Best Marketing Practices 101: Ideas for grower trainings and farmer resources Kelly Coleman CISA

CISA’s brand CISA owns the trademark to this brand. Market in 3 counties in western MA Tag “western MA Grown”

82% consumer recognition of brand Consumers 2 x as likely to buy local Over 240 members, 175 are farmers Spend average of $25-30,000 on advertising a year Success

Membership Farms Retailers Restaurants Specialty Products producers Institutions Garden centers/landscapers

Examples of CISA’s efforts

Farm to Consumer Connections

Marketing 101 for farmers “I am not a marketing person – I didn’t ever expect to be a business owner.” “I got into farming because I love to grow– I didn’t want to be a marketer.” “With all the farmwork, its hard to find time to spend marketing it.”

CISA’s plan Run a 6 week course on marketing in the “off” season. Invite farmers and community experts to be speakers. Provide additional technical assistance to farms that attend the whole series, but also allow farms to pick and choose classes. Write up resource sheets and lessons learned to share.

Workshop 1: Why? Everyone has limited resources and you HAVE to make decisions about where and how to market your business. It is not easy to determine how to get the best bang for your buck. Your best marketing strategy builds on your plan. Narrowly defining and committing to a specific marketing strategy or target audience can be really scary.

Workshop 1: A marketing plan What is your marketing goal? What is your brand? Who is your audience? How are you/can you reach your target audience? How do you make it all work together?

Workshop 2: Paid Advertising Advertising is a staple of marketing (but farm from the ONLY strategy)-- almost 70% of participating farms said they advertised already. Determining where, when, and how often to advertise is not easy.

Workshop 2: Paid Advertising Print benefits People who read the local paper are interested in what is going on in their community. Your ad has clear directions on how to find your farm and people can save it. You can have the ad placed in the relevant section of the paper (food, weekend, etc) to find the kind of reader you want. Drawbacks People toss the paper out every day; short shelf life. Studies say that newspaper readership is dropping.

Workshop 2: Paid Advertising Radio benefits Radio is a great venue for storytelling about your farm. A good radio ad creates a positive image of your farm. Catchy ads are remembered long after they are gone. Radio reaches a large mass market. On-air appearances may come with ad contracts and add value to your investment. Drawbacks People tune out radio ads at first. Repetition is the key. Your ad needs to be compelling to break through ad clutter.

Workshop 2: Paid Advertising Television benefits In some rural markets, local TV stations have a captive audience that is far larger than print and radio combined. Good visuals can show viewers how beautiful your farm is or how fun your festival will be. Drawbacks Self-produced ads can be hokey. If you are not comfortable being on camera, this may not be the venue for you. Ads can be produced without showing the farmer, but studies show that consumers want to connect a real person to their food.

Workshop 2: Paid Advertising Internet Banner benefits Can target to particular audience. Relatively easy to track “hits”/interest. Drawbacks You need a good website to make this worth the investment. Is your audience on-line?

Workshop 2: Paid Advertising Cost per thousand impressions or CPM. “how much am I getting for my money?” Use duplicated numbers of individuals (in your target audience) reached in an average 4-week period. The lower the CPM the more cost-efficient the buy.

Workshop 3: Earned Media Your money or your life? Building a relationship with the media Writing press releases Creating press-worthy events, activities, stories, etc. Content marketing

Workshop 3: Earned Media Create a press list (include at least one generic address for each outlet: Introduce yourself – what are you an expert in? How can you help journalists? Write your press release so it could be printed word-for-word. Send via body of – no attachments.

Workshop 3: Earned Media

Workshop 4: Merchandising Often overlooked – but critical part of marketing. Everything from roadside signs to retail displays and store flow to customer service. Be visible, be neat/clean, be nice.

Workshop 4: Merchandising Tips for displays Create sense of abundance Eye level and off the ground! Use good signage

Workshop 5: Internet Websites newsletters Blogs On-line stores

Workshop 6: Your Marketing Plan Participants were the focus– each participant shared two marketing strategies they would pursue. All presenters were there to ask questions, provide advice. Other attendees are a wealth of knowledge too. Attendees who participated in 4 workshops and presented got 1:1 assistance with an expert.

Keys to success Make sure your series is relevant to your community. Vet your speakers and work with them before they present! Consistent attendance creates rapport among class. Leave time for networking.

What they said “I was working on my brochure when I attended the first workshop: it helped me focus a lot.” “The website session was really helpful.” “The series was a tremendous opportunity to hear other people talk – I got energized just listening.”