For every beach-loving fan of summer who lives for firing up the grill, there's another whose heart leaps at the first hint the leaves turning golden. This is the same person who's ready for back-to-school shopping, crisp evenings and has been quietly prepping for the fall holidays during the suffocating summer months.
Retailers, capture that autumn-loving audience by using social media to find inspiration for promotion and merchandising plans of those pumpkins and gourds. This fall favorite is taking center stage on porches, countertops and produce departments across the U.S.
And don't be afraid — boo! — to copy some of the tools employed in these posts in your own social-media strategy.
New Seasons Market
Proving you don't have to trek to a pumpkin patch to have your moment, Portland, Ore.-based New Seasons Market leans on its locally grown, organic winter squash in an array of colors and sizes. The retailer incorporates hay to create an inviting, tiered display.
Props to the retailer for earning that blue-check verification, and highlighting the local aspect to its pumpkins, as well as the decorative and entertaining uses for them.
Find the retailer on Instagram: @newseasonsmarket
Bay Baby Produce
Fall is go time for this one produce company. Based in Mount Vernon, Wash., Bay Baby Produce was born celebrating autumn. The winter squash-centric grower trains all year for what it calls the “BER months” — think October, November and December — offering hand-painted pumpkins, other decorative gourds and winter squash varieties to retailers nationwide.
Bay Baby has fun with its Instagram reels, using a light-hearted tone that matches the fun take on pumpkins. Take Rerr, the name of the mini pumpkin painted with a ghoulish cat face. The post engages people with the call for help on which accessory looks best on Rerr. Opal the Kitty makes special appearance, and we love the #fashionweek hashtag.
Find the supplier on Instagram: @babybabyproduce
Wegmans Food Markets
Beloved supermarket Wegmans, Rochester, N.Y., celebrates pumpkin season with creative displays across its store, combining fall celebration treats such as apple cider, pies and other mouthwatering autumn-themed desserts alongside gourds large and small. The retailer's account has it going on, garnering almost 1,400 likes to for the post last fall, plus plenty of comments.
Find the retailer on Instagram: @wegmans
Trader Joe's
Pinterest was made for pumpkin patches and fall festivities. And Trader Joe's not only caters to shoppers who want pumpkin spice in every conceivable food product (pumpkin spice hummus, anyone?), but at many stores, the retailer has brought the pumpkin patch directly to shoppers. The Monrovia, Calif,-based retailer has many fan accounts on social media but find inspiration at the source as well.
Find the retailer on Pinterest: @tradersjoes
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