Honesty policy

You might have noticed a shift in opinion when it comes to filters on social media. What started out as a fun way to put dog ears or heart emojis on your Instagram and Snapchat selfie has turned into an online epidemic of Photoshopped and filtered images. It’s hard to know if anyone really looks like the photos they post online anymore.

But in recent years, there has been a backlash against all of those overly edited images on social media, in magazines and even in videos. In a digital-first world, people are tired of trying to decide what’s real, what’s fake and what’s a little of both.

In a world where it’s so hard to determine the truth, your customers are looking for authenticity. And they don’t expect you to be perfect. The days of polished, impersonal, purely promotional marketing strategies are over. Now, it’s all about connecting and creating community.

Your customers want to know about who you really are as a company. Who works in your store? What are your company’s goals? How did you get your start? They want to hear your story, know what you stand for and how you give back to the community or the environment.

And they’re pretty good at figuring out when you’re not being genuine. For example, on my most recent vacation, I was searching around for a good hotel for my getaway. As I was scrolling through reviews, I noticed that a lot of places had the same standard “Thank you for your comment. We are sorry you had a less than optimal experience. We hope you will give us the chance to serve you at a later date” response to any negative review.

While that’s definitely better than a rude or confrontational response from hotel management, it came off as a bot, or perhaps someone hitting copy and paste in bulk. The reviews that had genuine, well-thought-out responses seemed much more trustworthy.

It was a small note in my decision-making process, but it did change the way I saw the companies I was researching. I’ll bet your potential customers feel the same about your company. If they’re new to the area, new to gardening or just trying to venture away from their tried-and-true store, they’re looking for reassurance that they’re going to have a good experience at your store. An honest and genuine brand presence online can help with that.

And when you make a mistake, they’ll forgive you more often than not. But only if you admit the mistake and apologize. Trying to sweep a less-than-stellar customer interaction or social media mishap under the rug isn’t as easy as it used to be. (Someone, somewhere, is going to have a screenshot of that disgruntled employee replying to a complaint on Yelp.)

Don’t be afraid to be different, be a little quirky or stand out from the crowd. At least your customers will know you mean it!