Helpful advice for Farms and Farmer's Markets who are looking to take advantage of Social Media marketing to engage with customers and increase attendance for events. This slide deck is from a recent presentation for the New Jersey Farmer's Market Council of Farmers and Communities (NJCFC)

1. SOCIAL MEDIA
For Your Farm or Farmer’s Market

3. Why Social Media?
• It BIG and it’s Growing!!
• Extremely Mobile Friendly
• Facebook Users – 157 million daily US users.
• Twitter Users - 53 million US users.
• In 2014, the daily average time spent on Facebook by the adult
population amounted to 21 minutes.
• Half (47%) of internet users ages 50-64 and one in four (26%) users
age 65 and older now use social networking sites.

4. What you can do with Social Media on a
Daily Basis
• TellYour Story
• Grow your list of loyal fans
• Communicate with customers
• Increase awareness about agriculture
in New Jersey
• Promote Events
• Encourage photo sharing from visitors
• Implement Paid HyperTargeted Ads

5. Your First Steps
Learn theTools
You can’t know
how to market and
have a strategy
without
understanding the
basic functions of
the channels.

6. Facebook Basics
A Facebook page is your second website,
just with more personality.
Facebook Pages for Business vs.
Personal Profiles
Pages rank very well in the Search Engines
You can Add Apps to pages
Very Mobile Friendly
Take advantage of paid FB advertising
options
Your fans can post their photos and
comments to your page

7. Facebook Page
best practices
Build out your history timeline – tell
the story of your farm or farmer’s
market
Add apps likeVolunteer, Subscribe,
Twitter, Instagram, and more.
Upload videos and photos to build
engagement.
Upload an eye catching Cover image
and change often.
Make sure your profile image is sized
properly.
Complete your About section.

8. Why are people on
Facebook?

9. What to Share
Farms
Recipes using seasonal
produce
Weather related updates
What’s in season
Lots of Pictures of life on the
farm
Staff spotlights
Events Details – Before,
During & After
Farmers Markets
Merchants News
Products
Encourage visitors to share
their photos
Recipes from Merchants
Volunteers

10. Twitter Best Foot Forward
FillOut Your Bio
Great Big
Cover
Photo
Say
Something
Profile
Avatar

11. WhenTweeting
Use relevant
hashtags #NJFarms
#NJFarming and tag
influencers like
@JerseyFreshNJDA
and @JerseyBites

12. Twitter – Short, Sweet & Simple +Visual

13. Instagram
Great for StoryTelling
with Images
All about Mobile
Great way to attract a
younger market
#Hashtags are very
important

14. Many ofYour Merchants Have Fans
Be Sure toTag
Them
Get them in the
conversation

15. EngagementTip #1
•Ask for the Likes,
Shares,
Comments and
Re-tweets.
People will
oblige.

16. More EngagementTips
• Strike up a deal with a local food blogger. Ask them blog about what is in
season and events on the farm in exchange for goods.
• Like Us or Connect with Us signs everywhere.
• Assign a Hashtag to your Farm or Market and encourage visitors to use it.
• Hold a season long photo contest. Winner gets membership in your CSA or
something else of value.

17. Blogging
Benefits of Blogging
Search Engines LoveThem
You OwnYour Blog
Your Blog is your online
magazine.
Syndicate Each Post to All
Social Media Channels
Repurpose in an Email
Newsletter

18. Facebook Ads
$250Total Spent
3,685Website Clicks
424 Page Likes
CTR 7.544%
Targeting
Morristown 25+
Miles
Interests
Winemaking,Wine &
Food Matching,
Food &Wine,
Winery,Wine Bar or
WineTasting

19. Orchard Example
• Location: United States: Princeton (+25 mi)
New Jersey
• Interests: Apple picking, Fruit picking,
Orchard, Farmers' market, Local food,
Community-supported agriculture, Slow
Food, Sustainable agriculture, Community
gardening or Compost
• Audience – 41,000 People
• Age: 20 - 65+
• $20 spend – Estimated Reach of 3,400 -
9,100

20. Your Strategy
• Just enough resources for one Social Media Channel – concentrate
on Facebook
• Enough for 2 – Facebook andTwitter
• Enough for 3 – Facebook,Twitter and Instagram
• Enough for more? – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest
Do one thing really well, rather than 5 things really poorly.

21. SavingYour Social Media Sanity

23. FoxtrotMediaLLC.com
DeborahLSmith.com
JerseyBites.com
Facebook.com/JerseyBites
Twitter.com/JerseyBites
Pinterest.com/JerseyBites
Instagram.com/JerseyBites
DSmith@JerseyBites.com