As we enter a new year, it's time again to invest in and revamp your farm's marketing channels. In the digital age, social media has become a powerful tool for farmers to showcase their local products, share their stories, and build meaningful relationships with their customer base. If you're a farmer looking to take your online presence to the next level in 2024, specifically on Instagram, you're in the right place.
In this blog post, we'll explore strategic ways to prep your farm's Instagram for success, unlocking the full potential of this visually-driven platform to amplify your voice, connect with customers, and elevate your farm brand. Let's jump into the essential steps to cultivate a thriving online presence for your farm in the coming year.
You want to think of your Instagram profile as an extension of your business. A digital, ever-changing business card. Curating and optimizing the different sections of your Instagram profile for success can help you attract new customers or help those looking for you find you. Here are a few of our recommendations:
Your Instagram profile is like your farm business card. When you are doing anything on Instagram, whether you are liking people’s comments or sharing a post from another local business – the first thing anyone is going to do is click over to your profile. If your profile is not attracting the right customers and it is not clear to them what you do, you will lose those people. Your Instagram profile needs to be set up so that you are drawing in your ideal customers and being super clear about what you offer them.
Here are a few parts of your profile that you need to think about:
Ideally, you want to use a picture of yourself or your family. Many farmers use pictures of what they sell or produce as their profile pictures, but the reality is that it’s not going to connect with people the same way a photo of you will. You often hear, “we want to know our farmer”. The best way to do so is to show your face!
If you want to use your logo, make sure it translates well to a mobile phone. If your logo has a lot of text or is quite large, use a simplified version or zoom into the most important part.
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On Instagram, you have a username (usually starting with an @ symbol) and your name line. They sound very similar, but they’re actually very different. Your username is what your account is called. Your name line is the part of the text that appears underneath your profile picture in a bold font. That is the only part of your Instagram account that’s searchable.
One of the biggest mistakes (and most impactful fixes) is when people use the same copy for both their username and their name line. You need to think about what people are looking for when they come to Instagram, and those keywords need to be in your name line.
So, as an example, Local Line's username is @locallineinc, and our name line is Local Line | The Sales Platform for Farms.
Your bio is the 150 characters you get to describe what you do. Start with a strong statement about what you do and what you sell, grow, or make. On Instagram, you often have to click a read more button to see the entire profile. You want to ensure that the most important information comes before that point. Here are a few examples of farm Instagram bios:
Growing vegetables on an acre or so, year-round in Oxford County, ON using organic practises (non-certified).
🍁From Oxdrift, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦
🐷Local and ethical livestock farming🐮
🌱Regenerative agriculture
🐂Grassfed beef🐖Forest raised pork
You also want to make it clear what is unique and special about you and your farm so that people are more inclined to buy local products from you versus a competitor such as a grocery store or large retailer. Wherever you can, focus on selling your farm products to your audience.
Make sure to add a link where people can learn more about you. Switching up your link should be a part of your monthly profile checks. You can change it as much as you would like; for example, if you want to push viewers to a certain resource, send them to the link by using a call-to-action above! Ensure you convert your Instagram followers into customers by linking to your online farm store.
The highlights are the small bubbles at the bottom of your profile. They come from your stories. Your profile is so small to work with and makes you sum up what you do really succinctly. Consider your highlights as an extension of your profile – where you can tell them any other information they need, i.e., where you sell, what you sell, and how you sell it!
➡️ Are you looking for ideas on what to post on your farm's Instagram? Check out 30 Posts, 30 Ways: Instagram Ideas to Post Directly to Your Account!
Prepping your farm's online presence for 2024 is crucial to staying competitive and achieving your sales goals. With these steps, your farm is well on its way to a prosperous year ahead. To help you better prep for the 2024 sales season, we’ve created a series of articles covering topics such as: Setting Up Your E-Commerce Store, Optimizing Your Website for SEO, Preparing Your Instagram Profile for Sales, and Re-Engaging Your Email List.
At Local Line, we want to help you succeed. If you need support with your social media strategy, check out our Social Media Content service or our other tailor-made farm marketing services here!
