How to get more farm business by marketing online. It's easier than you think.
How to get more farm business by marketing online. It's easier than you think.
Online shopping isn't anything you haven't heard before, but as the modern place where e-commerce happens, your farm needs to have an online presence. Sure, people still go out to the store to shop for certain things, but they also want the option to find unique, fun, and local (when possible) products online. So, it's important to show up where they can find you.
Creating an online store does not have to be hard. There are many great options out there for online shops like Shopify, Etsy, LocalLine, etc. If you want to try Local Line, you can get premium features using our coupon code BRITE2023. Farmbrite also has an online farm shop that makes taking your farm product online just as easy as a push of a button. You can also use Facebook Marketplace as well. Once you find a platform that works best for your business and budget, it's time to put your online cart and your products online.
Establishing a Web Presence For Your Farm
Offer your services or products online with a website or use social media to tell folks what you have available. More people will find your farm if you have an online presence. Then they can easily buy your products. Hopefully, you've found a site that makes it easy to keep your shop updated.
Your online farm shopping cart gives your customers access to your unique products and keeps your business growing. You can use the cart to track your orders and make notes about pick-ups. When a customer purchases something, you get a notification, and it is recorded automatically as profit in the accounting section of your account if it is linked or using a farm management system. Easy-peasy.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is how you can help your customers find you online. It is a digital marketing strategy. Your customers can find you through both paid and "organic" SEO tactics. This can get very technical, but just know that this is a way that you can help your rankings in online searches.
Getting An Online Farm Shop
Your site should be a reflection of your personality- but also professional. Not only should you add personal details about who you are but also why you opened your farm.
How To Get In Touch
You want it to be easy for your customers to reach you. You also want to be communicative with them so that they know you're reliable. Provide information on how people can reach you and when you will get back to them. Make sure that you are checking this often and actually following up.
Visits To The Farm
Give your hours of operation, location, and other details, like when your physical location is open to the public. This gives your customers a glimpse into when you're available. You may get questions about visits to the farm. Many customers want to connect with their local farms and food sources by visiting farms. If this isn't something that you offer, that's ok, but you should make that known because you may get questions or curious people showing up. You may want to offer a time when people can visit the farm. If you do this, make sure to have a small shop where people can purchase items and have policies about where they can go and what they can do on the farm.
Keep It Updated:
It's a good idea to keep your shop up to date and filled with seasonal items. To keep your shop updated and fresh, add photos and descriptions (with dimensions if available) so that the customers know what to expect. You might also consider adding what customers have said about the same products.
Post Your Updates on Social Media:
Post on your farm's social media pages as you make items available on your shop page. Some of the most common are social media platforms like Facebook/Instagram/TikTok, etc. Let your customers know about your new offerings and what's going on around your farm. People want to feel close to their food.
Getting Customers To Your Online Farm Shop
Setting up a website where customers can find your farm store is just one part of the equation. The next part is getting people to the page. We've gathered a few ideas of how to reach more customers as well as giving the old ones incentive to stay with you.
Marketing Your Online Farm Shop
Here are some proven tips to help market and promote your farm online
Create a brand: Create a unique name, logo, website, and brand. If you need help, check out a freelance service like Upwork or Fiverr. You might also look to your local chamber of commerce to find a local business.
Get the word out: Post your website on local coffee shop boards, sign up with neighborhoods, and as a business online with NextDoor.
Email list: Make sure you've started an email list. Send out regular updates even if you're starting a new farm. Get your customers excited about your brand.
Social media: Post on social media. You don't want to get lost in the feed, so post a few times a day if you can.
Sell in many places: If you also sell at the farmer's market, to restaurants, or to grocery stores, ask if you can leave a card, flyer, or other promotional material out for customers.
Quotes: Share customer quotes about your farm or shop on social media.
Farm living: Post videos of your farm, about how you solved a problem, made something, or other interesting things about you on a YouTube channel, stories, or other social sites.
Get the words out: Include your shop URL in your email signature.
Blog: Write a blog about things happening on the farm. When you have new offerings, talk about them here. For instance, "We just hatched 100 chicks", "Now offering farm fresh eggs with your CSA share"
Get reviews: Build your "social proof" in your store by offering a discount to past shoppers for a review. Online customers can't touch and feel the object they're buying. They want to know that they are getting what they're paying for. Good reviews reassure them that they are.
Newsletter: Send a regular monthly newsletter to your email list to keep them up to date about your farm and upcoming harvests or deals you might have going on.
Add your personality: Make your shop and experience memorable and unique to you.
Loyalty program: Create a loyalty program where the more they purchase, the more loyalty bucks (to be redeemed later) they receive. or offer discounts for repeat customers or a discount if they purchase over a certain amount or on their next visit.
Send a thank you: Send a follow-up email with a thank you and discount for their next purchase. or follow up at a later time with an email talking about similar products that they bought from you. For example, if they bought seeds, send a targeted email the following month talking about your live plants.
Selling Farm Products Online
Do Your Homework
It's valuable to do market research to know what kind of customer buy from you and how to sell to them. Understand your target audience and their needs to tailor your product offerings accordingly.
Use the shopping cart feature on your website to offer your products online to your customers. Make it easy for them to purchase from you anytime.
Offer seasonal produce as it becomes available
Sell items you've made
Sell CSA shares
Sell original season items (pumpkin spice it up).
Offer add-ons: baskets, gift wrapping, your farm branded items, chicken/goat/cow branded items, and cute things that are a little bit of an impulse buy.
Your Online Store
There are a few things that you will want to make sure your online store has available. Like a way for your customer to easily access your items and pay. If this isn't wasy for them, they might find another place to shop.
5 Pillars of Selling Online:
Communication: Be available for questions and follow-up. Customer service is key to keeping a loyal customer base.
Secure payment processing: Ensure a safe and reliable payment gateway to handle transactions. Make your return policy clear.
Shipping and fulfillment: Establish efficient shipping, delivery, or pickup options and clearly communicate delivery timelines with your customers.
Farm inventory management: Keep track of your stock levels to avoid out-of-stock issues.
Quality assurance measures: Make sure that you have correct labels and policies around the shelf life of items, how they are stored, etc., that adhere to food safety protocols. These farm traceability measures are critical to increasing customer confidence around your products.
Your online store is an important piece of your farm business, but a farm business plan is a must-have for any farm business. If you haven't taken the time to write down your goals, it might be worth it to understand all the ins and outs you need to get started.
Tips to sell your farm products
Here are some different marketing and pricing strategies to think about as you set up your online shop.
Get creative. Put in nice photos and be descriptive with your products; don't just say, a dozen eggs. Why are they different, delicious, and only available for a short time? Tell the story of why this product is awesome or different. Make it compelling, and you'll sell more.
Offer a coupon, contest, or promotion. It could be a gift with purchase, a t-shirt, or something you have a lot of.
Have a product of the week and discount that item...I bet you sell other things as well.
Pricing matters. There are lots of studies out there about purchasing. Many of these have shown that customers often feel lost after a purchase, but when the item is an odd number, they feel like they're getting a bargain. Here is a study that talks about pricing strategies. Putting the $_.99 price tag on things will help your customers have a happier buying experience.
Bring the people to you. You can offer events on your shop page. It could be renting camping space, farm-to-table dinners, bike-to-farm dinners, renting out space for weddings, or even goat yoga (yep, I said it.) You might even have summer camps for kids or DIY classes that help others learn about gardening, cheese making, woodturning, basket weaving, knitting, or whatever skills you're able to teach.
Host events. Plan them at times when your other business is slow.
You pick. Do you have a field that isn't doing much? Create a "you pick it" space. They could be sunflowers, blackberries, raspberries, pumpkins, or something else that your customers would like. Think of the selfie possibilities.
If you're looking to track and sell your items all from one place, give Farmbrite's farm management software a try!
There are many ways to get your name out there and in front of your customers. We hope this has given you some ideas to try as you get your farm online. Thanks for reading and as always, Happy Farming!
