Cut flower production is a growing horticulture enterprise segment in Kentucky and more than 70 operations across the state have been identified. Since July is nationally recognized as American Grown Cut Flower Month, for 2020, the Kentucky Horticulture Council (KHC) partnered with UK Cooperative Extension Service ANR Horticulture Agents, Alexis Sheffield (Boyle County) and Kristin Hildabrand (Warren County) to launch a social media promotional campaign highlighting cut flower growers across the state. The target was to feature 30 growers, one per day, on KHC’s social media channels, with a reveal on the last day of the month. Growers completed a short online Google Form and submitted photos representing their operations. There was such interest and enthusiasm in the promotional campaign that on several days two businesses were highlighted, with a total of 42 cut flower growers from 30 different counties were featured in the promotional campaign. The actual campaign reached more than 50,000 social media users, with high impression (61,446) and engagement (5,367) metrics during the month.

 As part of the campaign to highlight Kentucky cut flower growers, an interactive map was created to make it easy for customers to identify purchasing options based on geographic location. This map is hosted on the UK Center for Crop Diversification (CCD) website (https://uk-horticulture.github.io/KY-Cut-Flowers/) and will be updated annually or as needed as growers are identified and express interest in being listed.

Approximately four months after the campaign ended, participating growers were surveyed about the impact on their operation. Eighteen operations (43%) completed the post-promotion survey. More than half (55%) indicated new followers on social media and nearly one-third (28%) saw increased traffic on social platforms and their websites. Other benefits included learning more about other operations in the state and inquiries from the local news outlet to feature the operation after seeing the online promotion. Overall, the campaign was perceived by 67% of growers as good to excellent. All growers would consider participating if a future campaign was launched.