Your next customer is looking for you right now. You grow what they want, but they don’t know about you quite yet. From stranger to loyal customer, each step of the journey has distinct features and fruitful opportunities.
Each customer must go through five steps, progressing from first impression to recurring customer. Once you understand each step, your marketing will allow you to connect with your audience exactly where they are on the journey.
The first step in the farm marketing funnel is awareness. This is your farm's first impression on new faces, whether online or in person.
Consider this step like casting a wide net to a larger audience with similar values, interests, and lifestyles. Here, you can introduce yourself, what you do, and why you do it and share some of your unique perspectives. Remember, your farm brand story makes your marketing special, so take some time to lay the foundation.
This type of content fuels the entire marketing success. If you can create sufficient awareness online through content creation and build a mission-aligned community online, then meeting your sales goals will be the least of your concerns!
Those who are interested will engage in a variety of ways, but the ice is officially broken. Their engagement is an invitation to be reciprocal. They are warming up to you and your farm’s brand.
Something about your content connected with them. This is your opportunity to build more trust with them, continue to share your story, and answer some common questions.
Once you figure out patterns of why people are following you and which types of content connect, start doubling down. If something specific about your content resonates with most of them, you can lean into that and continue to foster further interest and engagement.
It’s estimated that you need to have at least ten touches before someone becomes a customer.
Now, with how competitive attention is on social media, that number may be higher for some. Keeping this in mind, you can focus less on hurrying to make the sale and more on building trust, educating, entertaining, and showing transparency about how you run your farm.
At this stage, your job is to turn this interested stranger into a friend who is excited to learn about your farm because of the authenticity of your branding and marketing.
Through content, you can create content to explain the why behind what you do and give them a behind-the-scenes look into your day-to-day rhythms on the farm.
Once you notice that your visitors are starting to engage with your content and brand consistently, they are moving closer to the purchase stage of the funnel.
You can ask for the sale here, and I invite you to be direct about it. Don’t be afraid here, but don’t be too early either. Once you notice someone warming up, you can offer them a discount on their first order to help them overcome the hurdle.
Remember, we want to turn visitors into lifelong customers who will support your farm for years, so don’t be afraid of discounts on first orders to break the ice and get them into the door.
This is a pivotal moment in the customer journey, as they have officially shown their trust in what you do, so congratulations, but the work isn’t finished quite yet.
Many farms, and businesses in general, fail to focus on this last step. Once a visitor becomes a customer, you must immediately continue the relationship-building process. It’s exciting to acquire customers, and if you nurture them and continue to foster a relationship, these customers will become advocates for your farm.
They will be spokespersons for your farm, sharing their experience with others, leaving positive reviews on your website to help you build trust for new customers, and inviting more visitors into your marketing funnel! This part of the funnel can create a positive feedback loop for your brand and momentum in your marketing, so keep building those relationships with your customers.
Remember these five steps when creating content and reviewing your marketing strategy. There is a time to nurture your audience, a time to entertain, a time to educate, and there is a time to ask for the sale.
Whether you just started your farm business or your family has been growing for generations, Local Line is here to ensure continued success by helping you with digital marketing services, e-commerce, managing your customers and vendors, and finding new marketplaces!
