Hort Innovation is responsible for investing the nursery marketing levy into a range of activities to drive awareness and consideration. Here is a quick look at what happened during 2023/24…  

The nursery marketing program communicates to three priority audiences through Greener Spaces Better Places (GSBP): 

• Professional: For professionals, GSBP positions itself as a leader by participating in events, speaking engagements, and panel participation, while building a networked community via the Map-Listen-Learn-Connect program. E-newsletters and LinkedIn updates reached around 6,000 urban greening professionals, amplifying national impact.
• Consumer: Consumers are reached through the School of Thumb series, which released three new episodes, enhancing gardening confidence by connecting consumers with growers. Social media efforts built an engaged community, and the Ask Me Anything campaign featured 12 plant experts on Instagram to further boost consumer engagement.
• Industry: In industry outreach, GSBP supported nurseries with School of Thumb materials for in-store events, engaged with key players through presentations and meetings, and was featured in prominent industry journals and newsletters. 

Insights that drove our thinking 

• Seventy-one per cent of Australians are interested in plants, presenting a substantial audience to engage. The School of Thumb campaign appeals broadly, increasing confidence and motivating gardening.
• People like trees and plants, for various reasons including aesthetics, health and nature. By reminding people of the benefits of trees, their concerns will be diminished. GSBP positions itself as a credible source of urban greening information, communicating with its target audiences, and driving people to pursue an interest in plants and therefore drive sales.
• The government audience is approximately 200 urban greening professionals, with an estimated opportunity of $580million+ in plant sales per year. This is a very cost-effective audience to reach. In addition, this audience sets policy and regulation, so by engaging in dedicated and bespoke stakeholder engagement with these key players from the government audience, we have a big opportunity to increase the prioritisation of urban greening and drive more plant sales and therefore positive environmental and social outcomes. 

What the campaign looked like in market and what did it achieve 

School of Thumb 

• Three new episodes filmed and produced.
• Three episodes launched on GSBP channels (YouTube, Facebook and Instagram).
• More than nine million episode views.
• More than 10 million plant buyers. 

 Ask me Anything 

• Twelve Ask Me Anythings featured on Instagram
• Twelve horticulture industry experts promoted from across Australia, including a selection of growers with their own substantial follower base and one who reached out to GSBP with interest in being featured.
• Reached 550K+ plant buyers.
• Engaged 26K+ plant buyers. 

Social channels  

• School of Thumb and Ask Me Anything campaigns launched on Instagram across the year.
• Always on content delivered across Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook & LinkedIn. 
• Organic and paid advertising social strategy developed and delivered for each month. 
• 82K Instagram followers, up 15 per cent year-on-year.
• Reached 15M accounts.
• Named the top Nursery & Garden community in Australia. 

Professional  

• Six Living Network e-newsletters sent.
• Participated in working groups and attended events to continue to position GSBP as a true source of expertise.  

Industry  

• Six Hort Journal submissions developed.
• Presented at four key industry events.