Horticulture producers need to make their business distinctive to consumers to stay competitive. Millions of Americans participate in gardening activities recreationally, composing a market of infrequent but avid horticulture consumers. Attending trade shows, reaching out to green industry publications, and creating websites are typical marketing practices producers utilize to make themselves known to their consumers. Some businesses also create regular newsletters and catalogues to keep consumers updated on and invested in the development of their products. To explore the progression of marketing strategies in the horticulture industry, we surveyed and compared 55 businesses on the marketing strategies they invested in and new-customer inflow to determine what kinds of marketing strategies are preferred by producers today, and how effectively they may grasp the interest of consumers. The results show that producers who primarily advertise using digital methods tend to report a higher proportion of new customers in their sales. This indicates a growing digital advertising influence for showing the value of horticultural products. In the horticulture industry, where consumers do not consciously differentiate goods beyond their type, producers need to keep their products in front of consumers to entice consumers towards favoring their products. As such, the importance of marketing and outreach towards new customers stays vital.
