Aside from the plant itself, the first thing garden center shoppers look for is the tag in front of it. This is your silent salesman. Plant tags are the most effective way for growers to build brand credibility and trust—when used the right way.
“With a tag, you can tell a story, capture your customer, make a sale, and establish recognition for your brand,” says Jillian Novosad, director of sales for MasterTag. “The branding is critical for instilling confidence and building trust in your customers.”
During the busy growing season, a tag can feel like another box to check. But it’s actually one of your most powerful marketing tools. And for growers willing to get a little creative, it’s one of the easiest ways to make a lasting impression.
Capitalizing on Creativity
While they’re small in size, plant tags can make a major impact. Think about it: After you’ve planted a flower in your backyard, how often do you take a look at the care instructions on the back? According to MasterTag’s consumer research, 70% of customers reference the tag in store and 98% hang onto their tags so they can refer back to them at least once a season.
“When growers are focused on getting a product to market, it’s easy for the customer, post purchase, to slip to the back of their mind,” Novosad says. “That’s where some extra thought about the customer’s perspective can make a big difference.”
Plant tags should be at the top of growers’ minds. Tags provide an opportunity to establish credibility, educate customers, set themselves apart from the competition, as well as ensure gardening success . As Novosad says, growers aren’t required to fit into a specific mold for their plant tags unless of course with a retail program. In fact, they’re encouraged to break it.
“It’s important to maximize the small space on the tag and the content you’re sharing,” she explains. “Whether it’s through a QR code linking back to your website or an icon that tells your brand’s story, every inch of the tag is a chance to connect with your customer.”
Growers can lean on MasterTag to design a tag that effectively captures the message they want to send.
Designing Tags Customers Will Actually Use
If growers aren’t sure how to make the most of their tags, Novosad encourages them to work with tag companies that understand the consumer and lean on market research. By attending industry events and tradeshows throughout the year, companies like MasterTag know what customers are looking for from their plants and the tags that come with them.
One of these events is The Home Garden Panel Focus Group, which has tracked consumer behavior since 2010. MasterTag has participated in this research for nearly seven years, gaining insight into what home gardeners want and need from their plant tags.
“Because of these experiences, we know what information is a priority to our customers,” Novosad says. “Growers can rely on MasterTag as an expert because we use multiple resources to produce quality tags that have valuable information on the back.”
For instance, MasterTag understands that drought tolerance, attracting pollinators, and deer resistance are important plant attributes for garden center shoppers to know. As a result, the MasterTag creative team incorporates this information and strategically places it on plant tags so customers can find it easily.
The Cost of Not Prioritizing Tags
Novosad encourages small growers to lean into trying custom tags to effectively communicate their product; stock tags are not their only option. She has seen this approach becoming increasingly popular in European countries, but not as much in the U.S.
“The European market uses plant tags to tell a story and showcase future maturity of plants even in dormancy. We don’t really see that here,” she says. “I always encourage our grower customer to be ambitious and try something new. Marketing itself is an experiment.”
Standing out is a critical issue that growers face. This problem is especially prominent in horticulture, where it’s sometimes difficult to differentiate between old products and new products.
“I’ll go to an annual meeting where they’re unveiling new varieties, like new genetics for a geranium that’s a more vibrant red than the others,” Novosad explains. “It might mean something to me or to growers because we’ve been in the industry, but it doesn’t mean anything to the average consumer as it’s sometimes hard to see with the naked eye.”
Plant tags give growers the ability to make that differentiation clear. By getting in front of new products and making their “newness” clear on a plant tag, growers can strengthen their credibility even further and excite consumers.
Communicating this information effectively comes down to recognizing what works in your marketing, what doesn’t, and when it’s time to switch things up.
“Whether you’re a small or large operation, investing in your brand is how you get in front of the next generation of customers,” Novosad explains. “Marketing in today’s environment is even more important, especially at a time when everyone relies on the search results Google or AI kicks back to them in seconds.”
Your plant tag is one of the smallest investments you can make, and one of the biggest opportunities. In a crowded garden center, the growers who invest in their tags are the ones that will keep customers coming back long after the first sale.
