Marketing 101: Building a Base of Loyal Buyers
As an Independent Farmer, you are looking to attract and retain Buyers to drive maximum profit. With a clear marketing strategy, your Farm can communicate the quality of your products to Buyers, while embedding your brand into their routines and shopping habits. Discover the 5 proven steps to nail your Farm’s first impression and build a dedicated base of loyal Buyers.
1) Visual Experience
Successful Farmers leverage strong visuals and consistent communication to increase awareness of their Farm brand. This makes it easier for Buyers to recognize and recall your Farm for future purchases.
Strategies to build a professional Farm brand:
Logo: A logo has the power to communicate your Farm’s values and distinguish your products from the competition. Brand all digital and physical assets with one cohesive logo — including your newsletters, emails, Farm vehicles, social media, and packaging.
Read: Invest in Your Farm Brand Now, for Future Sales
Website: Use your Farm website as an informational resource to showcase your practices, story, and mission. The Barn2Door Design Team works with thousands of Farmers to create custom websites that reflect each Farm’s brand, vision, and values.
2) Communication Experience
On average, Buyers engage with a brand at least 7 times before they make a purchase. By establishing multiple points of engagement (e.g., social media posts, email reminders), Buyers are more likely to consider purchasing your products on a regular basis.
Effective tactics to stay top-of-mind with Buyers:
Social Media: Ongoing posts on social channels (e.g., Facebook, Instagram) will expand your audience reach and grow your business. Remember, the average person spends 2+ hours a day passively perusing social content!
Read: How Your Farm Can Master Organic Social Media
Emails: Successful Farmers who send weekly order reminders enjoy a 30%+ increase in average order volume. Buyers are busy, and weekly emails will keep your Farm top-of-mind and drive consistent sales.
3) Shopping Experience
To attract more Buyers and convert them into loyal customers, your Farm must offer a hassle-free shopping experience. By making it easy for Buyers to purchase, you remove friction and ensure your Farm is the obvious choice, helping to sell your products year-round.
How to optimize your Buyer experience:
Self-serve shopping: Give Buyers the freedom to purchase your Farm products anytime, anywhere. With an online Farm store, Buyers don’t need to call, email, or submit a form to place an order; instead, Buyers can purchase from your Farm with the click-of-a-button.
Read: How to Soft Launch Your Farm Store to Buyers
Variety: To avoid Buyer fatigue, your Farm store should limit the number of items available to purchase to high-value products and bundle boxes. Limit your inventory to less than 50 items, as eighty percent (80%) of all sales come from the first page of your Farm store.
4) Payment Experience
If you make buying your Farm products difficult, you will lose sales and prospective customers before you gain them. By offering a streamlined payment experience, your Farm can increase revenue and simplify operations, while ditching the boring office work.
Capture every sale with a seamless payment process:
Digital payments: Offer a variety of payment options, including digital payments, to maximize the number of Buyers who will buy from your Farm. In fact, 98% of consumers prefer digital payments, including credit cards, debit cards, invoices, ACH, Apple/Google Pay, or cash/check.
Read: How Farm POS Can Fuel Your Sales
Subscriptions: Make your bundle boxes available as a subscription— whether ongoing, seasonal, or rolling — to lock in recurring, predictable cash flow. This also allows Buyers to ‘set and forget’ their weekly or monthly orders to secure their favorite Farm products.
Read: Unlock Your Farm's Revenue Potential with Subscriptions
5) Fulfillment Experience
Most Buyers are creatures of convenience; in fact, 3 out of 4 Local Food Buyers order groceries for pickup or delivery. To maximize your Farm’s profit margins and build a sustainable direct-to-market business, your products must be readily accessible to every potential customer.
How to create convenient, routine access to your Farm products:
Direct Delivery: Delivering straight to your Buyers’ doorsteps removes all fulfillment friction, making it as easy as possible to buy from your Farm. The most successful Farms drive 2x more monthly revenue when offering convenient, direct delivery.
Read: The Data on Buyer Demand for Direct Delivery
Pick-up Locations: Many successful Farmers offer convenient pickup locations (e.g., local businesses, churches, and schools) that align with the daily routines of their Buyers. To attract new Buyers, place your pick-up locations at popular local venues in your community where your target customers gather frequently.
Conclusion
Your Farm only gets one chance at a first impression. By implementing these five foundational marketing steps, your Farm can build brand awareness, attract more Buyers, and turn them into loyal customers. From cohesive branding to consistent communication, optimizing your brand experience is key to scaling a profitable direct-to-market business.
Barn2Door provides Independent Farmers with the software to make more money, ditch the office work, and look like a pro. If you’re curious to learn more, watch this 5-minute video.