How to Attract Farm Buyers & Nurture Customer Loyalty
Established in Warren, Rhode Island in 2023, Long Lane farm has quickly attracted a loyal customer base. Knowing Buyers in their local area, and remaining consistent with their communications, helped their Farm build a thriving business and strong customer retention.
In a recent podcast, Camille from Long Lane Farm shared how they built their customer base over the past year.
Listen to the episode:
Know your Ideal Customer
Attract customers by knowing what local Buyers in your area are looking for, where they are located, and their preferred fulfillments. Farm Buyers expect quality products. They must see the value in buying products from Local Farms, versus making purchases at a grocery store.
Offer a product mix that does not intimidate Buyers, including common products that regularly attract customers. Niche products, on the other hand, may not be compelling enough to fuel customer retention for your Farm.
Camille offers leafy greens in Subscription boxes, but also makes the package diverse to add value for customers. When Buyers know what to expect from your Farm, they feel comfortable making a purchase.
Knowing who buys your products allows you to offer package sizes that are sure to sell. Your local community may have large families, or your Buyers may include many single people. These Buyer types do not need the same Subscription sizes. Camille says, “I do try to match the size of what is in grocery stores,” to see packaging trends.
Long Lane is on the outskirts of the city in Warren, Rhode Island. This allows for surrounding neighborhoods to easily shop their Farm stand on property. Being centrally located means many orders can be picked-up or shopped at the stand. The Farm is within the community, so it fosters relationships with Buyers.
Consistently Communicate with Buyers
Knowing your Buyers allows you to share information they desire from your Farm. Buyer relationships allow for sharing regular Farm updates. Keep customers ‘in the know’ to build a connection with your Farm.
Newsletters can be the most typical form of communication, with personal updates and Farm information. Updating Buyers on ‘email-only promos’ can create the fear-of-missing-out (FOMO), enticing them to consistently open your communications.
Email marketing tools like Mailchimp allows Farmers to create automated email campaigns that are triggered by a purchase, or newsletter sign-up (aka Customer Journeys). Without any extra effort, Buyers will be engaged with every interaction they have with your Farm. Maintaining a weekly cadence with email campaigns will keep your Farm Brand at the forefront of Buyers’ inboxes.
I know I need to get a newsletter out, because it's going to bring me a return on the investment of my time (aka Sales), even more than weeding.
- Farmer Camille
Social Media is a tool for many businesses to connect with a wider audience. These platforms can help foster relationships digitally, by remaining top-of-mind and relevant in social feeds. Interacting with Buyers can strengthen their trust in your Brand, as well as lead them to your online store. 65% of online sales occur through mobile and social media.
Scheduling posts can save time and enable you to create a plan for marketing efforts. It can be overwhelming to post daily, a cadence Camille recommends. Whether it is through grid posts, reels, or stories, consistent posts will be more likely to appear on Buyers’ feeds.
Preparing posts weeks in advance will help eliminate the stress of creating a new post everyday. The Off-Season is prime time to plan a social calendar and schedule posts for the upcoming months.
Maintain Buyer Loyalty & Retention
Once Buyers have a connection to your Farm, loyalty can be built through personal messaging and individualized fulfillments. Listening to Buyers’ wants from your Farm is crucial. To build a Brand that inspires customer loyalty requires making changes based on their purchase needs, and becoming a trustworthy business.
Camille sends a survey to Buyers to inquire about their purchase preferences. Buyers rate the size of subscription packaging, fulfillment frequency, and payment options. This enabled Long Lane Farm to capture feedback from customers to improve retention. Knowing what Buyers prefer will allow for changes to your store to please them.
Subscriptions have become the most popular purchase option from Long Lane Farm. They offer Buyers food security with fulfillments weekly or biweekly. Additionally, the Farm benefits from recurring payments, ongoing product commitments and increased cash flow. Automated order reminders sent through email campaigns secure +30% higher average order volume for Farmers. Camille suggests sending these one to two times a week, to re-engage Buyers and secure more purchases.
Deliveries and Pick-ups enable in-person interactions between the Farmer and Buyer. Offering options that suit the customers in your local area will simplify orders (and save time). With scheduled fulfillments weekly or biweekly, Buyers will trust the dependability of the Farm. Your Farm will become a part of their weekly routine, while their families benefit from Farm fresh products.
Your Farm can give Buyers the opportunity to express their loyalty through tips. Barn2Door enables tipping on Farm purchases, which may be labeled as “help cover fees” or “Farm donations,” to encourage Buyers to support your business.
Using the Off-Season to prepare for harvest will cultivate success for your Farm. Scheduling marketing efforts, creating email templates, and engaging Buyers daily will promote Sales in the busy season. Farmers who unplug in the Off-Season will play catch up in harvest. Even if there are no products to move, you can attract Buyer commitments well ahead of season by employing the tips above.
Conclusion
Attracting Buyers requires consistent and authentic communications. Engaging Buyers through social media, email newsletters and in-person interactions can help form a trusting relationship. Solicit feedback and offer a product mix, package sizes and fulfillment options that suit your local Buyers.
Serve your Farm customers in unique ways that will add value to your business, so they do not look elsewhere. Reduce stress by planning ahead in the Off-Season, so harvest can be simplified for your Buyers, and your Farm.
Barn2Door offers an all-in-one solution to help Farmers manage direct sales online and in-person. If you’re looking to increase sales, access more customers and save time and money, we encourage you to watch this 5-min video.