Nicole Burkhard, Nova Scotia Agriculture
November 13th, 2011
ACORN
‘Original’ Guerilla Marketing
 Guerilla marketing – concept
from early 1980’s
 Level playing field of small
businesses competing with
large corporate marketing
budgets
 Creativity is free: advertize in
unexpected places, get word
out through buzz
 Get maximum results with
minimal $$
New Era of Marketing
Today
Yesterday
 Traditional marketing as
one-way communication
 Newspaper ads
 Billboards
 Commercials
 Earned media
 Businesses hunt for
customers
 Based on social marketing
 Relationship-based
 Customer engagement 



experiential
2-way conversation
Peer-to-peer
(recommendations)
Powerful new tools: internet,
e-mail & social media
Businesses are found (google,
facebook)
What is your marketing strategy?
 Know Yourself
 What is your mission, vision, values, brand?

A brand is not just a logo, it’s your whole package – it’s every point of
contact with your customers (website, online ‘personality’, phone
message, customer service, etc.), which is informed by your values
 Know Your Customers
 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your customers –
how are you targeting this segment?
 Are you listening to what customers are saying about you?
(monitor social media, surveys, feedback, Google Alerts)
Maximizing your marketing impact:
 Use your community connections to reach people and find
out who your customers are
 Create win-win partnerships with other businesses
(collective marketing – geographic, complementary
products & services, etc.)
 Spread the word through educational events and
workshops
 Use internet tools like social media and e-mail marketing
to develop strong and lasting relationships with your
customers
Why use social media?
 Only one component of your overall marketing plan – but
an essential component :




75% of Canadians use social media
55% of Canadians are on Facebook
47% of Canadians are on Twitter
Top 3 sites: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
 Social media has been found to:





Increase general exposure for business
Increase traffic to website
Increase search marketing
Create new business partnerships
Improve sales
Tips for using social media (SM)
 Define your goals:
 What is the purpose of your page? Identify 1-3 objectives
 Content strategy:
 80% Educational and Entertaining

What do people want to know? What are the top 10 questions
people ask you? What’s happening on the farm today?
 20 % Information on your products

What you have available, and when and how people can buy it
Tips for using social media (SM)
 Have a call to action – you don’t just want to engage
your customers, you want them to act:
 Visit your website (online store, CSA sign-up, etc.)
 Tell friends about your products & services
 Run contests and promotions
Tips for using social media (SM)
 Optimize your webpage and e-mail signature for social
media:
 Make people aware of your SM presence and encourage them
to like, follow, view and share…
 Post often & keep content relevant – be proactive
 Use time-saving strategies and tools:
 Link Facebook and Twitter accounts
 Use hootsuite.com to schedule messages and manage SM
accounts
Facebook Tips
 Profile = personal (friend)
 Page = business (like)
 Group = ideas/things in common (join)
 Recommendation: Facebook Page
 Statistics under ‘Insights’
 Can post as business – huge potential for networking,
sharing information, gaining exposure
YouTube
 2nd largest online search engine after Google
 Untapped potential for getting your word out
 CSA promotional video
 ‘a day in your life on the farm’
 Example: Annapolis Seeds
 The_chronicle_herald_metro_20111024_A04.pdf
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u9_mHLgqOQ&fea
ture=youtu.be
CONTACT INFO:
Nicole Burkhard
Agricultural Transition Officer
Nova Scotia Agriculture
burkhane@gov.ns.ca
902-638-2397