Summertime and the produce is coming in like crazy! So many wonderful local farmer’s markets offer that wonderful produce for sale as well as a place to get to know your neighbors. Buying local is really catching on. Is your company ready to ride the “Buy Local” wave? Take a few tips from your farmer’s market to learn about local marketing!
Give the people what they want
There is no peach better than an Alabama peach. OK, I might be a bit biased, but when people come for miles and miles to get some of that juicy sweetness here at our local orchard, there’s got to be something to it. Do you know what your local customers want? If you are a business-to-business company, spend time at local Chamber events to get a feel for the local economy and how your business fits in. Are your customers consumers, the general public? Get to know them at local events, schools and churches. What services or products would be a good fit for your local customer?
Give your neighbors the chance to find you.
Farmer’s markets usually have large banners and roadside signs pointing the way to their stands, looking to grab the highway traveler’s attention. How can your customers, your neighbors find you? Did you know most internet searches made on smartphones are for local services such as doctors, restaurants and building contractors? Take some time to make sure your website can be that sign pointing customers to you. Make your site mobile-friendly and watch your traffic soar.
There’s a season, a reason, for everything.
Sure you can buy a tomato at the grocery store in February, but its taste and texture pale in comparison to a local tomato harvested in July. Companies who take the time to craft their message, their branding then promote it in the right channels at the right time stand to harvest a better crop of customers than those who throw money at the latest trends or who constantly change their company’s logo. Say a retail shop does most of their business during the holiday shopping season. A wise plan would be to slowly build up awareness over months, then increase momentum in the fall. Customers will be more familiar with the store, feel more comfortable spending their money with them instead of the shop down the street screaming on the TV during the last few weeks of December.
People will pay for quality.
Have a solid reason, a solid strategy for pricing, then stick with it. Your service, your product, is worth it and people will learn its value quickly when you have a quality product. We are all too happy to pay extra for those delicious peaches and just-picked corn. Customers worth having will pay for your product or service when they feel they’re getting something special as well.
Is your company ready to sell local? Give us a call and we’ll get down to business over some peach cobbler!
