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Note: Some of the links in this post contain affiliate links, where I may receive a small commission for sharing, but there is no cost to you. I only share things that I ACTUALLY use. This includes links products on Amazon.

Agricultural marketing tools

Here are my favorite agricultural marketing tools I use to help sell our farm fresh meat.

Email list

Growing an email list and regularly using email marketing to promote and sell your agricultural products products to your current and potential customers. On the other hand, we use social media as away to build brand awareness 

My favorite email service provider (ESP) to get started is FloDesk. It is very easy to use and includes a flat fee, which means as your email list grows, your fee with your ESP stays the same. 

I used FloDesk for a long time with my farm marketing but got to a point where I needed a more robust email service. I still use FloDesk for this blog. If you’re interested in trying it out, you can get your first year 50% off with my link here.

For more advanced email marketing, a more dynamic email service provider such as Klayvio can be a great way to fully integrate your email list with your e-commerce website. You can specifically see when your email marketing campaigns lead to online sales. 

Canva for graphic design

Canva is a super-easy-to-use graphic design tool. It has a free version, but the paid version is well worth the $12 monthly fee for the added benefits with access to more customizable templates, images, photos, and the ability to set up your own brand kit with colors, fonts and your farm logo. 

Canva is great for farmers to create graphics for social media platforms. With the paid subscription, you can easily change the file size and format to use the same graphic design for a different purpose. So, for example your printed flyer could be repurposed as a graphic for Facebook or Instagram, but resized to the correct size for each social media platform.  It’s a great tool for anyone doing ag marketing work.

iPhone

I love that I can manage many of my ag marketing activities right from my phone. In today’s digital era this includes:

• Taking photos and videos to use with our website, social media, and print marketing materials
• Managing our online presence through social media
• Managing and taking in-person orders on our online store 

Tripod with bendy legs

This type of tripod/selfie stick is perfect for taking photos and video around the farm while you’re doing your farm chores. The bendy legs can wrap around fence posts, gates or any piece of equipment. 

I personally like using them so I don’t drop my phone on the ground as much while trying to balance it in the right place to the the right angle. Also, it’s also the best way to take phots and video from a variety of perspectives, and not always be super up close, as in selfies, especially when you’re working by yourself around the farm. 

InShot video editor

InShot is my favorite video editing app that I use right on my phone. The one-time license is reasonable to get access to all the tools on the video editing app. I often use this app as I’m preparing different videos for different digital platforms. 

Stickers from Sticker Mule

I order all of our stickers for the farm from Sticker Mule. This includes our sticker we use with our insulated boxes for shipping meat.

They have great deals on their email list. You can also use this link to get $10 off your first order.

PS Print for printing marketing materials

The main printer I use for our farm print marketing materials is PS Print. It is fairly economical. I also like that I can get a real proof (printed sample) of my marketing materials before I place the printing order. 

Storybrand for ag marketing approach

The book Storybrand is a great resource for thinking about how your farm business creates its marketing messages. 

SnapSeed photo editor

The SnapSeed app from Google is an easy to use photo editing tool to use for quick editing on your phone. It works well for photos used online, such as for social media or even a website. Bonus, it’s free too! Find it in the iOS App store or Google Play Store. Note there is no desktop option.

Farm website

In today’s digital era, it’s very important that you have a website for your farming business. For our farm business we’re using Shopify. However, there are a lot of other options to consider. I often recommend SquareSpace to farmers creating their first website. It’s fairly easy to set up, and you can add online sales later. 

On your farm website it’s a good idea to include your contact information, your farm products, and how or where to buy your products, whether that’s through an on-farm store, online, grocery stores, or at a farmer’s market. Also be sure to include an email list sign up form. 

If you want, you can also share more about your farming practices on your website. This can be important, especially if you’re using sustainable agriculture or organic farming practices. Some customers who are looking for these type of food often are interested in reading more about your farming practices. 

Overtime you can also measure the success of your marketing efforts through not only sales, but also website traffic. 

Farming marketing strategies

Other farming marketing strategies I use include:

• Identifying our target market and customer base
• Consistent email marketing
• Knowing my farm business numbers so I can set the right pricing for our meat
• Observe and keep up with consumer food trends
• Implement other digital marketing strategies 

Other ag marketing strategies

While this aren’t tools we use on our farm, other farms often find these approaches helpful for direct marketing their produce, meat or other farm products:

• Farmers markets
• On farm markets or stores
• Home delivery
• Drop off locations