Why Email Marketing and Ag Businesses Work Well Together

Why Email Marketing and Ag Businesses Work Well Together

Is your Ag business using email marketing to reach your target audience of farmers and promote your products and services? Chances are the answer to that question is yes as it is well known that email marketing remains an extremely effective marketing technique.

More than 90 percent of farmers say they use email while only about 60 percent use social media. Further, 75 percent of farmers say email marketing is their preferred way to be contacted.

Email marketing offers the following benefits to Ag businesses:

  1. The opt-in feature allows you to market to farmers by consent.
  2. It allows for targeting by demographics. For example, crop type or number of acres.
  3. There are a greater number of formatting options compared to those available with social media messaging or apps
  4. Reporting and analytic capabilities include things like click-through, open and bounce rates, as well as conversions
  5. Email marketing is significantly less expensive and easier than other marketing methods

What you may not know is that email marketing can do much more than promote products and services. Instead, it helps you to develop relationships with farmers over time. And that, in the long run, will do much more than a one-time sales rush.

If you are looking to up your email marketing game, here are some suggestions that will allow you to do just that:

  1. Build your own list of customers and prospects. It is much more likely that a farmer will open an email from a business he or she is familiar with than an unsolicited email.
  2. Always adhere to rules regarding spam. Specifically, make sure that your subject lines are not misleading, allow readers to unsubscribe and always identify your company
  3. Limit the number of emails you send. Your emails need content that connects, educates and inspires. And remember, when it comes to the number of emails you send, less is always more. Once or twice a month is a good average. The key is to leave farmers wanting to hear more from you, not less!

Finally, while email is preferable to social media, that doesn’t mean the two can’t work together. Add a “Like” or “Share” button to your emails to encourage customers and prospects to connect with you in other ways, as well. Likewise, reviews from social media sites can be included in emails.