Invest in Your Farm Brand Now, for Future Sales
Every business has a Brand. Your Farm Brand reflects your values, practices and mission. Each aspect of your marketing should revolve around your Brand image - from the imagery you share to your communication with Buyers. Your Brand is the personality and image of your business. It should be recognizable and consistent across all channels, in-person and online.
Your Brand image, values and voice all determine how each part of your business works and interacts with your Buyers. You do not want to confuse customers with random photos, a different voice or message in every communication, or have multiple Farm Brand designs. You must create a consistent Brand as the foundation to your Farm business, and build off that base.
We recently talked with Josie from Dan & Debbie’s Creamery to discuss the importance of a Farm Brand, how to establish your Brand identity and effectively market to Buyers. Listen to Josie’s advice:
What is your Farm Brand?
A Farm Brand includes: (i) your Image, (ii) your Why and (iii) your Voice. Let’s break these down into the details.
Image: Your Brand is the identity you give to your Farm. This is how Buyers perceive your business, and how you communicate with your customers through Sales and marketing efforts. It goes beyond your Logo, but your visual Brand does play a role in how Buyers perceive your business and products. Your Logo and packaging, from fonts to colors, will become an image associated with your Farm. This may be the most recognizable aspect of your Farm besides the name.
Read: Farm Logo Design Guide
‘Why’: Arguably, the most important aspect of your Farm Brand is your mission statement, or your ‘why’, and your values/practices. This is the ultimate foundation for why you started Farming, and why you believe there is more value in your products versus those available at the grocer. This will communicate to Buyers why they should care, and often helps form a relationship between your Farm and those purchasing your products.
Voice: Your voice is the tone, choice of language and terms used to convey your Brand messaging. You must first understand who your ideal Buyer is to know how to communicate with them. One Farm may serve suburban families that are busy and need direct email communication to remember to place an order. Another Farm may sell to local college students who gather information from social media and are willing to do on-Farm pick-ups. Once you know your target customers, you will know where to focus your marketing efforts, and the packaging that works best for local households.
If you don't understand your values, it's hard to build a Brand. You've got to build what's important to you. What you stand for, how you want your voice to sound, how you want people to feel. That's going to allow you to really develop an authentic Farm Brand that people are going to resonate with and want to support.
- Farmer Josie
Josie Rozum from Dan & Debbie’s Creamery in Iowa explains that their brand is focused on a sustainable family Farm, built on honesty, integrity and natural products. They Farm because they want to offer wholesome products to their community, while supporting humane animal welfare practices. Josie wants their brand to reflect the nostalgia of the milkman, and that is reflected in their Logo, their packaging, direct delivery, and communications. Every aspect of their business points back to who Dan & Debbie’s is as a Brand.
The Importance of a Farm Brand
Josie says, “If you're in the farming industry and you're selling direct to consumer, your goal should always be to build a relationship.”
Having a Brand establishes your identity as a business, allowing Buyers to build a connection with your Farm. If your Farm has no identity, there will be no distinguishing factors to set it apart from other local sustainable products. A Farm Brand allows your business to form personal relationships with Buyers through storytelling and online and in-person interactions.
Relationship building is the foundation for building a loyal customer base that trusts your Farm. If your Brand bleeds into every part of your business - packaging, posting, communicating, interacting - then Buyers will know what to expect, and be drawn to purchase from you. If Buyers do not feel a connection to the values of your Brand, or do not recognize your Farm in a crowd, you will miss out on profits.
Consistently reevaluate your ‘why’ for Farming. This will allow you to focus on revolving every aspect of your business around your Brand. When considering a Farm Logo and website, including imagery and text that is true to your values and story will help give a visual cue to Buyers. Dan & Debbie’s uses black and white in their Logo, packaging and on their delivery van to bring a nostalgic feel to their Brand. This is easily recognized by their Buyers.
They also use the slogan “Spilled Milk You’d Cry Over,” to communicate the hard work and commitment to producing sustainable dairy products. The Farm went back to their core values to establish what they wanted to communicate through their slogan and visual assets, so Buyers know what to expect from the products. Without a strong Farm Brand, they would have a disconnect between their practices, products and identity, leaving Buyers confused or feeling a lack of connection to the business.
How to Communicate your Farm Brand to Buyers
Josie creates a ‘Buyer Persona’ when planning out communications to her ideal customers. She envisions who will be receiving the email or social post, and what they will want to see, hear and know from the Farm. Doing this allows the Farm to have a clear, organized message every week, avoiding any confusion in communications with Buyers. Understanding your ideal Buyer in your community allows for successful marketing efforts to build a relationship.
Your Farm must consistently communicate with Buyers to increase profits. We find that Farms who send regular newsletters to their contact lists enjoy +28% more in average monthly orders. If you are not marketing to your community, another Farm will. Buyers need to be reminded of why they love your Farm and choose to shop, as well as any new products you offer. On social media and in newsletters, Josie will send new product releases, such as their recent peanut butter and chocolate ice cream.
Josie recommends sending two emails a week, with one going to a certain targeted audience (e.g. laggard Buyers), and the other to another group (e.g. recent Buyers). This ensures that she is staying top-of-mind for Buyers, not oversaturating their inboxes, and creating specific messaging for each type of customer. It is important that your values reflect in your communications, to remind Buyers why they choose your Farm for purchases.
She also spends an hour every Friday planning and scheduling social posts, and 30 minutes each month to review how her profiles are performing. This process allows Josie to stay consistent with her communications, reevaluate the messaging and ensure she is organized. She is thoughtful about her communications with Buyers, because she wants it to accurately portray their Brand and values to customers.
Conclusion
Dan & Debbie’s Brand is seen in every aspect of their business. Through sustainably-sourced products, cohesive profiles and stores (in-person and online) and visual assets for recognition, they are intentional with their marketing decisions. The Farm knows their Brand starts with their ‘why,’ and ends with a relationship with Buyers.
A Brand showcases what your Farm is all about, from the practices to the products. A solidified Brand is the foundation to a trustworthy Farm for Buyers. It becomes the personality and identity of the Farm business. Consistently communicating this core message to Buyers will increase your profits, and make your Farm a staple figure in your community.
Barn2Door offers software for Independent Farmers to create and promote their brand, sell online and in-person, and save time managing their business. For more information on tools Barn2Door offers to help you market your Farm, watch this 5-minute video.