Downtime is the Perfect Time To Create Marketing Plan

Jane Eckert - Eckert AgriMarketing

Although you're tired and probably want to hibernate this winter, there are two important tasks to undertake. This is the time of year that growers PLAN for their crops by reading seed catalogs, ordering trees and other spring plantings. For similar reasons, growers need to PLAN how to market their farms in order to take the business to a new level.

In fact, we often spend more time planning our family vacation than planning the marketing of our family farms!

WHY WRITE A MARKETING PLAN

A marketing plan is different from a business plan. A business plan maps out the major direction of your farm: what kind of enterprises you will add, expand or close down. You determine whether to put your money into new buildings, new equipment or new attractions.

After the business is determined, a marketing plan is designed to attract customers to your farm so there are sales all season long. It is a strategic roadmap where every street leads to the same destination: growing revenue by getting the public to visit you and spend money with you. The plan guides you month-to-month, keeps you on budget and gives you a reference point to evaluate your marketing choices next winter.

During my full-day workshop at the upcoming NAFDMA conference (www.nafdma.com) in Charlotte, NC, I will be giving step-by-step instructions on how to create an effective marketing plan. In the meantime, let me give you the key points.

WHAT IS IN A MARKETING PLAN?

A marketing plan is a written document that describes your business, your target customers, your competition, the marketing strategies you'll pursue and a budget for those activities.

Step One: Describe all of your "products," which are our farm enterprises. These include Pick-Your-Own, Country Store or Fruit Stand, Bakery, Restaurant, Garden Center, Cut-Your-Own Christmas Tree, Pumpkin Season, Corporate Picnics and Parties, School Tours, Haunted Hayride, Mega-Corn Mazes, Outdoor Recreation, Hunting and Fishing, etc.

Step Two: Define the target customers you are trying to reach. This is critical because 20% of your existing customers constitute 80% of your sales! Knowing who these folks are will make your marketing strategies effective.

Step Three: Analyze your competition from the obvious (other farms and fruit stands) to the far-range (other entertainment venues in the city, special events in the city, etc.) You'll also look at the competition from the standpoint of quality, price, reach ability, attitude.

Step Four: Determine the amount of budget you will allocate to marketing strategies. Usually this is done as a percentage of sales, based on each enterprise. You put the most money where you can affect the most sales.

Step Five: The meat of your marketing plan is choosing which marketing strategies to pursue, so we've expanded this step.

MARKETING STRATEGIES

In the list of marketing strategies below, notice how I've put advertising at the bottom. When most farm direct marketers think about marketing, they think advertising. Advertising is the most obvious choice because it's concrete and it's fairly easy to do (thanks to all those "helpful" sales reps!). While advertising can be very effective, with a limited budget, advertising buys have to be made very wisely.

There are a variety of other approaches that can be simple (and inexpensive!) that will generate increased sales without breaking the budget. Here are the choices:

Public Relations: Using simple techniques to send out press releases to the media, you let them spread the word about what's happening at your farm. This costs virtually nothing from the budget.

Promotions: This is a huge category designed to promote the farm including couponing, contests, partnerships with other businesses, early bird specials, and public events or consider becoming a local expert.

Web site: Today, consumers turn to the Internet first when they want information. An updated, easy-to-navigate site for your farm is critical and can be developed for relatively little money.

Newsletters: Whether by e-mail or snail mail, a newsletter gives you constant contact with your customers so you keep them excited about your farm and aware of everything that's happening all season long.

Sales Techniques: Once you've succeeded in attracting customers to your farm, how they are treated and what happens on your farm site will determine sales.

Advertising: Includes newspapers, television, radio, magazines, billboards and yellow pages. It's important to understand what audiences each of these media deliver, and whether these are your target customers. Do your research and make your sales reps do their homework and explain things clearly. Once you've chosen where to advertise, the quality of your ad will also affect it's ability to deliver customers.

There is a lot to consider and you might even feel overwhelmed. But, an effective marketing strategy doesn't just happen. It takes thought and planning. Use the downtime this winter to evaluate your past performance and write your Marketing Plan so you can reap the benefits all season long.

Jane Eckert is the founder of Eckert AgriMarketing (www.eckertagrimarketing.com), a full-service marketing and public relations firm that helps farmers to sell directly to consumers, diversify operations and become tourist destinations. She is also CEO of www.RuralBounty.com, a search directory for agritourism farms and ranches in North America. Jane can be reached at 314-862-6288 or you may email her directly.