result of the new features, Scotts.com has experienced an 18% year-over-year growth in overall Web traffic. In addition, user-generated content has resulted in a significant improvement in organic search results on Google and Yahoo. To date, the site has hosted more than 500,000 online interactions, making social media the prime focus of Scotts’ online strategy

The new Scotts.com now attracts new visitors who are eager to connect with others who share their passion for lawn care. The site features micro-communities tailored to such groups as urban dwellers, pet owners and first-time homeowners. A section of the site known as the "Guru Next Door" lets consumers interact directly with gardening experts.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, the world's largest marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products, recognized the passion its customers have for gardening and lawn care. In an effort to build loyalty and longer-term relationships among target consumers, the company enhanced Scotts.com with one of the industry's first online social media experiences. In 2008, Scotts unveiled a new, social Web site that enables visitors to connect with other lawn care enthusiasts on blogs and forums and share stories and pictures about their gardening experiences.

"We know our consumers get a lot of their lawn and garden information and know-how by talking to their friends and neighbors, so we had a hunch our customers would enjoy engaging with others online who shared their same lawn and gardening passion," said Joel Reimer, Director of Interactive and Marketing at Scotts Miracle-Gro.

"Pluck social media technology has played a key role by helping us build and extend relationships with customers in new ways, making social media an important new component of our brand strategy."
- Ed Billmeier, Senior Director of Interactive and Relationship Marketing, Scotts Miracle-Gro Company