Farm Marketing on a Shoestring
Melissa Schweisguth (melissa.schweisguth@gmail.com)
for OSU Extension Small Farms Program
Agenda
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Introductions
What’s marketing (in this class)
Branding & Identity
Marketing Planning [breakout]
[break]
Messaging
Real-time communication & materials
Media and free promotion
Online communication tools
So, What’s Marketing?
•  Goal: Build awareness, customers & revenue
•  Show how you meet customer needs/wants
Key activities
•  Image/Look
•  Developing Messaging
•  External Communications
•  Promotional Activities, Advertising
How does it differ from “sales?”
Marketing Processes
•  Market assessment •  Branding & positioning
•  Product innovation & launches
•  Planning & budgeting
•  Implementation
•  Evaluation
•  Repeat…
Branding & Identity
•  Name, logo, tagline
•  Clear, eye-catching, compelling, unique
•  Express who you are, what you do, values
•  Consider high-value keywords
•  See what peers are using, don't overlap
(TM search, USTPO)
•  Ask friends and family for input
Names & Keywords
•  Blue Fox Organics
•  Siskiyou Sustainable Co-op
•  Meadowlark Family Farm
•  Rise Up Artisan Breads
•  [If you have a business name, why did you
choose it?]
Logos
Taglines
•  Farming like there’s a tomorrow
•  Small farmers, big change •  people dedicated to sustainability, and the art
and tradition of making worlds finest
handmade cheese.
•  [Share any taglines you use, or that grab your
attention]
Marketing Plan
•  Why? – Optimize time and resource
allocation
– Identify needs and ways to improve
– Maximize emerging
opportunities
– Keep thinking ahead
Marketing Plan
•  Elements
–  Define product
–  Situation assessment
–  Placement (target markets)
–  Pricing
–  Promotional activities
–  Objectives: SMART
–  Strategies and tactics
–  Budget
–  Timeline
–  Assessment
Marketing Plan
•  Product: Offering/s, attributes and market/s
– Organic produce, consumers
– Organic, free-range eggs, consumer &wholesale
– Organic, open pollinated seed for farmers
– Other offerings (workshops)
– How can you add value? (delivery, etc.) – How can you be unique?
– What do buyers want?
– [What do you offer and why?]
Photo: Fry Family Farm
Marketing Plan
•  Situation Assessment
– Market potential
– Relevant Industry trends (organic, local)
– Customer needs and wants (fresh, healthy)
– Competition (peers), strengths and weaknesses
– Your strengths and weaknesses
– Competitive advantages vs peers
– Population data, market location data, websites,
markets, USDA, State Ag Dept, Extension
Marketing Plan
•  Placement – Market niche/s
– Target customers and venues
– How you'll get it there
– Food for thought: Partnerships, – food access
•  Pricing
– Equitable yet competitive
– Promotional pricing
[what challenges have you faced?]
Photos: Fry Family Farm
Marketing Plan
•  Promotion: How, where, when
– Sales activities
– Communications methods
– Earned media, submitted articles
– Tastings, demos, education, talks
– Events, donations
– Partners, organizations, word of mouth, referrals
– Advertising...costly – pursue above first
– Guerilla marketing
– [Other ideas? What's worked best? What hasn’t?]
Free/low cost marketing
•  Car magnet
•  T-shirts
•  Stickers
•  Flyers
•  Sampling
•  Online and print classifieds
•  Product donations
•  Promotion by customers: retail, restaurant
Evaluating Advertising
•  Create a spreadsheet to compare easily
•  Target audience match
•  Audience size: Circulation or unique web
visitors
•  Peer experience
•  Rate of repeat advertisers
•  Free ad-ins: classified, online ad, etc
•  Save money: collaborative advertising
Advertising Assessment Spreadsheet
•  Venue
•  Audience size (print/web separate)
•  Target audience
•  Geographic Reach
•  Frequency of publication
•  Rates for target ad sizes (1/6 pg, ¼ pg, etc)
•  (Note size – 1/6 pg differs across pub’s)
•  Incentives: multi-ad discount, free classified
or online ad with display ad
Marketing Plan
•  Objectives
– SMART: Specific, Measureable, Achievable
(yet Ambitious), Realistic, Time bound
– Prioritize
– Short and long term
– Sell $2,000 worth of eggs this market season
– Obtain 25 CSA members by 5/31/12
•  Strategies and tactics
– How you'll achieve your objectives
[share your objectives]
Marketing Plan
•  Budget
– Expenses and desired returns
– Allowance for local, sustainable inputs?
•  Timeline – When you'll implement strategies and tactics
•  Assessment: How and how often – Monthly or quarterly
– By product, by sales venue
– Promotional codes on ads to track source
Marketing Timeline Spreadsheet
•  Date/Due Date
•  Activity
•  Who is responsible – lead, support
•  Cost
Breakout
•  Breakout 20 minutes
•  Report back 15 minutes: •  Three marketing objectives for 2011-2012
•  Three current and three new promotional
activities/venues
•  Three competitive strengths and three
weaknesses
Then…10 minute break!
Messaging
•  Key messages to develop
– Three to five key messages about your business
and offerings
– Three key motivations
– 50/100/200 word descriptions of your business
•  Avoid triteness, don’t overwhelm
•  Adhere to regulations (organic, FTC Green
Guide) and common-sense honesty
•  Remember: communicate how you meet
needs and wants
Real Time Communications
•  You!
•  Flyers
•  Brochures
•  Business Card
•  Signage, shelf talkers
•  Packaging
•  [Materials review: what features are
compelling/good examples? Anything you'd
change?]
Real Time Communications
•  Flyer/Brochure
– Name and logo
– Who you are
– What you offer
– Why you’re unique
– How to get your products
– How to contact you
– Website, social media, etc. links
– Use photos (color) or illustrations (b/w)
Earned Media, Promotional Venues
•  How to pitch the media
– Target to appropriate media/reporters
– Include a personal intro with your pitch stating
how how your story is relevant and timely
– Be complete: who, what, where, why when, how
– Be concise: Use proper spelling, grammar, form
– Be aware of lead times
Earned Media, Promotional Venues
•  Media contacts
– Identify writers covering relevant topics in
media in target market/s
– Read local media, magazines (also online)
– Do a google news search for relevant topics
– Keep in a spreadsheet, track contacts
– Build a relationship
Media Contact Spreadsheet
•  Publication
•  Type (print, online, blog)
•  Deadline/lead time
•  Focus (general, food, etc)
•  Audience type (business, consumer)
•  Geographic reach
•  Contact name
•  Email, phone, etc
•  Topics pitched/response
Earned Media, Promotional Venues
•  Event calendars
– Create simple events: tasting, farm tour, etc.
– Online: media, relevant organizations, community
– Print: Newspapers, magazines, trade publications
– Tidings, Tribune iJPR, free papers
•  Be the media
– Write articles in media (Mail Tribune Magazines,
In Good Tilth) (see “submission guidelines”) and
blogs; Submit Letters to the Editor
– Write your own blog
Online Communication Tools
•  Website – Key pages: About, Products, How to Buy, Contact
– Additional pages: Recipes, News
– Platforms: Wordpress, Content Management
System (CMS)
– Be engaging, personal, clear and concise
– Start small and build up
Website Examples
•  ATGCSA http://ashlandvillagefarmers.wordpress.com/ •  Village Farm http://atgcsa.wordpress.com/ •  Siskiyou Co-op http://www.siskiyoucoop.com/ •  Fry Family Farm http://reggaj.posterous.com/ •  Full Circle Bison http://www.fullcirclebisonranch.com/ •  La Mera Gardens http://www.lemeragardens.com/ •  Family Famer Seed Co-op
http://www.organicseedcoop.com Online Communication Tools
•  E-newsletter/E-mail list
– Formatted E-news (Mail Chimp, Constant
Contact)
– Text-only email
– PDF for e-mail, website
– Blog people subscribe to
– Be informative, not just self-promoting
– Determine content areas: updates, products
available, product information, sales, recipes – Be consistent, don’t spam
E-Newsletter Examples
•  Village Farm (blog) http://ashlandvillagefarmers.wordpress.com/
•  ATGCSA (blog) http://atgcsa.wordpress.com/ •  Siskiyou Co-op (ask Maud for a copy)
•  Blue Fox (blog) http://reggaj.posterous.com/ •  Thrive (sign up)
•  RVF2S (sign up/ask Tracy for a copy)
•  Your e-newsletters?
Online Communication Tools
•  Blog
– Ongoing updates/news
– Categories: Content focus areas
– Tags: keywords
– Be engaging, informative, concise
– Mix up format: photo blogs, Q&A, etc.
– Be consistent – monthly, etc.
– Sketch out a plan
– Share via social media
– Platforms: Wordpress, posterous
Blog Examples
•  Village Farm http://ashlandvillagefarmers.wordpress.com/ •  Blue Fox http://reggaj.posterous.com/
•  Your blogs…
Online Communication Tools
•  Social media
– Facebook: social networking platform
– Twitter: short messages
– 4 Square: check into places, share with friends
– Rapidly growing, especially Facebook
– Not a replacement for website, direct marketing
communications
– Build 2-way engagement
– [how many use these?]
Online Communication Tools
•  Facebook – Audience skews toward consumers
– Many businesses, media, nonprofits – Business: Set up a page, not a group
– Wall
– Photos
– Video
– Blog link
– Twitter integration
– Smart phone apps to upload content Facebook examples
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http://www.facebook.com/bluefoxfarm
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fry-Family-Farm/256529914156
Rogue Valley Farms, Rogue Valley Farm to School
Ashland Food Co-op, Farm to Fork (http://www.facebook.com/farmtoforkevents)
Online Communication Tools
•  Twitter
– 140 character messages
– Also useful as a news reader
– Link to facebook & website for easy updates
– Text message from phone to twitter
– Functions: Tweet, RT, MT, @reply, @message,
DM, post photos
– Audience skews toward professionals
– Hoot Suite: useful management tool
– User stats: quantcast.com/twitter.com
Hoot Suite
Online Communication Tools
•  Photo sharing sites (flikr, picasa)
•  Posterous (blog, sharing, team collaboration)
•  Google+
•  Others you use?
Homework
•  Marketing plan draft - especially target market, promotion
methods, market assessment, competition. Identify three
strengths, weaknesses/needs and advantages
•  50/100/200 word description of business
•  Three to five key messages about business
•  Three motivations for launching business
•  Website plan, or plan to expand such as blog •  Look at competitor FB, twitter, websites •  Set up Wordpress account for WP site
•  Bring laptop if you want to use yours next week
Resources
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Marketing Planning & Implementation Guidance
–  OSU extension: http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/marketing
–  ODA: http://oregon.gov/ODA/ADMD/farmers_markets.shtml –  UC Davis: http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/marketing/ –  U of Florida http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy597 –  ATTRA: https://attra.ncat.org/marketing.html –  NA Farmers Direct Marketing Assoc: http://www.nafdma.com/ –  Sample marketing plan (leafy greens):
http://www.mplans.com/agriculture_produce_farm_marketing_plan/executive_summary_fc.php Market Research
–  USDA: http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/marketsize/ Marketing tips
–  http://www.nwpub.net/Selling-Produce-Hot-50-Small-Farm-Marketing-Tips.html Magazines & websites
–  Growing for Market: http://www.growingformarket.com/
–  BeginningFarmers.org
•  Funding for beginning farmers, rural enterprise, sustainable agriculture
–  http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php
?info_center=2&tax_level=2&tax_subject=301&topic_id=1445