Using Facebook

Using Facebook to Market Your Farm

Social networking is one of the newest forms of marketing, and has in many senses thrown traditional marketing strategy on its head. Social networking makes additional sense for direct farm marketing for two reasons. The first being cost — it’s completely free to set up a Facebook account, and takes little time to maintain and use effectively. The second reason that is that many people (whether they admit it or not) use Facebook to project an image of themselves. Socially conscious people that care about the environment and their local communities a lot of the time like to project that image, and get their friends and family interested in those causes as well.

1. Sign up for a personal Facebook Account, if you don’t already have one.

2. Create a “Fan Page” for your farm.

Group Name

The name of the group will be the name of your farm, ex. Jury Farms, UPick Portage, etc.

Display Picture

You’ll need a display picture or a logo for your farm and Facebook Fan page. This can be as simple as a great photo of your yardsite, a photo of your animals/produce, or a close-up of your yard sign. Ask a friend to take some photos if photography isn’t your strong-suit, or experiment with a free online photo editing software to get an added effect.

Description

You’ll need to enter a description of your farm and activities. This includes what you produce, how it’s produced, and who you are. You may or may not want to list prices, but you’ll need to be sure to have your contact information clearly stated as well as how customers can place orders.

3. Invite friends!

Facebook is a social networking site, which means it allows you to connect with other people in or outside of your community. Start by asking your friends to join your farm’s Fan Page (use the “Invite” tool), and ask them to invite others they know.

4. Maintaining Your Fanpage

Now that your page is set up and you have a given number of “Fans”, you have successfully connected yourself with a group of current or potential customers. But it doesn’t end there — you now can use this connection to stay in contact with your customers. Use status updates as an attempt to include your customers throughout the season. Ex. “Strawberries are almost reading for picking!”, and then a few weeks later, “Strawberries are ready! Call to book a time to come on out!”.

You can do additional things to maintain a relationship with your customers. Upload current photos of the farm throughout the season, or photos of you and your family, etc. Update your quotes or words to live by, or friendly messages out to your customers thanking them for a great harvest. This will also help to build your brand, and let your customers know who their farmer is and what interests you.

There are many small businesses that have cultivated an active customer base through Facebook and other social media. It gives your farm a personality and sets you apart from the rest of the pack. You can also try limited-time promotions advertised via your Facebook page. One final tip: try to avoid sending inbox messages too frequently. It’s a delicate balance, but if a page is “too busy” i.e. harassing your fans, people will be quick to leave your group.

Good luck and have fun experimenting with your new page!