High-Tech / Low- Tech Direct Marketing

By Julie Mettenburg, Mettenburg Farmand

Rosanna Bauman, Cedar Valley Farms

Kansas Rural Center 2011 Sustainable Agriculture Conference

Outline for Today• Why direct marketing doesn’t have to

be intimidating

• Basics of “branding”

• About our farms

• The 6 steps in the sales & marketing funnel

• The top 5 tools every farm should have (for marketing, that is)

• Exercise: build your own marketing mix

Top 10 myths about farm direct marketing

• 10. You have to develop a “brand.”

• 9. You have to do it all.

• 8. You have to have a web site.

• 7. You have to hire a designer.

• 6. You have to order 1,000 fancy brochures.

• 5. You have to be at a farmers market.

• 4. You have to advertise to sell anything.

• 3. You have to blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (fill in the _____ with latest social media app)

• 2. Marketing is expensive.

• 1. Sales is skeevy work.

Basic Branding for Farm Direct Marketers

• 2 words: Be. Yourself.

• In local food market, farms can be seen as “micro-niches.”

• Authenticity rules.

Mettenburg & Bauman FamiliesMettenburg & BaumanFamilies

Bauman’s Cedar Valley Farm

Bauman’s Logo

Mettenburg Farm

Shared Farm -- Martin Farm

Julie’s Marketing & Sales Funnel• 1. Awareness

• 2. Repeat exposure / relationship- building

• 3. “The ask”: Ask for the sale

• 4. Closing the sale

• 5. Fulfillment / customer service

• 6. Ongoing follow-up

--REPEAT--

1. Awareness• The goal: Get in front of people. Drive word-of-mouth,

referrals, new exposures

• Low-tech: restaurants/wholesale, advertising, publicity, farmers markets, community events, school/church/charity auctions, “cold calls”/door-to-door, networking (rotary clubs etc.), flyers/brochures, direct mail, expo’s

• High-tech: YouTube (video), Facebook, Twitter, SEO via website, blogging, sites like Local Harvest / Eat Wild, area sites like Our Local Food / KC Food Circle, MailChimp, local electronic media ie Wellcommons, Sunflower Horizons

Community networkingCommunity networking

2. Building relationships / repeat exposures

• Repeat step 1 -- indefinitely

• Low-tech: farm events/visits, newsletter, special offer letters, birthday/anniversary notes, holiday notes / reminders, direct mail postcards

• High-tech: blog, e-newsletter, online mail programs (ie SendOutCards).

• “Capturing” is key!!!

Farm visitsFarm visits

3. Ask for the sale• #1 small-biz marketer problem: assuming they know you are there so

will buy.

• People want to be asked! Enlist them in your efforts, too. Like farm buy-in.

• Low-tech: coupons/deals, sales letters, checking-in calls, free samples, ask for referrals, deliver information (ie drought updates so need to sell), food parties, offer smaller packs/entry points, holiday offers, regular “how you doing?”, retail tactics, “would you like to purchase?”

• High-tech tools: sales emails, Facebook posts, tweets

• Tip: KNOW your product is valuable and great! Helps get over the sales hurdles.

4. Close the Sale• Make it clear how-to and easy to

purchase from you.

• Low-tech: price lists, phone demeanor/availability, answering service, answer questions, receipts

• High-tech: online order form, customer service emails, FAQ’s, offer both self- serve and by-phone/email ordering. Promptness #1 (ie acknowledge order)

Closing the Closing the SaleSale

Its more than a

transaction

5. Customer service / fulfillment• Some things to think about: follow-

through with any promises; have integrity and be consistent with your product; set prices carefully.

• Low-tech tools: delivery (think it through carefully), satisfaction policy, recipes, recall procedure, professionalism

• High-tech tools: electronic cookbook, blog online, user information, general knowledge

Professional fulfillmentProfessional fulfillment

6. Ongoing follow-up• Repeat steps 1 & 2 -- indefinitely

• Low-tech: check-in after purchase, send a thank-you, provide referral tools and gifts, holiday offers, customer appreciation events, calls for favorite recipes, testimonials

• High-tech: automated reminders, campaigns

TransparencyTransparency

Basic “toolkit” to assemble this winter• 1. Logo and visual identity: consistent look, color scheme, fonts

• 2. Brochure / flyer / web site and business cards

• 3. Contacts database -- Excel, online contact management like Batchbooks

• 4. Invoicing / receipts system -- paper, Paypal

• 5. Pricing / inventory system

• Advanced technique / extras to consider: Labels/packaging system, schwag (shopping bags, pens, caps etc.), matching farmers market attire for workers (t-shirts, aprons, ball caps etc.), car door magnet / attire

This is why you market

What’s next in high-tech• AgLocal.com: smart phone app

• Our Local Food web hub: sign-up via ourlocalfoodks.org

• Wallace Center: The Farmer and the Dell -- Technology for Good Food■ AgSquared - farm planning and management tool http://agsquared.com■ Top10Produce - innovative farm traceability system

http://top10produce.com/■ Local Orb.it - food hub "back office" system http://localorb.it/lo2/■ Idaho's Bounty - cooperative-model food hub adapting open source

software http://idahosbounty.org/■ Real Time Farms - restaurant food transparency system

http://www.realtimefarms.com/

This is why you market