May 2024 Farm Marketing News
As spring unfolds and the pace picks up, it's prime time to give your marketing a boost. We’re here to get you the latest in farm marketing news, tips, and resources, and you can meet our newest team member, Allyson.
This is the time of year when our waitlist tapers off, so we have immediate openings for marketing strategy, email, advertising, and website projects! You can schedule a call with us to secure your spot.
Want to be the first to find out about the latest in farm marketing news and updates from Grapevine? Sign up for our newsletter!
Lay a Good Foundation and Sales Will Follow
For many of you, it’s the start of a busy season. And in the hustle of farm life, navigating the maze of marketing options can leave you feeling overwhelmed. At Grapevine Local Food Marketing, we understand the struggle. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, the question of where to focus your marketing efforts is a common one.
Enter the Grapevine framework:
Lay the Foundation: Establish your brand, fortify your website, and embrace email/SMS marketing.
Reach New Customers: Optimize your online presence with SEO, dip into targeted ads, and expand with Google ads when ready.
Generate Loyalty: Quality, communication, convenience, reliability, and relationships are key. Nurture those connections through newsletters, SMS, and social media.
Remember, it's tempting to dive straight into the flashy stuff, but a solid foundation pays off. Let's simplify and strategize for success together! You can read more about our framework on our website.
More Farm Marketing News + Tips
Clean up your email lists before June 1
With Gmail and Yahoo tightening spam rate enforcement starting June 1st, it's more important than ever to keep your email lists clean.
Regularly prune unengaged subscribers by removing those who haven't opened, clicked, or engaged in any way for the past 90 days. Set up Google Postmaster Tools to monitor your spam rates and adjust your lists accordingly to maintain high deliverability and protect your domain's reputation.
Sign up for the latest LFM webinar on June 6
Want to learn about bundles and increase your average order size? Register for Local Food Marketplace's webinar "Level Up: Increasing Your Online Sales and Recurring Orders" on June 6.
Take advantage of free Google product listings!
Through Google's Free Listings Program, your shippable products can appear on Google Shopping, YouTube, Search, Images, and Lens — at no cost to you. You can learn more about the program here, or you can reach out to us if you’d like help setting it up.
Make your social media posts share-worthy
According to the latest Hootsuite Consumer Survey, shared posts don’t just increase brand awareness — they also play a crucial role in turning potential customers into actual buyers.
But here's the key takeaway: you don't need to chase viral fame. Turns out, your followers are more inclined to share content they agree with or find informative. Before you post, consider this: Is my content something my followers would care enough about to share? Does it offer a fresh perspective or surprising facts?
Read marketing takeaways from the USDA AMS Consumer Food Insights Series 3.0 Webinar
The latest USDA survey data on consumer spending habits, covering the period from October 2022 to 2023 had a few key marketing insights. Here's what you need to know:
People living in urban areas prioritize organic food, while convenience matters more to those in rural areas than their urban counterparts.
What's the takeaway? Tailor your marketing messages accordingly, highlighting these aspects (for example, using keywords like organic, local delivery, easy pickup, or fast shipping) based on your target audience's location.Customers of local food strongly believe in supporting their community's economy through their purchases, and they believe their support truly makes a difference.
What does this mean for your marketing strategy? Amp up this message to nurture repeat business, whether through targeted email campaigns for returning customers or personal thank-you gestures.
What We've Been Up To
We crafted a Squarespace website for The River Farm, an Indiana-based produce and meat farm. This new site complements their Local Food Marketplace storefront, featuring an identical navigation menu to enhance user experience. Visitors can now access detailed information about the farm, view a harvest calendar, stay updated with news and events, and shop online.
Opting for a cost-effective farm website template in Squarespace, The River Farm enabled our Grapevine team to swiftly build and launch the website using our proven template for maximum efficiency.
"Thanks so much for this early debut, you all! We really love it, we think it visually looks great. The training call was very simple and easy to understand, and the website is going to be a really solid foundation moving forward!"
— Caleb Fiechter, The River Farm
Hoping to work on marketing projects with us this year?
You're in luck! Our waitlist is always shorter in summer months. Right now, our schedule is open for marketing strategy, email/SMS marketing, advertising, and websites. We have immediate openings, just for you!
To get started, you can download our latest pricing guide, which also includes a link to schedule a call.
Meet Our Newest Team Member, Allyson
Allyson joined the Grapevine team last month as our newest Senior Marketing Consultant. You can learn more about her below!
A few fun Allyson facts:
📍Where are you located? Detroit, MI
✨What were you doing prior to working at Grapevine? Marketing Director at a technology startup in the end-of-life planning space.
🍓 What’s your current favorite meal? Homemade pizza with sourdough crust and LOTS of basil and sauce.
🏕️ What do you like to do in your free time? I spend my time running, doing yoga, lifting weights, reading, metalsmithing, gardening, seeing live music, and I try to be outside as much as possible. In the summer, I’m usually camping and hiking all over Michigan on the weekends.
🇯🇵 If you could travel to one place in the world right now, where would it be and why? Going to Glacier National Park for the first time in July. Excited (and a little scared!) to see some wildlife.
📚 What was the last good book you read? The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki. A great book that got me thinking about what my things mean to me and why it can feel so hard to let things go.
🍽️ Who would be your ideal dinner guest? Octavia Butler. I’m obsessed with her books! I found I really like science fiction in the last year or so and would love to see what influenced her to create these bizarre worlds.
🎄 What’s your favorite holiday? Halloween! Pumpkin-shaped Reese’s galore! And I love putting together a DIY costume.
🐶 Do you have any furry co-workers at home? No, I am unfortunately allergic to cats and dogs which is such a bummer.
✨What’s your favorite thing about working for Grapevine? It’s been fun to see how our clients go from having zero web presence and little marketing knowledge to owning, optimizing, and getting sales from multiple marketing channels. It’s amazing what a great website, marketing coaching, and a client can accomplish!
More Local Food Marketing Resources
