If you want to create a buzz about your small farming operation, it is important that you garner it some local online visibility. This can be achieved through things like a responsive website or being active on social media.

However, as every business owner knows, you never know where your sales leads may come from. That’s why if you are looking to promote your local produce business, it is important to market yourself out in the community, as well as online.

While it would be wonderful if you could afford print and broadcast ads, this is probably not financially feasible. So how can you get your business noticed in the community without spending a lot of money? Here are three simple ideas that will help you to get the word out about your business:

1. Join a cooperative. A cooperative offers larger clients the convenience of buying from a single source. When you work as part of a cooperative, your produce can be sold to larger institutions, such as schools, whose needs you would not be able to meet on your own. Further, many cooperatives have a spokesperson that helps to market its members.
2. Make a stand. While it may seem like small potatoes, a roadside stand can really help to increase your visibility in the community. Such a stand also will allow you to avoid fees that come with most farmers markets. You may be surprised at the number of visitors your stand attracts and, if your produce is outstanding and your service top-notch, how quickly word of your business spreads throughout the community.
3. Go restaurant-hopping. Many local restaurants are searching for local produce to use when preparing their menu items. Visiting local chefs and restaurants and providing them with a list of produce you can provide is a great way to sell your homegrown items. Many restaurants will even list your farm on their menu, which gets your name out in the community and allows people to sample your produce.

While your agricultural operation may be small, it doesn’t need to stay that way. By promoting your business online and offline, you may be surprised at how quickly word spreads about your homegrown merchandise.

It might come as a surprise to many Ag business owners, but social media can drastically increase their number of sales leads. The key is to understand what specific aspects of social media to concentrate on. After all, social media is a broad term that encompasses many different things.

In order to make sure that your social media strategy is as effective as possible, it is important that you concentrate on what is hot right now in the world of social media. So what is hot? The following list outlines it for you:

Social Signals: When people share your content, it sends more traffic to your website. More traffic, means a higher SEO ranking. So while social media doesn’t directly affect your SEO, without it your SEO can certainly suffer. The takeaway? Organic, high-quality content is more important than ever.

Mobile Traffic: Last year, mobile traffic among farmers and ranchers overtook desktop traffic in the United States and its usage shows no signs of slowing. Think of all of the time farmers and ranchers spend away from their desks and it is easy to see why mobile is so popular with them. If it isn’t already, mobile needs to be one of your highest priorities.

Data-Driven Targeting: With all of the valuable insights that can be gained through social media analytics and other reporting tools, there is simply no excuse for not personalizing your marketing message to every one of your agriculture leads. Make no mistake, your competition is approaching the same farmers and ranchers that you are—and chances are they are doing it with a personalized message. Make sure you don’t lose farmers and ranchers who feel another company knows them better.

Engagement Matters: Research shows that social media influences customers’ buying decisions even more than retail websites. Further, the more engaged your customers are on your social media sites, the greater your sales numbers. That’s why it is so important that you work to make your social media sites commerce-driven. While buying over social media is still in its infancy, the day will come when you will need to implement such strategies. Until then, engaging farmers and ranchers via social media about your products and services will make the inevitable transition much smoother.

Social media has endless potential but it requires a great deal of time and attention to do it right. This is time well spent, however, as the potential payoff is huge.

 

 

 

If you are in the business of marketing to farmers and ranchers, you know you need to be on social media. In fact, you are probably spending a good deal of your marketing budget making sure you are visible on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

In your rush to get on social media and continue to remain active there, however, you may have forgotten why you are there in the first place. Is social media really that important? How is it helping your Ag business?

In case you are wondering what social media has done for you lately, here are some important reminders:

It has improved your SEO. Every tweet, post, and update leads to more traffic to you website. Many of those visitors are prospects that are interested in your product or service (aka sales leads)!

It has established you as an expert in your field. Through a blend of content and engagement, farmers and ranchers can tell that you know what you are talking about – and they look to you for the answers. And when it comes time to make a buying decision, they will look to you, as well!

It has improved your customer service. Comment or question? Problem or complaint? No matter what your Ag customers need, you can get it for them. Equally important, when you solve a customer’s dilemma quickly and completely, the whole world can witness it!

It has built your brand. Your brand is your most important asset. No matter what message you want your brand to convey, social media lets you do it. It also lets you tweak your message along the way if you feel that is necessary.

It has helped you get to know your target audience. Are the farmers and ranchers you are trying to reach bored with your message? Do they want to know more about you? Do they love what they are learning from you? Social media allows you to answer all of these questions so that you can literally “give the people what they want.”