Farmer Spotlight: Orem Farms
Hear Orem Farms on the Direct Farm Podcast
Joelle and Jared Orem run Orem Farms, a 150-acre family Farm located in Northeast Indiana. Jared is a fourth generation Farmer who was raised to grow food, he knows how to work the land and produce quality crops. Joelle has a background in marketing and events with a Bachelor’s Degree in Design from Indiana Wesleyan University; she is a creative thinker with a heart for family, farming, and her local community. Together, their well rounded skills have enabled them to grow the family business.
“It all started with my husband’s grandfather, Merle Orem. He and his wife, Virginia, purchased what we would consider the original farm back in 1956. They tended to some cattle and grew an array of crops. When Merle deployed to Germany, his wife, Virginia, managed the Farm with some help from the family.
From the start it’s been a family project for us, from bottle feeding the calves to selling livestock at auctions. It’s evolved very naturally, organically and through word-of-mouth. We’ve been able to take the time to listen to people, get to know them and have conversations.”
After getting married in 2009, Joelle and Jared jumped in and started taking on more responsibilities around the farm. Joelle started by developing a business plan to help them grow their business with a new strategy to reach more customers while keeping true to their family Farm values.
“Three years ago, my husband and I decided to scale the business by developing a marketing strategy to expand our Farm. My husband likes to build a relationship with every customer--I think that’s what makes us unique--people find value in being able to stay connected at a personal level. To this day, family is still at the focus of our Farm.
With respect to your Farm brand, I always tell people to take the first step and just look at your logo. For me, personally, a logo has been huge for us because it makes things identifiable to people. They drive around town and see the Orem Farm logo and it makes them think of us.
Another focus for us, when it comes to our Orem Farms brand is our voice. We take a bird’s eye view of our overall brand through the lens of our presence online and in the community. From certain keywords, phrases, and the tone and the feel of our conversations. Our “voice” can even carry through even in an automated message or an email. Whether customers are talking to me, my husband or father-in-law, consistency is crucial. Customers want to know they’re going to get the same experience every time.”
Joelle enjoys sharing her personal experiences on social media with projects and programs around her life as a Farm wife. By showing more of her journey, her family, and life on the Farm, social media has become a pathway to connect with others in the Farming community. She is active on Facebook and Instagram.
“TractorHeels is a fun project that truly encompasses me as a person. As a Farm wife, I quickly jumped into the role of a business owner. Along the way, I discovered a large community of women who are running the business side of the Farm as well. My passion is to help give these women the resources they need to be successful on and off the farm. I am working to bridge the gap between rural and professional.”
Creating personal connections with your audience is an important part of building brand identity and a community around your business, Joelle does a fantastic job of outlining the impact of building trust through marketing. Orem Farms elected to partner with Barn2Door for their ecommerce experience given our commitment to support their business and customers, too. A streamlined purchasing experience through social media channels, aligned well with Joelle’s efforts on Facebook and Instagram.
“We share our story by showing lots of faces--faces of the Farmers, the people that we work with and faces of our family. Family is at the heart of our farm. We want to connect with our customers, not just sell them a product. Building trust through the lens of our brand, our story, and online experience is something that we’ve really worked on. Our goal is to consistently communicate to our audience by anticipating their questions before they ask them. We provide critical information to our customers and show them that we’re all family. We feed our children the same food that we serve their families.”
Barn2Door is honored to support Joelle and Jared from Orem Farms. As more Farmers are looking to transition online, awareness of your business plan and marketing strategy becomes an important skill as we can see in Joelle’s story. Check out our latest eBook to learn how to build a successful Farm brand online. Read: eBook: 5 Steps to Build Brand Loyalty For Your Farm.
If you’re curious how Barn2Door could support your Farm, you can learn how it works in 5 min.