3PM - It’s not too late!

Last newsletter of the year. This year was a blur. No matter what happened in 2024, now’s the time to focus on preparations for 2025. Is this the year your regen ag business hits BadAss status? Let’s look at some trends and wisdom from the past year that we can apply to have more impact after the New Year.

Let’s Start with Your Social Media Presence

Or lack thereof. Consistency is king. If you make a commitment to yourself and your readers that you’ll publish something every day, week, or month - deliver. I know social media feels overwhelming. But set aside some time to analyze where you need to spend time and what you can cut.

You Don’t Need to be Active on ALL Social Media Channels

Did I hear a sigh of relief? Do some sleuthing to find out where the people that you want to talk to hang out. An easy way to do this is to use AI. It’s a valuable resource.

Getting good information out of AI boils down to asking the right question. For example, if you’re in the regen ag industry and sell cover crop seeds here’s a good question for AI.

“Where should I post on social media to reach the most people who are interested in buying cover crop seeds (customize this by adding “in small or bulk quantities”).”

You’ll get an answer and a question; “Do you want to know more?”  Drill down by continuing to ask questions until you’ve found your ag people. They might be regen, organic, or conventional dipping their toes into regen. You might be surprised at the market for home gardeners vs farms - or not. I didn’t ask that question. 

Find your people and be consistent with quality content that adds information, and some humor, to their lives. Add a last post on those social media you don’t plan on using (just in case you missed a great customer) simply saying “You’ll find up-to-date information about [your company name] on [social media platform]. 

And you know change is the only constant. You have to redo this every so often (every 6 months is a good benchmark) to make sure you’re still reaching the people you want to reach.

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Competitor and Keyword Research

As a marketing agency, we do it every day so it’s second nature. There are many free tools to find out what words people are typing into their computers when they’re trying to find a solution.

You can research on the macro level through Google Trends. Agriculture has seasons and so do your customers. When you look at a 3-5-year window you can see when certain words are used. There are spikes for - let’s keep with cover crop seeds - at about the same time every year. With that information, you know how to create your Content Calendar so you’re speaking to the interests of the season.

The words folks use to search may be different than what you think. Folks don’t use as much industry jargon when they’re sitting at their computer asking questions as when you’re talking to them at an ag conference. Just sayin’

With Google Trends you can also check out your competition by plugging their name into the search box. Then you can see the topics and searches that are popular with them. See where you can hijack some of their traffic over to you? 

If not, email me. Let’s discuss in more detail how this Keyword and Competitor research works.

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Would Tariffs Affect Your AG Operation and Your Marketing Plan?

A lot of food and other everyday products are imported and might be subject to tariffs. “Imports of goods and services into the US surged 3% to $352.3 billion in September 2024, the highest of record,” according to Trading Economics.

According to economic forecasters, we’re in the red in the balance of trade, by billions of $$$. If, hypothetically, tariffs were placed on imports from our 5 major trading partners, China, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Germany how would that affect your AG operation and your marketing efforts?

If you don’t depend on exports for your revenue, tariffs could be a good thing. Tariffs will raise prices, someone has to pay, and that may make US products more competitive in the marketplace.  But only if you’re able to reach your buyers with that message. 

A data-driven approach to your marketing plan includes looking at market analyses and consumer buying habits. Determining your Ag marketing strategy is similar to how you determine your crop rotations. Look at the variables you can control and figure out how you can maximize your acres (marketing budget) for Ag profit. When you’re regen the health of the entire ecosystem is part of that equation.

Are Commodity Crops a Profitable Future for Your Business?

If you’re a commodity crop grower you’ve been watching the futures market and watched the Y-O-Y price of corn, soybeans, cotton, and others go down. Winter is the time to decide if you’re going to pivot some of your acres to a more profitable crop, such as barley, rapeseed, hemp, or sunflower. Or changing your Ag practices to fit the growing market for sustainable and organic products. Growing these crops means your whole Ag image changes. What do you want your customers to know about you? To serve alternative crop markets you have to show that you’re dependable and will be able to meet their specs. 

That’s when you look at your messaging and decide if it needs a facelift. The end goal of marketing is increased sales. Messaging has to be spot on. 

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Are You Always Looking for New Customers? Create Loyalty

Developing a new relationship is hard. So is maintaining an existing one. But when you’ve nurtured a relationship there are benefits for both parties. 

Using a Loyalty Program is a good way to reward your customers and let new customers know there’s a benefit to sticking around. For a few decades now “cookies” have been the way to gather consumer data. But changes in buyer behavior and privacy laws are making those sweets irrelevant. So, how do you gather customer data?

Does “email list” sound familiar? Are you asking for people’s emails? An email list is a powerful tool. When you ask for someone’s information - and they get something in return - they want what you have. If you don’t ask for their email and give them the chance to benefit from your knowledge, you’re doing everyone a disservice. 

Loyalty in the Direct-to-Consumer Ag Market

In the Ag world, direct-to-consumer selling is on the rise. According to a recent study by eMarketer, “Consumers were members of an average of 18 loyalty programs in 2023.” This is a growing trend and one the direct-to-consumer meat, produce, cosmetics, and clothing industries should pay attention to. 

When folks share their personal information it’s a value exchange.  They expect benefits in the form of % off, offers only members of the Loyalty Program get, and more personalized service. With an email list, you can offer benefits that convert one-time buyers into repeat buyers - and often raving fans. 

For you, a long-term customer relationship gives you opportunities to improve your company offerings and customer services based on their comments. You also get demographic information so you can market more effectively to people similar to your loyalty members but who aren’t in the program, yet.

For the customer, it gives them chances to get exactly what they were looking for at a great price point. And before anyone else. Consumers are interested in Loyalty Programs because they offer value and fight inflation.  Loyalty Programs are a win-win but remember they’re a long-term game.

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And That’s a Wrap

There’s so much more to share. But this is it for the year. I’ve had an awesome year. Hope you have had a great year also. And If it’s not been stellar there are opportunities to learn from mistakes. Goodness knows I’ve had plenty of lessons this year. See you in the New Year. 

Helping businesses that are making a difference make more money.