A few years ago, Michael Gutierrez – https://twitter.com/irriaudi – who won the Irrigation Association’s video award last year for #smartirrigationmonth offered some wisdom for my digital media. He suggested a better personal touch for what I was presenting would garner more engagement. I believe this year, more than ever, twitter accounts were making that personal touch generating lots of engagement for #smartirrigationmonth. This year no one made a personal connection better than ETwater’s Marketing Director, Kevin Heverin. See his tweets below where people are focused on customers. It’s a winning strategy generating 100’s of likes and retweets.
“One thing I love about smart #irrigation is the ability to quickly resolve customer field issues from afar. Nothing makes me feel better than saving #landscapers time and money by sparing them a site visit.” – Tyler Schien, @ETwater @JainsUSA #smartirrigationmonth pic.twitter.com/k62FAifqK2
— ETwater, a Jain Irrigation Company (@ETwater) July 23, 2020
“Back in 2004, the idea of using science to set up watering schedules was a game-changer in our industry. Since then, I’ve been focused on helping customers optimize their irrigation for maximum efficiency.” – Gregg (“Mr. Smart Irrigation”) Black, @ETwater #smartirrigationmonth pic.twitter.com/LBg2yS8wiH
— ETwater, a Jain Irrigation Company (@ETwater) July 16, 2020
It’s #smartirrigationmonth but you may ask, “What is smart irrigation?” Here’s re-up of the classic @ETwater handy #INFOGRAPHIC widely used in schools visually depicting automatic weather-based #irrigation control. With #AI #PredictiveAnalytics helping secure water for our future pic.twitter.com/4g1pq1Lwa2
— ETwater, a Jain Irrigation Company (@ETwater) July 15, 2020
The Irrigation Association was successful with the same strategy. They promoted people, not products.
“Smart irrigation is more than just saving water. As an educator, it is about spreading knowledge. Using smart technology is only as good as the person managing the system, and as a trainer, it’s about teaching how to maximize the potential of these tools.” #SmartIrrigationMonth pic.twitter.com/5hSECdRhre
— Irrigation Association (@irrigationassoc) July 25, 2020
The EPA gained lots of engagement with the promotion of contractors.
#SmartIrrigationMonth may have ended, but remember that you can find certified Irrigation professionals- the people behind smart irrigation – who can help you save water and keep a healthy landscape. https://t.co/qEBWcvr04G pic.twitter.com/bghZObLAzO
— EPA WaterSense (@EPAwatersense) July 31, 2020
They also had a very successful tweet promoting the use of smart controllers.
During #SmartIrrigationMonth, let a WaterSense labeled Weather-Based Irrigation Controller create the ideal watering schedule for your landscape. https://t.co/YANkFLrjQW pic.twitter.com/ATIRUOorqx
— EPA WaterSense (@EPAwatersense) July 29, 2020
Another successful tweet from @irriaudi concerning people, not products.
Big congrats to Dr. Isaya Kisekka on being recognized with IA’s 2020 Excellence in Education award! pic.twitter.com/umXLa8j1r5
— Michael Gutierrez (@irriaudi) July 7, 2020
Finally, the @irrigationassoc tweet concerning keeping the message going all year long was popular.
As #SmartIrrigationMonth comes to an end, we give a final salute to YOU — the people behind irrigation. Even though July is over, we encourage you to continue sharing your smart irrigation story throughout the year with your customers, regulators, legislators and water districts! pic.twitter.com/Gpz7U7MkF7
— Irrigation Association (@irrigationassoc) July 31, 2020
I’ve been promoting smart practices for years with an emphasis on correct design, site planning and plant selection. The advent of controllers that adjust themselves to various inputs is to me the icing on the cake. To often a contractor installs a smart controller on a poorly designed and inefficient system (or installs a system that is such) and thinks they have that watering saving item licked when it is far from it. Education is the key and the more the better-I’ve taught for eight years now and it makes my day when I encounter someone that “gets it”.