You would be hard pressed to find many farmers who make impulse buys. Instead, farmers spend a great deal of time and energy making sure that any purchase they make will have a positive, long-term impact on their operation.
Whether you are selling farm implements or seed, your target audience-farmers-is likely to be tougher to sell to than other businesses or consumers. While many of the traditional marketing channels such as direct mail will be a part of your marketing strategy, appealing to farmers should always include the three following tactics:
- Build Relationships. Relationship building is talked about a lot in marketing circles, but this method of marketing is especially important in the ag industry. Farmers need to know and trust the person who is selling to them. And like any good relationship, it takes time to build trust. While it can be frustrating waiting for a farmer to finally decide to buy, it will be worth the wait. Most farmers are looking for a long-term partnership with their vendors, so chances are they will remain loyal customers far into the future. They also are very likely to refer you to family and friends.
- Make a (Good) Name for Yourself. Like every other consumer today, farmer pay close attention to online reviews and those reviews will play an important part in a farmer’s purchasing decision. Make sure your website contains testimonials about your products and customer service. You also need to fill your website with the type of content that inspires confidence and positions you as a thought leader in the ag industry.
- Be transparent. Farmers don’t have a board of directors to report to, but neither do they have anyone other than themselves to absorb the losses if they make a poor buying decision. In light of this, it is critical that you understand a farmer’s operation and only sell products you are confident will positively affect that operation. It also is critical that farmers understand any and all risks associated with a product you are selling. Further, while sales is all about closing the deal, applying too much pressure to farmers who are still weighing their options is sure to backfire.
No matter how you are marketing to farmers-whether it be through newsletters, direct mail, email or social media-at the heart of that strategy must lie an understanding of how farmers make buying decisions. Only then can you expect to earn farmers’ trust and, ultimately, their business.
