Square away your farm marketing today

When was the last time you took a look at your digital marketing tools from the perspective of a new customer?

Is your contact info current, complete, and easy to find? Make it easy on consumers by listing name, address, phone, email, and social accounts in the header or footer of each page on your website and in the ‘about’ tab on Facebook. Post both mailing and gps addresses, especially if your farm or shop is hard to find.

Does your farm have reviews posted on Facebook? Enable reviews, then ask a few of your loyal customers to post one. And there’s no time like today to refresh your Story…or add it if you don’t have one.

While the threshold for quality of photos on social media is lower than on your website, images matter. That fuzzy shot of your peppers isn’t doing you any favors. Refresh your cover and profile photos if it’s been a while. On Facebook, add a photo in on your About page--putting a face on your farm or agribusiness helps build connections with your buyers.

Don’t have a logo? Investing in having one professionally designed for web and print will pay dividends in the long run. Try your local print shop as most can design a simple logo that will tell your story, and patronizing a local business is always smart.

Canva is another free tool you can use to create a simple logo. Or you can create one and download it for digital at https://www.freelogodesign.org/ for free; if you need to download it for print, it costs $39. Acceptable file types for graphics for the web: jpg, png. For print: TIFF is preferred, PNG also works.

If you’re a family-friendly destination or provide on-site food service or catering, consider asking to be added to Tripadvisor. https://www.tripadvisor.com/GetListedNew

“I’ve got no advertising budget.” Most of our Pa Veteran farms have active Facebook pages, but if you’re just posting, chances are you may be wasting your time due to recent changes in the way Facebook delivers your posts. For a very small budget—as little as $5 or less per boosted post—you can target your potential audience geographically and demographically. This should greatly increase your click through, as opposed to just likes from those who are already aware of your farm or agribusiness.

Get listed on Local Harvest , the online directory of food producers and farms. A business directory listing is free, and there are options to sell through their online market. Find out more at https://help.localharvest.org/hc/en-us/articles/235687608-How-do-I-join-the-LocalHarvest-Business-Directory-

Comment or email us your tips to share on low-cost but effective marketing strategies.