Tips to Improve Marketing
Marketing a Farmers' Market
Marketing a farmers' market can be a daunting task for new entrepreneurs. But with consumer demand on the rise, marketing skills are becoming increasingly important for farmers' market owners and managers.
Looking for the right marketing mix for your farmers' market? You're not alone. More than ever before, the industry is populated with ambitious entrepreneurs eager to make an impression on would-be buyers.
Marketing increases the brand footprint of a farmers' market using a carefully crafted mix of techniques and tactics.
Discounts
Most consumers respond positively to discounts whether they are perceived or real; farmers' market customers are no exception. The power of a great discount is its ability to convince buyers that are receiving special treatment, a deal that isn't ordinarily available. But in the farmers' market sector, you won't get far with discounts unless you communicate clear value. Offsetting discounts with inflated pricing is a tired ploy that often does more harm than good. Instead, think about how you can use discounts to lure customers in during a slow period, to generate traction for new product offerings, and to break into new markets.
Technological Expertise
The PR and marketing community has embraced technology with open arms, transforming basic marketing concepts into sophisticated, tech-driven systems and solutions. As a result, a primary concern of growth-oriented farmers' markets is the need to increasingly incorporate technological marketing solutions into the marketing mix. In addition to marketing professionals, many businesses now include IT units as valued partners in their strategic marketing efforts.
Promotional Calendars
Sloppy marketing programs have no place in growing farmers' markets. A strategy chocked full of time-sensitive ad placements and other tactics can devolve into a tangled mess of overlapping deliverables unless it is coordinated in a promotional calendar. Good calendars include not only tactical deadlines, but also schedules for the inputs (e.g. staff assets, vendors, etc.) that are required to execute strategic objectives. Many list vendors appreciate promotional calendars because they are useful for timing the delivery of the resources your business needs to meet strategic objectives.
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