5 Ways to Double Your Farm’s Revenue Using Facebook
October 21, 2017 Thanks to the power of social media, reaching an audience has never been easier or faster. Effectively connecting with them is another story.
This sign at Ndoca’s farm highlights all the social media accounts the operation has. Photo by Molly Nolan
Promoting and advertising your farm requires more than just a plain website and an occasional Facebook post. Properly engaging with your customers and target demographics will make your farm more successful with just a few adjustments to your marketing strategy.
As part of the latest GenNext Growers Webinar Series, Tony Ndoca, an Illinois-based GenNexter himself who also consults small and mid-size farms on business development as well as sales and marketing strategy, led an interactive presentation on this trending topic.
Ndoca has firsthand experience in what social media can do to boost business. He and his sister successfully employed an online social campaign for their family farm and it led to (after four years) not just doubling, but more than tripling revenue.
Impressive results aside, Ndoca admitted it took some time to figure out what social media platform would be the best fit and how to use it. Despite having multiple choices, he gives a hearty nod to Facebook and its broad appeal. “If you’re doing one thing online and using social media at all for your farm, it should be with Facebook,” he said.
“While I think everyone should have a website, to stay in touch with your customers, it’s not the best method.”
To get a gauge of the webcast’s attendees’ familiarity with social media and how they are currently using it, Ndoca deployed two in-session survey questions at the beginning:
1. Do you use social media as a primary form of
advertising for your farm or farm products? 69% of attendees replied in the affirmative.
2. How many times per week do you post on social media? Respondents answered in the following manner:
- I don’t use social media, but I want to learn how: 8%
- 1 to 3 times per week: 38%
- 4 to 6 times per week: 21%
- 7 or more times per week: 17%
- I don’t post with any regular frequency: 17%
“I am shocked to find how many people have farms or are running farms who don’t have a website or a Facebook page,” Ndoca exclaimed.
Though just a sampling of a much larger audience out there, the poll results confirmed there’s still lots to learn. With that, Ndoca launched into five simple and cost-effective ways he and his family farm took advantage of social media (primarily Facebook) to add onto their revenue.
Click on the image below to watch the on-demand version of this webcast and to learn Ndoca’s 5 tips.
