Direct Marketing Workshop (2017)

Direct Marketing Strategies: Connecting with Your Customer Base

Molly Nicholie

“Chefs are saying that in 2017, the focus will shift more to high-quality,

locally-sourced ingredients.”

-The Daily Meal, 2017

● 61 percent of shoppers wanting their produce department to stock more local items.

● Shoppers’ definition of local is tightening and increasingly shifting towards a mile radius and state lines.

● Support for the local farmers/economy overtook perceived freshness as the top reason for buying locally-grown.

Research Shows That Consumers...Prefer local

“56% of respondents to Fresh Trends 2016 said they felt strongly about keeping their food dollars within their own community”

–The Packer, Fresh Trends 2016

Want connections with their farmers

“For today’s consumers, food is now a cultural product to discover, share, make and trade. This reconnection with food and its origins is encouraging a new level of participation. ”

–Hartman Group, The Consumer-Driven Redefinition of Quality in Food Culture

Value transparency

“Today’s shoppers are very educated and seek out product attributes important to their lifestyles and beliefs, from food origin and transparency to freshness, ingredients and health attributes”

–Progressive Grocer, What's in Store 2017

MARKETING PLAN

⦿ Planning

⦿ Pricing

⦿ Promotion

⦿ Distribution

COST OF MARKETING

Money

● Paid advertising

● Signage● Promotional

Materials

Time

● Education● Building

community● Relationship

building● Earned media

TARGETED MARKETING

⦿ Most of us do not have mass markets⦿ Do not try to market to everyone⦿ Sell your product to “one person”

WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO REACH?

⦿ This narrow focus is called a “market segment”.

⦿ You can segment people by all kinds of factors, like:◼ Gender or age ◼ Price willingness◼ Interests◼ Location◼ Religion or ethnicity◼ Income◼ Size of Household◼ Local vs. tourist◼ Etc.

Think about who you most want as customers…

Then come up with examples of real people to help you gear your marketing towards them.

EXAMPLE: AMANDA

Amanda

⦿ She is married + has two children ages 5 and 9.

⦿ They go to Haw Creek Elementary.

⦿ She is a nurse at the hospital.⦿ Her interests outside of

family & work include:◼ Cooking◼ Bargain hunting◼ Fitness/Outdoor Rec.

HOW DO WE REACH AMANDA?

In the places she is already looking!

SEGMENT A: PARENTS WITH KIDS AT A LOCAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

⦿ Sponsor school sports events in exchange for logo placement/mention at those events.

⦿ Advertise in the yearbook or monthly newsletter.

⦿ Sponsor school plays and other functions that have a printed program.

WAYS TO DISPLAY YOUR MESSAGE:

KIDS AT A SCHOOL: PROMOTE YOURSELF THROUGH INVOLVEMENT

⦿ Offer cooking classes or classroom demonstrations.

⦿ Outreach to teachers and school administrators about educational field trips to your farm.

⦿ Donate product to PTO fundraisers and other school events.

PARENTS AT A SCHOOL: THINKING ABOUT MEDIA FOR THIS AUDIENCE

⦿ Parents of school-age kids will tend to follow certain patterns in media consumption:

◼ Radio: Predictable drive time radio.

◼ Some communities have targeted print media for this group, such as:

• WNC Parent (Asheville Citizen-Times)

• Summer camp guides or summer activity guides

• Special editions or inserts in local papers and magazine

PARENTS AT A SCHOOL

⦿ “Buying Club” type marketing can work well in any place with a critical mass of people

◼ Create some kind of bulk presentation of your product

• Apples by the bushel

• Side of freezer beef

• Case of 12 dozen eggs a week

◼ Organize a leader to coordinate this program

THE TRICK

⦿ Don’t just do one of these things. You are creating a coordinated program.

⦿ You are trying to reach the same person 3-5 times with a consistent message.

⦿ In doing so, you are going to reach other people like them, as well.

⦿ Don’t do anything just once unless you can really convince yourself it was a bad idea.

⦿ Be patient.

BACK TO AMANDA

⦿ She wants to be more health conscious

⦿ Therefore she has a focus on health/exercise and is specifically willing to spend money and time in those areas right now.

SEGMENT B: IDEAS TO REACH PEOPLE WITH HEALTH, EXERCISE, WEIGHT LOSS CONCERNS:

⦿ Provide rack cards or bulletin board material to local gyms.

⦿ Introduce yourself to nutritionists, heart health centers, and similar health providers.

⦿ Sponsor athletic events like a 5k.

⦿ Add lots of nutrition facts about products to your website. Add a recipe section.

⦿ Connect with natural food stores.

⦿ Use targeted radio, TV, or newspaper. TV: food network in your county; Radio: health-related call-in show; Newspaper: health/exercise column.

AMANDA WORKS AT THE HOSPITAL

⦿ What can we do with that?

SEGMENT C: REACHING HOSPITAL WORKERS

⦿ Meet with their HR director. Talk about local food as an employee benefit.

⦿ This could open the door to have posters or other materials in break rooms or public areas of the workplace.

⦿ Offer local food/seasonal content for newsletter⦿ Find one friend/ally on the inside. Offer them a free

share/product/etc. if they will be the “captain” in spreading the word about a direct-ordering/delivery system.

⦿ Offer to provide a “farm stand” on a certain day of the week – either just your farm or you and a couple friendly producers.

WE ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT AMANDA!

⦿ We’re just listing ways to reach one person (and similar cohorts) based on a narrow set of characteristics, and it’s STILL impossible to do it all. You could spend all your marketing time and money for the next year on the last 6 steps, and you might have some hope of reaching Amanda, as busy and distracted as she is.

⦿ So, be strategic and don’t try to reach everyone!

What other types of market segments might you focus on in your community?

Paul

⦿ Retired English professor from Atlanta

⦿ Second home in the mountains⦿ Grew up on a farm ⦿ Other interests:

◼ Gardening◼ Painting◼ Politics◼ Volunteering at church

WHAT ABOUT COST?

“Hey Molly, this has been an intriguing workshop, but I’ve analyzed all the ‘market segments’ in the places around me and they mostly have one thing in common:

Everyone is broke!”

Coupons?⦿ Use coupons that promote value, not discount/

cheapness. “Value” means a fair price but also refers to the perceived value of your product. The goal is not to reduce the price of your product; you want to increase its value, and the right kind of coupon can do that.

MARKETING: VALUE

VALUE COUPONS

Connection/farm story

⦿ A free tour of your farm with a purchase greater than $X.

⦿ “Buying-In” with bulk buying options or CSA offerings

What do your customers value in buying local?

VALUE COUPONS

Community

⦿ Receive free product for referring a friend to a major purchase.

Transparency

⦿ A free sample of one of your lesser-sold or less-understood products with a purchase greater than $X of a more popular product.

SHARE YOUR FARM STORY

⦿ The story behind your food – differentiating yourself

You have an authentic story to tell. Convey to your customers why your product is amazing – the quality, freshness, how supporting your business supports the local economy, uniqueness, personal connection with farmer and their family. You are able to give customers a real story and this is valuable.

STORYTELLING IS A TOOL FOR...

...Establishing yourself in people’s memories.

Stories help customers remember you and your farm.


...Inspiring customer commitment.

When customers feel connected to your story, they are far more likely to remain loyal, buying from you again and again.

WAYS TO ENGAGE PEOPLE WITH YOUR STORY

( Basic Marketing Strategy)

⦿ Take pictures - People love to see pictures of you and your farm and it connects them to your farm and business. Take pictures throughout the season and during different stages of production. This will give you lots of material to use in your communications.

BASIC MARKETING STRATEGY

⦿ Develop a farm identity and logoIt is important to brand yourself (logo, a phrase, message etc.) so that customers can easily identify your farm and products. Make your brand clear and concise. Use this brand consistently to create recognition and loyalty.

⦿ Engage Through Experiences

◼ Welcome visitors to your farm (i.e. farm tours, field trips, events,classes, etc.)

◼ Offer samples of your products/recipes


⦿ Educate - share information about products & growing practices◼ Use clear signage and labeling

◼ Welcome visitors to your farm so that they can experience firsthand how your products are grown

◼ Talk with customers about how your products are grown

◼ Display 3rd party certifications, if applicable



⦿ Identify as local

The demand for local has increased significantly and labeling your product local will help customers know it is truly grown and raised here in the region (this is especially true if you are selling to a third party/wholesale).

FOSTER WORD OF MOUTH WITH A GOOD WEB PRESENCE AND SMALL ADS SOMEWHERE

Customers say “I heard it from a friend” which tends to make us undervalue other kinds of earned and paid advertising.

Don’t count on word of mouth to work magically by itself.

HOW WORD OF MOUTH REALLY WORKS

I heard it from a friend

Then I saw your sign

Then I saw your rack card

Then I saw an article in the

paper

That reminded me to call you

HOW WORD OF MOUTH REALLY WORKS

Invest early in having nice looking, consistent, web and print materials, and/or regular ad placements (however small) in the media read by your target customers. EVEN IF you think of word of mouth as your primary strategy.

EARNED MEDIA

⦿ Press releases

⦿ Pitch stories

⦿ Become the local expert about food and agriculture for the local news

KEEP AND BUILD A LIST

⦿ It is especially important to get contact information for customers.

⦿ Get email addresses and mailing addresses. It is better if people opt in to getting communication from you.

⦿ Train everyone who represents your farm to ask for this information, and create sign-up systems to make it easy.

⦿ Send mass e-mail or mail communication selectively

⦿ Social media is good for a staying connected with customers throughout the year - images, seasonal updates + farm happenings.

⦿


...Inspiring customer commitment.

When customers feel connected to your story, they are far more likely to remain loyal, buying from you again and again.

SPEND LOTS OF MARKETING TIME AND MONEY ON THE CUSTOMERS YOU ALREADY HAVE

⦿ It is ten times easier to sell something else to an existing customer who loves your business than it is to find a new customer.

Build upon Existing relationships & Cross Promotions

● Target your marketing

● Craft and share your story (where they are already looking)

● Take pictures

● Develop a farm identity and logo

● Engage through Experiences

● Share more about your products and growing practices

● Identify as local

[email protected](828) 23No6-1282 Now What?

● Spend some money: Invest early in having nice looking, consistent, web and print materials, and/or regular ad placements (however small)

● Spend some time: Earned media, build a list, build on existing relationship

● Foster word of mouth: Try to reach the same person 3-5 times with a consistent message.

● Be patient: This type of marketing is relationship based and will take time to grow. Don’t just try something once.

●

[email protected](828) 23No6-1282 MAke a Plan

1:1 Support for Farms in WNC

Market Planning and Assessment / MarketingThis can include discussion of new or existing enterprises, potential market opportunities and requirements, connections with area buyers, and direct or wholesale marketing resources.

As part of a special project made possible through a grant from USDA, we have the unique opportunity to offer farmers in WNC 1:1 support managing marketing, financial and production risk.

Financial and Business ConsultationConsultations often include identifying business and financial goals, setting up record keeping systems, outlining enterprise budgets, QuickBooks training, and industry specific guidance.

Production Planning & AssistanceState and regional experts within the field and give you research based knowledge and resources.

Molly [email protected] ext 111

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]