The Challenge

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., the global leader of branded consumer lawn and garden products, wanted to build longer-term relationships and loyalty among existing consumers. Scotts recognized that its target customers were a passionate group that had plenty to say on the topic of gardening and lawn care. It is an information-intensive category, and management knew that Scotts.com could be a strong asset.

The Plan

Scotts partnered with social media tools provider Pluck, a division of Demand Media, to enhance Scotts.com and create one of the industry's first online social media 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. In February 2008, Scotts became the first in its industry to create a robust social media Web site that enabled consumers to participate in blogs and forums, connect with other gardening and lawn care enthusiasts, and share stories and pictures. Scotts also developed a special section known as the "Guru Next Door" which gives consumers direct access to gardening experts. Scotts customers began using the tools immediately, and word-of-mouth grew. Scotts.com, which had previously been a static site, now started to attract new consumers, eager to connect with others who shared their love of gardening.

The Results

Since incorporating Pluck social media tools, Scotts.com has experienced an increase in overall traffic to its Web site, up 18 percent year-over-year. The site has also hosted more than 246,000 social interactions between consumers, and social media capabilities are now a fixture of Scotts' relationship-oriented online strategy. Scotts.com rankings have also significantly increased in organic search results on Google and Yahoo!