When people first started selling things many thousands of years ago, no doubt it wasn’t long before someone invented the up-sell and the cross-sell. You know the up-sell drill: you order a burger, fries and a coke and the voice coming through the drive-up speaker asks if you want to super-size your order.
The up-sell – suggesting more expensive item – and its close cousin the cross-sell – suggesting a related item – are practiced everywhere these days. Whether you’re buying a toaster or a DVD player, you can’t check out of a store without being offered an extended warranty. You finish a meal at a fine restaurant and the server wheels over the dessert cart. And let’s not forget all the options available on a new car.
The up-sell and cross-sell have even been automated. Before you click to finalize a web order, often you’ll be prompted with suggestions for alternative or complementary items.
Some on-line merchants are giving the up-sell concept a bad name, particularly some unscrupulous sellers of digital cameras and other electronics. They lure customers in with ultra low prices, then require them to call to confirm their order at which point the hard sell for various accessories begins. Internet discussion boards are filled with e-commerce horror stories of harassment, phony penalty fees and fraudulent credit card charges for those who didn’t cave in to the up-sell.
But the up-sell and cross-sell ideas aren’t inherently evil. It’s just a matter of a seller trying to increase his or her profits by offering the customer a higher value item or additional related items. If done right, the customer feels like the seller was being helpful not abusive.
There are countless up-sell and cross-sell opportunities for growers, and that’s nothing new. When bottled salad dressing was first invented, I’m sure that a grower somewhere started selling it next to his lettuce.
Look around any farmstand (including your own) and you’ll likely find kits for making caramel apples, pumpkin carving kits, cider mulling spices, and pie making ingredients. Holiday time is especially ripe for up-selling. Along with the apples, cider, squash and Christmas trees, many farms offer wreaths, ornaments, gifts, and holiday centerpieces.
It may not be enough to simply display these add-on products. If your staff is trained in helpfully suggesting items that would complement a customer’s order, the chances of a sale increase. If employees can describe the advantages of a superior or extra product, all the better.
The hard sell isn’t really necessary when it comes to produce. Even though consumers are likely to be more jaded about these selling practices today, especially if they have had a bad experience elsewhere, they are surely less likely to be guarded when patronizing a farm and therefore more receptive to point-of-sale suggestions.
For one thing, you’re selling a relatively low-priced product. The decision to buy a bigger pumpkin or some cornstalks to go with it doesn’t represent a major investment for most folks. And visiting a farm is a friendly, enjoyable experience, not stressful like buying a car or a house, for example.
Like all sales, up-selling and cross-selling are all about knowing your products and knowing your customers. What collateral products would your customers find most useful or attractive? What higher-value products could you offer them? How can you suggest a different or additional product without turning a customer off? These are marketing considerations that can be continuously evaluated.
As many business people will say, it’s easier to keep a customer than it is to find a new one. So increasing your sales with existing customers should prove more cost efficient than cultivating new ones. Practicing low-key up-selling and cross-selling will help you do just that.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit. This article originally appeared in the December 2005 issue of Growing Magazine.
Showing posts with label Marketing 101. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing 101. Show all posts
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Guerrilla Marketing: What is it? Does it really work?
There are two well-known marketing and public relations books with similar titles: Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Levinson and Guerrilla P.R. by Michael Levin. Both give readers advice on using unconventional, low-cost tactics in marketing products and gaining visibility for small businesses.
In fact, the concept has evidently been so successful that since Guerrilla Marketing was first published in 1984, Levinson has written a number of spin-off books including Guerrilla Advertising, Guerrilla Marketing for Free, Guerrilla Marketing Weapons, The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook, Guerrilla Publicity, and Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days.
But do these unconventional tactics really work? In particular, do they work for agricultural businesses?
In my past job with the state ag department, I worked on quite a few promotions that employed what might be called guerrilla marketing tactics. Or maybe you would call them publicity stunts. Take your pick.
One time, for example, a coworker and I put together baskets of farmers' market produce and brought them to Boston area radio stations. The basket included a statewide listing of farmers' markets. One popular rock music station invited us right into the studio, the DJs put us on the air and we were able to plug visiting local farmers' markets during the growing season.
Another time, we did a promotion for local maple products that involved sending an information packet, recipes and a small sample of maple syrup to food writers at daily newspapers. That effort did result in several maple stories in newspaper food sections.
Working with various associations over the years, there have been promotions that involved delivering squash, potatoes, cut flowers, poinsettias, and coffee cake to food editors, business editors, radio stations and television studios. There have been tomato contests, cider taste-offs, zucchini races, pumpkin carvings, corn boils, giant strawberry shortcakes, farm-to-farm bike rides, and all kinds of farm tours.
While many of these efforts have been fruitful in terms of generating publicity and in turn, hopefully, sales for farms, sometimes they're not. While guerrilla tactics are usually low cost, they are often require a lot more work than, say, conventional advertising. If successful, the pay-off can be great, but if not you might be left wondering why you went to all that trouble.
A few things to keep in mind:
1. You're competing with many other businesses and organizations for the attention of the news media and the public. Find a way to make your product stand out and don't get discouraged; be persistent but don't over-do it.
2. When sending product samples to reporters and editors, make sure that they are just samples. Some media organizations have policies against accepting gifts that could be construed as bribes in exchange for coverage. You just want them to have a little taste of your product for evaluation purposes.
3. Showing up at a radio station, especially without an appointment, doesn't guarantee that you'll get on the air. They may just thank you for stopping by and for your product sample and information. Don't be too disappointed or angry; the effort may pay off later on.
4. Sometimes radio and television stations tie appearances on certain programs to advertising. So, if you're not an advertiser, you might not get on. This doesn't apply to news, though.
And sometimes publicity stunts can go wrong. Earlier this year a popular juice company was introducing a new line of frozen juice pops. To get publicity, they created what they hoped would be certified by Guinness as the world's largest frozen pop and planned to erect it in New York City's Union Square on the first day of summer. As it turned out, it was a hot day and the pop started to melt, sending sticky goo all over Union Square. Pedestrians and cyclists started slipping and sliding in it, and a woman was taken to the hospital with a sprained ankle.
That stunt may not qualify as strict guerrilla P.R. since it surely cost quite a bit to stage but is an example of an unconventional tactic that certainly did generate news coverage...perhaps more than if the thing had remained frozen.
Maybe you've been involved in these kinds of guerrilla activities, too, on your farm or through an association. I'd be willing to wager that farmers are particularly adept at guerrilla marketing and publicity tactics because of their natural ingenuity, a need to keep costs down and products that are well suited to this approach. After all, fresh farm products can be fun, wholesome, nostalgic, unusual, trendy, beautiful and always tasty. Which make for irresistible combinations.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit. This article originally appeared in the October 2005 issue of Growing Magazine.
In fact, the concept has evidently been so successful that since Guerrilla Marketing was first published in 1984, Levinson has written a number of spin-off books including Guerrilla Advertising, Guerrilla Marketing for Free, Guerrilla Marketing Weapons, The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook, Guerrilla Publicity, and Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days.
But do these unconventional tactics really work? In particular, do they work for agricultural businesses?
In my past job with the state ag department, I worked on quite a few promotions that employed what might be called guerrilla marketing tactics. Or maybe you would call them publicity stunts. Take your pick.
One time, for example, a coworker and I put together baskets of farmers' market produce and brought them to Boston area radio stations. The basket included a statewide listing of farmers' markets. One popular rock music station invited us right into the studio, the DJs put us on the air and we were able to plug visiting local farmers' markets during the growing season.
Another time, we did a promotion for local maple products that involved sending an information packet, recipes and a small sample of maple syrup to food writers at daily newspapers. That effort did result in several maple stories in newspaper food sections.
Working with various associations over the years, there have been promotions that involved delivering squash, potatoes, cut flowers, poinsettias, and coffee cake to food editors, business editors, radio stations and television studios. There have been tomato contests, cider taste-offs, zucchini races, pumpkin carvings, corn boils, giant strawberry shortcakes, farm-to-farm bike rides, and all kinds of farm tours.
While many of these efforts have been fruitful in terms of generating publicity and in turn, hopefully, sales for farms, sometimes they're not. While guerrilla tactics are usually low cost, they are often require a lot more work than, say, conventional advertising. If successful, the pay-off can be great, but if not you might be left wondering why you went to all that trouble.
A few things to keep in mind:
1. You're competing with many other businesses and organizations for the attention of the news media and the public. Find a way to make your product stand out and don't get discouraged; be persistent but don't over-do it.
2. When sending product samples to reporters and editors, make sure that they are just samples. Some media organizations have policies against accepting gifts that could be construed as bribes in exchange for coverage. You just want them to have a little taste of your product for evaluation purposes.
3. Showing up at a radio station, especially without an appointment, doesn't guarantee that you'll get on the air. They may just thank you for stopping by and for your product sample and information. Don't be too disappointed or angry; the effort may pay off later on.
4. Sometimes radio and television stations tie appearances on certain programs to advertising. So, if you're not an advertiser, you might not get on. This doesn't apply to news, though.
And sometimes publicity stunts can go wrong. Earlier this year a popular juice company was introducing a new line of frozen juice pops. To get publicity, they created what they hoped would be certified by Guinness as the world's largest frozen pop and planned to erect it in New York City's Union Square on the first day of summer. As it turned out, it was a hot day and the pop started to melt, sending sticky goo all over Union Square. Pedestrians and cyclists started slipping and sliding in it, and a woman was taken to the hospital with a sprained ankle.
That stunt may not qualify as strict guerrilla P.R. since it surely cost quite a bit to stage but is an example of an unconventional tactic that certainly did generate news coverage...perhaps more than if the thing had remained frozen.
Maybe you've been involved in these kinds of guerrilla activities, too, on your farm or through an association. I'd be willing to wager that farmers are particularly adept at guerrilla marketing and publicity tactics because of their natural ingenuity, a need to keep costs down and products that are well suited to this approach. After all, fresh farm products can be fun, wholesome, nostalgic, unusual, trendy, beautiful and always tasty. Which make for irresistible combinations.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit. This article originally appeared in the October 2005 issue of Growing Magazine.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Is the customer always right?
One night recently my husband and I went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant that’s part of a national chain. We’d been to that location numerous times before and on many occasions have found the service sub par. On this particular night, the service was once again mediocre and the food was not very good, especially for the price. Why we continued to go back there is anybody’s guess, but this time I swore that we’d never patronize that location again.
Still feeling cheated when I got home, I got on-line, found the company website and filled out a feedback form explaining my unsatisfactory experiences at this restaurant. The very next day I had a phone call from a company representative wanting to know more. She expressed concern, said that a report would be filed with the district manager, and said that she’d be mailing me a $20 gift certificate to come back and dine with them again.
Even without the gift certificate, the speedy and concerned response would have made me reconsider my resolve to boycott the restaurant.
Every business, and farms are no exception, has to deal with dissatisfied customers at some point. Regardless of how good your products are, there is going to be someone, sometime who isn’t happy with something they bought from you. Knowing how you will respond to such a customer should be part of your marketing plan.
Good customer service is a marketing strategy aimed at increasing market share by helping acquire and retain customers.
And it’s all about communication. According to a fact sheet by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF), customers want to be helpful to you, the grower, by giving you their opinions and letting you know when they aren’t satisfied.
Sometimes you’ll get one-time complaints from good customers who just happen to pick up something that doesn’t measure up to your usual quality standards. Other times you’ll find yourself dealing habitual complainers. But, believe it or not, many dissatisfied customers never say a word.
Experts say that many people just don’t like to complain. Even if they would like to complain, customers may not know to whom to complain or cannot find a venue for offering their feedback. In fact, some businesses not only don’t encourage complaining, they may actually make it difficult for customers to complain.
Getting customer feedback, according to the OMAF, gives a business owner the chance to return the customer to a state of satisfaction so they will be more likely to patronize the business again. Business people who offer the customer a rational explanation and demonstrate sensitivity and concern, will find that the complaining customer will respond accordingly.
No doubt, some customers are difficult, but most customers are just looking for friendliness, fairness, and empathy – in addition to value – when spending their hard earned money. If they feel that they have a relationship with the business, especially the owner, they are more likely to be loyal.
While it may seem like you’re asking for trouble, think about establishing ways that customers can give you feedback, if you haven’t already. Face to face feedback with you, the owner, is great, but since you’re just as likely to be in the field as in the farmstand this time of year, you might want to use other ways as well. These can include customer feedback cards or a feedback form on your website.
And the last piece of this marketing strategy is planning how you will respond to complaints and making sure that all your employees know how to handle complaints.
So, is the customer always right? Research shows that 80 to 95 percent of customers will come back if their complaint is resolved satisfactorily, and they will tell five other people (I’ve told at least that many about my restaurant story). If a complaining customer comes away feeling like he or she was right, you may have bought some priceless word of mouth advertising.
Copyright 2005 Diane Baedeker Petit.
This article originally appeared in the July 2005 issue of Growing Magazine.
Still feeling cheated when I got home, I got on-line, found the company website and filled out a feedback form explaining my unsatisfactory experiences at this restaurant. The very next day I had a phone call from a company representative wanting to know more. She expressed concern, said that a report would be filed with the district manager, and said that she’d be mailing me a $20 gift certificate to come back and dine with them again.
Even without the gift certificate, the speedy and concerned response would have made me reconsider my resolve to boycott the restaurant.
Every business, and farms are no exception, has to deal with dissatisfied customers at some point. Regardless of how good your products are, there is going to be someone, sometime who isn’t happy with something they bought from you. Knowing how you will respond to such a customer should be part of your marketing plan.
Good customer service is a marketing strategy aimed at increasing market share by helping acquire and retain customers.
And it’s all about communication. According to a fact sheet by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF), customers want to be helpful to you, the grower, by giving you their opinions and letting you know when they aren’t satisfied.
Sometimes you’ll get one-time complaints from good customers who just happen to pick up something that doesn’t measure up to your usual quality standards. Other times you’ll find yourself dealing habitual complainers. But, believe it or not, many dissatisfied customers never say a word.
Experts say that many people just don’t like to complain. Even if they would like to complain, customers may not know to whom to complain or cannot find a venue for offering their feedback. In fact, some businesses not only don’t encourage complaining, they may actually make it difficult for customers to complain.
Getting customer feedback, according to the OMAF, gives a business owner the chance to return the customer to a state of satisfaction so they will be more likely to patronize the business again. Business people who offer the customer a rational explanation and demonstrate sensitivity and concern, will find that the complaining customer will respond accordingly.
No doubt, some customers are difficult, but most customers are just looking for friendliness, fairness, and empathy – in addition to value – when spending their hard earned money. If they feel that they have a relationship with the business, especially the owner, they are more likely to be loyal.
While it may seem like you’re asking for trouble, think about establishing ways that customers can give you feedback, if you haven’t already. Face to face feedback with you, the owner, is great, but since you’re just as likely to be in the field as in the farmstand this time of year, you might want to use other ways as well. These can include customer feedback cards or a feedback form on your website.
And the last piece of this marketing strategy is planning how you will respond to complaints and making sure that all your employees know how to handle complaints.
So, is the customer always right? Research shows that 80 to 95 percent of customers will come back if their complaint is resolved satisfactorily, and they will tell five other people (I’ve told at least that many about my restaurant story). If a complaining customer comes away feeling like he or she was right, you may have bought some priceless word of mouth advertising.
Copyright 2005 Diane Baedeker Petit.
This article originally appeared in the July 2005 issue of Growing Magazine.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Tomato Soup Marketing Lesson
So, I’m in the soup aisle at the grocery store one day looking for tomato soup and I realize that buying a can of tomato soup isn’t as simple as it used to be. There are many more choices offered by the major tomato soup brand (you know, the one with the red label) than there were when I was a kid. There’s the standard size can of condensed soup (now with a pull tab top), the family size, the ready-to-serve with the twist-off cap, and the single serving size in a microwavable package.
Inside these diverse packaging options is basically the same product. Oh sure, you might have to add water to some of them but other than that it’s essentially the same on the inside. The price on the outside, however, varies greatly, especially when you consider the unit price. So, why would a company offer the same product so many different ways at so many different prices?
Well, I suppose you could call it niche marketing, but in effect they are trying to fill almost every soup niche. The story here is that the company knows all of its customers and is giving each what he or she needs. There’s the customer with a family that needs to feed several family members at a value price. There’s the single person who wants to have just a mug-full of soup at a time. Then there’s the worker who wants to bring soup for lunch and heat it up in the office microwave. Lastly, there’s the traditionalist who has bought condensed tomato soup in the small can for years and years.
How does the company know who these people are and what they want? Market research. By conducting extensive market research, which may include surveys, focus groups and retail sales data, they know that some customers want value, some prefer convenience, and some just want the same product they have always purchased.
This is an important lesson for anyone whose business is selling a product to a customer. You must know who your customers are and what they need, then position your product to fulfill those needs. This applies as much to fresh produce as it does to canned soup.
Knowing what your customers want and need can help you make decisions about what to plant, how to display it, whether or not to package it, whether or not to process it, and what related products to offer.
Of course, you may not be in a position to conduct expensive market research with telephone surveys and focus groups. If you are, great, but there are other ways of getting to know your customers.
You can solicit feedback through a form on your website, put a customer comment card in each customer’s bag, have employees ask customers a few predetermined questions at the checkout counter, or simply talk with customers and jot down notes on what they say. The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) suggests having employees write down customers’ compliments and complaints, then discuss the results at staff meetings.
Also, paying attention to general trends in food marketing, can help you figure out what your customers will be looking for. For example, if you notice that supermarkets in your area are emphasizing prepared foods or low-carb foods, you might be able to find a way to capitalize on these trends.
As a small farm owner, you can’t fill every niche by offering all things to all customers like a big soup company, but you can try to find out a few key facts about your customers and adjust your products and services to meet their needs.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the February 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
Inside these diverse packaging options is basically the same product. Oh sure, you might have to add water to some of them but other than that it’s essentially the same on the inside. The price on the outside, however, varies greatly, especially when you consider the unit price. So, why would a company offer the same product so many different ways at so many different prices?
Well, I suppose you could call it niche marketing, but in effect they are trying to fill almost every soup niche. The story here is that the company knows all of its customers and is giving each what he or she needs. There’s the customer with a family that needs to feed several family members at a value price. There’s the single person who wants to have just a mug-full of soup at a time. Then there’s the worker who wants to bring soup for lunch and heat it up in the office microwave. Lastly, there’s the traditionalist who has bought condensed tomato soup in the small can for years and years.
How does the company know who these people are and what they want? Market research. By conducting extensive market research, which may include surveys, focus groups and retail sales data, they know that some customers want value, some prefer convenience, and some just want the same product they have always purchased.
This is an important lesson for anyone whose business is selling a product to a customer. You must know who your customers are and what they need, then position your product to fulfill those needs. This applies as much to fresh produce as it does to canned soup.
Knowing what your customers want and need can help you make decisions about what to plant, how to display it, whether or not to package it, whether or not to process it, and what related products to offer.
Of course, you may not be in a position to conduct expensive market research with telephone surveys and focus groups. If you are, great, but there are other ways of getting to know your customers.
You can solicit feedback through a form on your website, put a customer comment card in each customer’s bag, have employees ask customers a few predetermined questions at the checkout counter, or simply talk with customers and jot down notes on what they say. The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) suggests having employees write down customers’ compliments and complaints, then discuss the results at staff meetings.
Also, paying attention to general trends in food marketing, can help you figure out what your customers will be looking for. For example, if you notice that supermarkets in your area are emphasizing prepared foods or low-carb foods, you might be able to find a way to capitalize on these trends.
As a small farm owner, you can’t fill every niche by offering all things to all customers like a big soup company, but you can try to find out a few key facts about your customers and adjust your products and services to meet their needs.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the February 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
The Power of a Good Picture
In October 2004, when the Boston Red Sox headed into the World Series after the most dramatic comeback in sports history, a local farm saw not just a great moment for New England sports fans, but also a marketing opportunity. Wilson Farms in Lexington, Mass., used 10,000 pounds of pumpkins and 1500 pounds of butternut squash to create a 100-foot long World Series scoreboard in one of their fields.
Aerial shots of the pumpkin scoreboard, which was updated daily throughout the four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, were published in newspapers around the region, broadcast on numerous television stations, and even included in the opening of the game broadcasts.
Now that’s a perfect example of guerrilla marketing and it illustrates the power of a good visual. The folks at Wilson Farms found a way to get involved in and capitalize on a current major news story. The image of all those pumpkins and squash spelling out “2004 World Series,” “Red Sox” and “Cardinals” a few days before Halloween appealed to news people on several levels: it was a different angle on a major news story, it was seasonal, and it was local.
The old adage that “a picture paints a thousand words” may be hackneyed but it’s true. Plenty of information can be communicated with a picture. More than that, pictures can evoke emotion and create an impression more efficiently than the written word.
When you’re trying to get publicity for your farm, don’t be too disappointed if you get a photo and caption in the newspaper instead of an article. A photo above the fold on the first page can be more effective than a story on page 10. It can sometimes even be more effective than advertising.
In fact, Janice Wentworth of The Warren Farm and Sugarhouse in North Brookfield, Mass., told me once that the Worcester Telegram and Gazette newspaper did a photo with their dog Molly patrolling their tomato display. A week later, Jan and her husband Dale ran an ad in the same newspaper for tomatoes. Every customer who came to the farm to buy tomatoes, without exception, according to Jan, said they saw the photo but no one said that they saw the ad.
Now, that’s not to say you shouldn’t advertise. Rather, think about finding ways to get photos of your farm into the local newspaper or magazines and even video footage on television, as part of your marketing plan.
So, how do you go about it? First you’ve got to find something that’s photo-worthy. On a farm there are plenty of photogenic subjects. Look at the type of images that newspapers typically run as stand alone photos to get a sense of what they will use.
Most daily newspapers prefer to have their own photographers shoot the photos they use. So, if there’s time, call the paper and ask to speak to the photo desk to alert them of a photo opportunity. If a “photo op” presents itself unexpectedly, take your own photo, then send it to the local paper.
You can mail a conventional print, or e-mail a digital photo as most papers and magazines will now accept digital photos, providing the resolution is high enough. Being able to e-mail photos is a huge advantage as it lets you get them out in a timely manner. It’s best to do a little research in advance to find out which papers and magazines accept unsolicited photos and how they prefer to receive them.
And, of course, publicity isn’t the only use for good images of your farm. If you’ve got a website, publish a newsletter, or are planning a brochure, photos will give folks a better picture of your farm and what you offer, literally.
So, start looking at your farm in terms good photo opportunities and create your own opportunities whenever you can. You may not always have something as big as the Red Sox in the World Series to capitalize on, but with a little creativity you’ll find plenty of ways to hit a marketing grand slam.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the January 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
Aerial shots of the pumpkin scoreboard, which was updated daily throughout the four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, were published in newspapers around the region, broadcast on numerous television stations, and even included in the opening of the game broadcasts.
Now that’s a perfect example of guerrilla marketing and it illustrates the power of a good visual. The folks at Wilson Farms found a way to get involved in and capitalize on a current major news story. The image of all those pumpkins and squash spelling out “2004 World Series,” “Red Sox” and “Cardinals” a few days before Halloween appealed to news people on several levels: it was a different angle on a major news story, it was seasonal, and it was local.
The old adage that “a picture paints a thousand words” may be hackneyed but it’s true. Plenty of information can be communicated with a picture. More than that, pictures can evoke emotion and create an impression more efficiently than the written word.
When you’re trying to get publicity for your farm, don’t be too disappointed if you get a photo and caption in the newspaper instead of an article. A photo above the fold on the first page can be more effective than a story on page 10. It can sometimes even be more effective than advertising.
In fact, Janice Wentworth of The Warren Farm and Sugarhouse in North Brookfield, Mass., told me once that the Worcester Telegram and Gazette newspaper did a photo with their dog Molly patrolling their tomato display. A week later, Jan and her husband Dale ran an ad in the same newspaper for tomatoes. Every customer who came to the farm to buy tomatoes, without exception, according to Jan, said they saw the photo but no one said that they saw the ad.
Now, that’s not to say you shouldn’t advertise. Rather, think about finding ways to get photos of your farm into the local newspaper or magazines and even video footage on television, as part of your marketing plan.
So, how do you go about it? First you’ve got to find something that’s photo-worthy. On a farm there are plenty of photogenic subjects. Look at the type of images that newspapers typically run as stand alone photos to get a sense of what they will use.
Most daily newspapers prefer to have their own photographers shoot the photos they use. So, if there’s time, call the paper and ask to speak to the photo desk to alert them of a photo opportunity. If a “photo op” presents itself unexpectedly, take your own photo, then send it to the local paper.
You can mail a conventional print, or e-mail a digital photo as most papers and magazines will now accept digital photos, providing the resolution is high enough. Being able to e-mail photos is a huge advantage as it lets you get them out in a timely manner. It’s best to do a little research in advance to find out which papers and magazines accept unsolicited photos and how they prefer to receive them.
And, of course, publicity isn’t the only use for good images of your farm. If you’ve got a website, publish a newsletter, or are planning a brochure, photos will give folks a better picture of your farm and what you offer, literally.
So, start looking at your farm in terms good photo opportunities and create your own opportunities whenever you can. You may not always have something as big as the Red Sox in the World Series to capitalize on, but with a little creativity you’ll find plenty of ways to hit a marketing grand slam.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the January 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
Old Marketing Concept Becomes Guerrilla Marketing Tactic
Have you heard about viral marketing? What about undercover marketing? Buzz marketing, stealth marketing, live commercial, or roach bait? They’re all pretty much the same thing and the latest in marketing tactics. Marketing gurus are attempting to engineer the old word-of-mouth concept into low-cost paid advertising.
In case you haven’t see one of the many stories on television “news magazine” shows or on the Internet, here’s how it works: A company hires “actors” to go out into public places and strike up conversations with people about how great the company’s product is. The key to this tactic is that the targeted consumers never know that they are being marketed to by a paid salesperson. For all they know, the pitchman is just another person on the street or another patron in a bar.
The goal is to generate a “buzz” about the product. It’s like that old shampoo ad: “I told two friends and she told two friends, and so on and so on.” That’s where the term viral comes in. It’s yet another “guerrilla” marketing technique.
The scenario reported on a recent episode of “60 minutes” was the case of a new tobacco company that was launching a new cigarette. They paid some attractive young women to go into bars, light up a cigarette, leave the pack on the bar, and wait for someone to bum a cigarette. When that happened, they went into action talking up the qualities of the product.
Another scenario involved a young couple, posing as tourists on a busy city street, stop a passerby and ask him to take their picture with a camera phone. When the picture-taker seems interested in the phone, the couple touts the product and even offers to e-mail information on it.
The reason why this marketing tactic allegedly works is that the pitch is coming from a supposed impartial third party. That’s the same reason why news articles about your business are so valuable.
So what does this new-wave marketing have to do with farm marketing? Well, I’m not suggesting that farmers hire people to go undercover to pitch their produce in public places (though if anyone tries it I’d love to know about it). Instead, I think that this phenomenon underscores what we’ve always known about the importance of word-of-mouth.
As a local farmer, you’ve got a word-of-mouth advantage: other local people know you personally. You already have a great deal of credibility. According to Ivan Misner on Entrepeneur.com, word-of-mouth marketing is “more about farming than it is about hunting” or, in other words, it’s about cultivating relationships within your community.
Some companies are trying very hard to artificially generate the same results that occur naturally when customers have a good experience with a business or product and tell their family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. That’s a pretty powerful lesson for small business owners.
What do we learn from that lesson? That providing good customer service and quality products, as well as developing relationships, is absolutely critical because customers talk. It doesn’t matter if your advertising effectively brings in new customers. If they have a bad experience at your farmstand, they’ll tell others.
In fact, many marketing experts say that customers are more likely to talk to others about a bad experience than a good one. So, to a certain extent, paying attention to word-of-mouth is more about damage control than proactive marketing. A savvy consumer would know that intuitively and might be able to spot an undercover marketer. A stranger going out of their way to laud a product would seem odd.
There are already plenty of critics of undercover marketing whose chief complaint is that it’s deceptive. I suppose that if this marketing technique becomes widespread, customers will become jaded or cynical. They won’t know when they are speaking with satisfied customer or a paid pitchman. That could have a negative impact on old-fashioned word-of-mouth. People will start to distrust anyone who speaks glowingly about a product.
Viral marketing, undercover marketing, live commercials – whatever you call it – may turn out to only be a fad. If that’s the case it will at least be a fad that serves to remind us of the business fundamentals we’ve known all along.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the October 2004 issue of Growing magazine.
In case you haven’t see one of the many stories on television “news magazine” shows or on the Internet, here’s how it works: A company hires “actors” to go out into public places and strike up conversations with people about how great the company’s product is. The key to this tactic is that the targeted consumers never know that they are being marketed to by a paid salesperson. For all they know, the pitchman is just another person on the street or another patron in a bar.
The goal is to generate a “buzz” about the product. It’s like that old shampoo ad: “I told two friends and she told two friends, and so on and so on.” That’s where the term viral comes in. It’s yet another “guerrilla” marketing technique.
The scenario reported on a recent episode of “60 minutes” was the case of a new tobacco company that was launching a new cigarette. They paid some attractive young women to go into bars, light up a cigarette, leave the pack on the bar, and wait for someone to bum a cigarette. When that happened, they went into action talking up the qualities of the product.
Another scenario involved a young couple, posing as tourists on a busy city street, stop a passerby and ask him to take their picture with a camera phone. When the picture-taker seems interested in the phone, the couple touts the product and even offers to e-mail information on it.
The reason why this marketing tactic allegedly works is that the pitch is coming from a supposed impartial third party. That’s the same reason why news articles about your business are so valuable.
So what does this new-wave marketing have to do with farm marketing? Well, I’m not suggesting that farmers hire people to go undercover to pitch their produce in public places (though if anyone tries it I’d love to know about it). Instead, I think that this phenomenon underscores what we’ve always known about the importance of word-of-mouth.
As a local farmer, you’ve got a word-of-mouth advantage: other local people know you personally. You already have a great deal of credibility. According to Ivan Misner on Entrepeneur.com, word-of-mouth marketing is “more about farming than it is about hunting” or, in other words, it’s about cultivating relationships within your community.
Some companies are trying very hard to artificially generate the same results that occur naturally when customers have a good experience with a business or product and tell their family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. That’s a pretty powerful lesson for small business owners.
What do we learn from that lesson? That providing good customer service and quality products, as well as developing relationships, is absolutely critical because customers talk. It doesn’t matter if your advertising effectively brings in new customers. If they have a bad experience at your farmstand, they’ll tell others.
In fact, many marketing experts say that customers are more likely to talk to others about a bad experience than a good one. So, to a certain extent, paying attention to word-of-mouth is more about damage control than proactive marketing. A savvy consumer would know that intuitively and might be able to spot an undercover marketer. A stranger going out of their way to laud a product would seem odd.
There are already plenty of critics of undercover marketing whose chief complaint is that it’s deceptive. I suppose that if this marketing technique becomes widespread, customers will become jaded or cynical. They won’t know when they are speaking with satisfied customer or a paid pitchman. That could have a negative impact on old-fashioned word-of-mouth. People will start to distrust anyone who speaks glowingly about a product.
Viral marketing, undercover marketing, live commercials – whatever you call it – may turn out to only be a fad. If that’s the case it will at least be a fad that serves to remind us of the business fundamentals we’ve known all along.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the October 2004 issue of Growing magazine.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Making Headlines: Getting Publicity for Your Farm
What is publicity and why should you want it? For the purposes of this blog entry, publicity equals news coverage. When a reporter from a newspaper writes an article about you or your business, that’s publicity. If a radio or TV station interviews you and the interview runs as part of the newscast, that’s publicity too.
Publicity is not paid advertising, regardless of whether it’s print, radio or television advertising, or even a personal appearance on a radio or television show offered to you as an advertiser. You may hear people refer to publicity as free advertising, but that’s misleading and a little insulting to the news media outlets that cover you.
News coverage has certain benefits that paid advertising does not. It not only increases your visibility, but your credibility as well. A good news story is a third party endorsement since it’s someone else saying good things about your farm. An ad, in contrast, is you saying good things about your own business. A successful publicity campaign can reach a wide audience at low or no cost.
Publicity should be only one part of your marketing plan, however. Since there are no guarantees in trying to get news coverage, publicity should complement, not replace, paid advertising.
The bottom line is good publicity is good for business. Good publicity is also good for the agriculture industry as a whole because it increases public awareness of local agriculture. Every time your farm is in the news the public is reminded that agriculture is an important part of the economy and your community.
Just like in farming, you have to use the right tools to get publicity. Your most important publicity tool will be a news release. A news release is like a news article that you write about your own business and send out to the media. Although it is intended for publication, many reporters will simply use it for background in writing their own news story.
A news release is not an advertisement, so it shouldn't sound like one. Be subtle with self-promotion in a release.
A news release is not a letter to reporters or editors. Write the release as if it were a news article. Your audience is the reader of the newspaper. Assume that whatever you write in the release will be printed in the paper.
There is no guarantee that your news release will be used. You have sent it unsolicited to a newspaper, radio station or television station and you are not paying for the space or airtime. They don’t have to use your release if they feel it’s not newsworthy, relevant or timely.
A professional looking news release has more credibility. The standard news release format is designed to make it easy for writers and editors to grasp the news quickly, edit it easily and know whom to contact if they have questions. Use letterhead and always include a contact name, a date and a headline.
A solid base of good contacts is the cornerstone of successful media relations. Seek out contacts at the local, regional and national level. Include newspapers, television, radio, wire services, cable TV, trade publications, and magazines. Be sure your list includes food, business, garden, environmental and travel writers.
Having a good relationship with a reporter can increase your chances that they will be receptive to writing a story about your farm. Getting to know a reporter also means that you’ll get to know the type of stories they like, or are assigned, to cover. You can pitch your story accordingly.
Be proactive and creative in your approach to publicity. Send out regular news releases, write letters to the editor or opinion pieces for the local paper on community issues, or call a reporter with a story idea or to offer a farmer’s viewpoint on an issue.
Plan events with publicity in mind. Don’t be afraid to do something a little off-beat. Gimmicks can work in getting publicity. Making the world’s largest apple cobbler and offering samples to customers will surely turn out a photographer or two. And if, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, think of how much you would pay for that much advertising space.
Copyright 2003 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the October 2003 issue of Growing magazine.
Publicity is not paid advertising, regardless of whether it’s print, radio or television advertising, or even a personal appearance on a radio or television show offered to you as an advertiser. You may hear people refer to publicity as free advertising, but that’s misleading and a little insulting to the news media outlets that cover you.
News coverage has certain benefits that paid advertising does not. It not only increases your visibility, but your credibility as well. A good news story is a third party endorsement since it’s someone else saying good things about your farm. An ad, in contrast, is you saying good things about your own business. A successful publicity campaign can reach a wide audience at low or no cost.
Publicity should be only one part of your marketing plan, however. Since there are no guarantees in trying to get news coverage, publicity should complement, not replace, paid advertising.
The bottom line is good publicity is good for business. Good publicity is also good for the agriculture industry as a whole because it increases public awareness of local agriculture. Every time your farm is in the news the public is reminded that agriculture is an important part of the economy and your community.
Just like in farming, you have to use the right tools to get publicity. Your most important publicity tool will be a news release. A news release is like a news article that you write about your own business and send out to the media. Although it is intended for publication, many reporters will simply use it for background in writing their own news story.
A news release is not an advertisement, so it shouldn't sound like one. Be subtle with self-promotion in a release.
A news release is not a letter to reporters or editors. Write the release as if it were a news article. Your audience is the reader of the newspaper. Assume that whatever you write in the release will be printed in the paper.
There is no guarantee that your news release will be used. You have sent it unsolicited to a newspaper, radio station or television station and you are not paying for the space or airtime. They don’t have to use your release if they feel it’s not newsworthy, relevant or timely.
A professional looking news release has more credibility. The standard news release format is designed to make it easy for writers and editors to grasp the news quickly, edit it easily and know whom to contact if they have questions. Use letterhead and always include a contact name, a date and a headline.
A solid base of good contacts is the cornerstone of successful media relations. Seek out contacts at the local, regional and national level. Include newspapers, television, radio, wire services, cable TV, trade publications, and magazines. Be sure your list includes food, business, garden, environmental and travel writers.
Having a good relationship with a reporter can increase your chances that they will be receptive to writing a story about your farm. Getting to know a reporter also means that you’ll get to know the type of stories they like, or are assigned, to cover. You can pitch your story accordingly.
Be proactive and creative in your approach to publicity. Send out regular news releases, write letters to the editor or opinion pieces for the local paper on community issues, or call a reporter with a story idea or to offer a farmer’s viewpoint on an issue.
Plan events with publicity in mind. Don’t be afraid to do something a little off-beat. Gimmicks can work in getting publicity. Making the world’s largest apple cobbler and offering samples to customers will surely turn out a photographer or two. And if, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, think of how much you would pay for that much advertising space.
Copyright 2003 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the October 2003 issue of Growing magazine.
Have You Been Branded?
If you ever talk to a marketing consultant about how to increase sales, no doubt the word “branding” will come up. That’s marketing jargon for something that you may already be doing instinctively: working to build strong name recognition for your farm and your products. If you haven’t given it any thought, perhaps it’s time that you do.
Strong brand name recognition leads to customer loyalty, an important sales and marketing goal. You want first-time customers to remember your farm or product name so that they’ll return to buy your product time and again, ultimately developing a preference for your product. Of course you’ve got to offer a quality product to go with the name, but no matter how good your product is, if the customer doesn’t remember your name you may never see them again.
Most of us learn brand recognition at an early age, and often remain loyal for life. What brand of peanut butter did you prefer as a kid: Skippy? Jiff? Peter Pan? Chances are that you still buy that brand today.
Some brand names have gained such a level of recognition that they have become synonymous with the product. If you cut your finger, do you ask for an adhesive bandage? You more likely ask for a Bandaid. If you have the sniffles, do you ask for a facial tissue? You probably ask for a Kleenex. You may have even used a brand name to refer to the process of photocopying. Did you ever ask someone to Xerox something?
When you think about brand names in food, major brands of processed products probably come to mind first. Hellman’s Mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. Land O Lakes butter and Keebler cookies. Pepsi and Coke. In fact, Coca Cola has to be the granddaddy of all recognizable brands. That red circle with the wavy white ribbon is known worldwide, from downtown Atlanta, where the company is headquartered, to little mountain villages in Guatemala.
There have been some very successful branding efforts for produce as well. Does the name Vidalia ring a bell? Or Freida’s Specialty Produce? Or Dole, Chiquita and Sunkist? Names like these are household words and shoppers often view the logos associated with these names as seals of quality.
So how does all this apply to you and your small local farm? Can you ever hope to gain the name recognition of Dole or Sunkist? Well maybe not on a national level (though, never say never), but you can certainly establish your name in your own community, state or region.
One Massachusetts farm, Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury (www.ciderhill.com), launched a branding effort last year. With the help of a marketing consultant, Glenn and Karen Cook developed a logo, package labeling, a brochure and a website designed to establish the farm’s identity and build recognition for the name.
A logo is the key component of a branding effort. A readily recognizable visual symbol used in combination with the company or product name establishes your brand. Think of it in terms of a rancher branding his cattle to identify them as belonging to his ranch, which is named to tie in with his brand symbol. The Lazy K Ranch in Tucson, for example, uses a sideways K for their brand.
Closer to home, the Cider Hill Farm logo is a stylized apple and if you look closely you’ll see the farm’s initials, CH, in the shape of the apple. Another local farm has a logo with a similar concept: Carlson Orchards of Harvard, Mass. (www.carlsonorchards.com), uses an apple formed from the letters CO on their cider and sparkling cider labels.
So how do you get a logo? Well, you can hire a graphic artist to design one for you. Or you can design it yourself, or maybe ask an artistic family member or employee to design one. One way or the other, whether the logo is sophisticated or homespun, simple or more detailed, it should be reflective of your business and your products.
Once you have a logo, use it everywhere: on letterhead, business cards, brochures, packaging, PLU stickers, point of sale displays, advertising, your website, apparel like t-shirts and caps (and make sure your employees where them), you name it. The Cook’s selection of branding tools – the logo, labeling, website and printed materials – are typical components of a branding effort, though certainly not a complete list of what can be done.
Whether you sell wholesale or strictly retail, you want the consumer to know you by name, not just an anonymous produce supplier or “that farm up the street.” You’ll know that your branding effort is successful when customers use your name when talking about your products. If you overhear something like “here, have a Cider Hill apple” or “how about a glass of Carlson’s cider” you’ll know you’ve been branded.
Copyright 2003 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the July, 2003 issue of Growing magazine
Strong brand name recognition leads to customer loyalty, an important sales and marketing goal. You want first-time customers to remember your farm or product name so that they’ll return to buy your product time and again, ultimately developing a preference for your product. Of course you’ve got to offer a quality product to go with the name, but no matter how good your product is, if the customer doesn’t remember your name you may never see them again.
Most of us learn brand recognition at an early age, and often remain loyal for life. What brand of peanut butter did you prefer as a kid: Skippy? Jiff? Peter Pan? Chances are that you still buy that brand today.
Some brand names have gained such a level of recognition that they have become synonymous with the product. If you cut your finger, do you ask for an adhesive bandage? You more likely ask for a Bandaid. If you have the sniffles, do you ask for a facial tissue? You probably ask for a Kleenex. You may have even used a brand name to refer to the process of photocopying. Did you ever ask someone to Xerox something?
When you think about brand names in food, major brands of processed products probably come to mind first. Hellman’s Mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. Land O Lakes butter and Keebler cookies. Pepsi and Coke. In fact, Coca Cola has to be the granddaddy of all recognizable brands. That red circle with the wavy white ribbon is known worldwide, from downtown Atlanta, where the company is headquartered, to little mountain villages in Guatemala.
There have been some very successful branding efforts for produce as well. Does the name Vidalia ring a bell? Or Freida’s Specialty Produce? Or Dole, Chiquita and Sunkist? Names like these are household words and shoppers often view the logos associated with these names as seals of quality.
So how does all this apply to you and your small local farm? Can you ever hope to gain the name recognition of Dole or Sunkist? Well maybe not on a national level (though, never say never), but you can certainly establish your name in your own community, state or region.
One Massachusetts farm, Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury (www.ciderhill.com), launched a branding effort last year. With the help of a marketing consultant, Glenn and Karen Cook developed a logo, package labeling, a brochure and a website designed to establish the farm’s identity and build recognition for the name.
A logo is the key component of a branding effort. A readily recognizable visual symbol used in combination with the company or product name establishes your brand. Think of it in terms of a rancher branding his cattle to identify them as belonging to his ranch, which is named to tie in with his brand symbol. The Lazy K Ranch in Tucson, for example, uses a sideways K for their brand.
Closer to home, the Cider Hill Farm logo is a stylized apple and if you look closely you’ll see the farm’s initials, CH, in the shape of the apple. Another local farm has a logo with a similar concept: Carlson Orchards of Harvard, Mass. (www.carlsonorchards.com), uses an apple formed from the letters CO on their cider and sparkling cider labels.
So how do you get a logo? Well, you can hire a graphic artist to design one for you. Or you can design it yourself, or maybe ask an artistic family member or employee to design one. One way or the other, whether the logo is sophisticated or homespun, simple or more detailed, it should be reflective of your business and your products.
Once you have a logo, use it everywhere: on letterhead, business cards, brochures, packaging, PLU stickers, point of sale displays, advertising, your website, apparel like t-shirts and caps (and make sure your employees where them), you name it. The Cook’s selection of branding tools – the logo, labeling, website and printed materials – are typical components of a branding effort, though certainly not a complete list of what can be done.
Whether you sell wholesale or strictly retail, you want the consumer to know you by name, not just an anonymous produce supplier or “that farm up the street.” You’ll know that your branding effort is successful when customers use your name when talking about your products. If you overhear something like “here, have a Cider Hill apple” or “how about a glass of Carlson’s cider” you’ll know you’ve been branded.
Copyright 2003 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the July, 2003 issue of Growing magazine
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