Direct Marketing Strategies: Connecting with Your Customer

Base

Molly Nicholie

Nationally

Almost 30 percent of grocery shoppers say they consider

purchasing food elsewhere if their preferred store does not carry

local foods.

~AT Kearney Research

WNC

ASAP found that nearly three-quarters of WNC residents deem

local food a somewhat or very important consideration in choosing a grocery store

~2014 Consumer Survey

WESTERN NORTH

CAROLINA

THE REST OF NORTH

CAROLINA

UNITED STATES

Direct sales to consumers $8,311,000 $23,515,000 $1,309,287,000

Direct sales per capita $7.45 $2.72 $4.17

Direct sales: percentage change 2007 to 2012

+69% -3% +8%

CSA farms 2012 148 431 12,617Population/CSA farm 2012 7,533 20,031 24,880

Farms marketing products directly to retail outlets

678 2,201 49,043

Percentage of all farms marketing directly to retail

6.21% 4.38% 2.33%

Or one farm per X number of people

1,644 4,429 6,401

Farmer average age 57.3 58.9 58.3

MARKETING PLAN

⦿Planning

⦿Pricing

⦿Promotion

⦿Distribution

BASIC MARKETING STRATEGY⦿Develop a farm identity and logoIt is important to brand yourself (logo, a phrase, message etc.) so that customers can easily identify your farm and products. Make your brand clear and concise. Use this brand consistently to create recognition and loyalty.

BASIC MARKETING STRATEGY⦿Label it localThe demand for local has increased significantly and labeling your product local will help customers know it is truly grown and raised here in the region (this is especially true if you are selling to a third party/wholesale).

BASIC MARKETING STRATEGY⦿Take picturesPeople love to see pictures of you and your farm and it connects them to your farm and business. Take pictures throughout the season and during different stages of production. This will give you lots of material to use in your communications.

BASIC MARKETING STRATEGY⦿The story behind your food – differentiating

yourselfYou have an authentic story to tell. Convey to your customers why your product is amazing – the quality, freshness, how supporting your business supports the local economy, uniqueness, personal connection with farmer and their family. You are able to give customers a real story and this is valuable.

2014 Consumer Survey of WNC Residents N=700

COST OF MARKETING

Money●Paid

advertising●Signage●Promotional

Materials

Time●Education●Building

community●Relationship

building●Earned

media

TARGETED MARKETING⦿Most of us do not have mass markets⦿Do not try to market to everyone⦿Sell your product to “one person”

WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO REACH?⦿This narrow focus is called a “market

segment”. ⦿You can segment people by all kinds of

factors, like:◼ Gender or age ◼ Price willingness◼ Interests◼ Location◼ Religion or ethnicity◼ Income◼ Size of Household◼ Local vs. tourist◼ Etc.

EXAMPLE

⦿Who is this woman?

Julie

SOME ANSWERS⦿She is married.⦿She has two children ages 7 and 10.⦿They go to Emma Elementary.⦿She is a nurse at the hospital.⦿She spends time caring for her elderly

parents.⦿Her interests outside of family & work include:

◼Cooking◼Being health conscious◼Researching her family tree◼Clemson football

SO HOW DO WE REACH JULIE?

In the places she is already looking!

SEGMENT A: PARENTS WITH KIDS AT A LOCAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

PARENTS WITH KIDS AT A SCHOOL: WAYS TO DISPLAY YOUR MESSAGE⦿Sponsor school sports events in

exchange for logo placement/mention at those events.

⦿Advertise in the yearbook or monthly newsletter.

⦿Sponsor school plays and other functions that have a printed program.

KIDS AT A SCHOOL: PROMOTE YOURSELF THROUGH INVOLVEMENT

⦿Offer cooking classes or classroom demonstrations.

⦿Outreach to teachers and school administrators about educational field trips to your farm.

⦿Donate product to PTO fundraisers and other school events.

PARENTS AT A SCHOOL: THINKING ABOUT MEDIA FOR THIS AUDIENCE

⦿Parents of school-age kids will tend to follow certain patterns in media consumption:◼Radio: Predictable drive time radio. ◼Some communities have targeted print

media for this group, such as:• WNC Parent (Asheville Citizen-Times)• Summer camp guides or summer

activity guides• Special editions or inserts in local papers

and magazine

PARENTS AT A SCHOOL

⦿“Buying Club” type marketing can work well in any place with a critical mass of people◼Create some kind of bulk

presentation of your product• Apples by the bushel• Side of freezer beef• Case of 12 dozen eggs a

week ◼Organize a leader to

coordinate this program

THE TRICK⦿Don’t just do one of these things.

You are creating a coordinated program. ⦿You are trying to reach the same

person 3-5 times with a consistent message. ⦿In doing so, you are going to

reach other people like them, as well.⦿Don’t do anything just once

unless you can really convince yourself it was a bad idea.⦿Be patient.

BACK TO JULIE⦿She wants to be more

health conscious ⦿Therefore she has a

focus on health/exercise and is specifically willing to spend money and time in those areas right now.

SEGMENT B: IDEAS TO REACH PEOPLE WITH HEALTH, EXERCISE, WEIGHT LOSS CONCERNS:

⦿Provide rack cards or bulletin board material to local gyms.⦿Introduce yourself to nutritionists, heart health

centers, and similar health providers.⦿Sponsor athletic events like a 5k.⦿Add lots of nutrition facts about products to your

website. Add a recipe section.⦿Connect with natural food stores.⦿Use targeted radio, TV, or newspaper. TV: food

network in your county; Radio: health-related call-in show; Newspaper: health/exercise column.

JULIE WORKS AT THE HOSPITAL

⦿What can we do with that?

SEGMENT C: REACHING HOSPITAL WORKERS

⦿Meet with their HR director. Talk about local food as an employee benefit.⦿This could open the door to have posters or other

materials in break rooms or public areas of the workplace.⦿Place paid ads in employee newsletters.⦿Find one friend/ally on the inside. Offer them a free

share/product/etc. if they will be the “captain” in spreading the word about a direct-ordering/delivery system. ⦿Offer to provide a “farm stand” on a certain day of the

week – either just your farm or you and a couple friendly producers.

WE ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT JULIE

◻We’re just listing ways to reach one person (and similar cohorts) based on a narrow set of characteristics, and it’s STILL impossible to do it all. You could spend all your marketing time and money for the next year on the last 6 steps, and you might have some hope of reaching Julie, as busy and distracted as she is.

◻So, be strategic and don’t try to reach everyone!

What other types of market segments might you focus on in your community?

WHAT ABOUT COST?

“Hey Molly, this has been an intriguing workshop, but I’ve analyzed all the ‘market segments’ in the places around me and they mostly have one thing in common:

Everyone is broke!”

COUPONS?⦿Use coupons that promote value, not

discount / cheapness. “Value” means a fair price but also refers to the perceived value of your product. The goal is not to reduce the price of your product; you want to increase its value, and the right kind of coupon can do that.

⦿Examples . . .

VALUE COUPONS

⦿A free tour of your farm with a purchase greater than $X.⦿A free sample of one of

your lesser-sold or less-understood products with a purchase greater than $X of a more popular product.⦿Receive free product for

referring a friend to a major purchase. ⦿Offer bulk buying options

for certain products.

Consider Your Product Line...Given Your Marketing Context◻Don’t assume high-priced items will be more

profitable.They usually have a higher production cost and more production risk, and a may have a smaller marketing audience. The price is high for good reasons.

FOSTER WORD OF MOUTH WITH A GOOD WEB PRESENCE AND SMALL ADS SOMEWHERE

⦿Don’t count on word of mouth to work magically by itself.

⦿Customers say “I heard it from a friend” which tends to make us undervalue other kinds of earned and paid advertising.

HOW WORD OF MOUTH REALLY WORKS

I heard it from a friend

Then I saw your sign

Then I saw your rack

card

Then I saw an article in the paper

That reminded me

to call you

HOW WORD OF MOUTH REALLY WORKS

Invest early in having nice looking, consistent, web and print materials, and/or regular ad placements (however small) in the media read by your target customers. EVEN IF you think of word of mouth as your primary strategy.

Cost share and AG materials

NC Farms

Appalachian Grown Cost Sharehttp://asapconnections.org/tools-for-farmers/appalachian-grown-certification/

appalachian-grown-cost-share/

EARNED MEDIA⦿Press releases⦿Pitch stories⦿Become the local expert about food and

agriculture for the local news

KEEP AND BUILD A LIST

⦿It is especially important to get contact information for customers.

⦿Get email addresses and mailing addresses. It is better if people opt in to getting communication from you.

⦿Train everyone who represents your farm to ask for this information, and create sign-up systems to make it easy.

⦿Send mass e-mail or mail communication selectively

⦿Social media is good for a staying connected with customers throughout the year - images, seasonal updates + farm happenings.

SPEND LOTS OF MARKETING TIME AND MONEY ON THE CUSTOMERS YOU ALREADY HAVE

⦿ It is ten times easier to sell something else to an existing customer who loves your business than it is to find a new customer.

Build upon Existing relationships & About Cross Promotions

● Develop a farm identity and logo● Label it local● Take pictures● Start with marketing to one person/market segment● Tell your story (where they are already looking)● Spend some money: Invest early in having nice looking,

consistent, web and print materials, and/or regular ad placements (however small)

● Foster word of mouth: Try to reach the same person 3-5 times with a consistent message, one or more of those time will be from someone they know.

● Spend some time: Earned media, build a list, build on existing relationship

● Be patient: This type of marketing is relationship based and will take time to grow. Don’t just try something once.

Molly@asapconnections.org(828) 23No6-1282 Now What?

QUESTIONS?Molly@asapconnections.org (828) 236-1282