Kansas AgriTourism News

June 2007 Greetings! First of all, a special thanks to everyone who completed the agritourism survey.  We found your ideas and suggestions very helpful, and the data will help us better meet your needs with a few addition and changes.   A lot of you ask for more marketing tips and ideas.  It seems that marketing education is still the biggest need, and the biggest obstacle, for growing your farms, so we'll be focusing on that the next several issues of our newsletter.    Several of you asked for us to share the results of the survey.    Ninety producers completed the survey, including 12 that indicated they have only been in the agritourism business two years or less.    Seventy businesses said that guest visitations increased over 6% last year, and 32 businesses said they had increases of more than 25%. Most reported that the revenues increased in like manner!   We'll have more information from the survey in future issues.  In the meantime, please let us hear from you often. Thanks again!   Kansas AgriTourism Council

In This Month's Issue: Planning Your Marketing Strategies Growing AgriTourism In Kansas; a Starter Manual for Kansas Farmers & Ranchers Blue Highway Signs

Planning Your Marketing Strategies

by Jane Eckert

Generally, I encourage farms and ranches to complete your marketing plan in January, February and March, so if you haven't gotten around to it, well-let's just say that as a rule, you should do it just as soon as you close your doors for the season. It is important to do your thinking at the end of this year's operation, while things are still fresh in your mind.

But, maybe you got a nice rest, visited a few workshops, and read some good marketing books. So let's get to it. Your marketing plan requires more than just a couple of weeks at the last minute. Take the time now to evaluate.

• How did you spend your marketing money last year?
• Give some real thought as to whether you had a good plan
• Could it have been better spent?

Specifically, did you spend enough on marketing, and did you spend it in the right places?

Before we go any further, let me state that regardless of the size of your operation, you need to be doing marketing. Please, do not confuse marketing with advertising. Advertising is only one of the marketing tools, and there are a lot of marketing things you can do to bring positive results without spending those big dollars.

I am frequently asked how much a farm should be spending on marketing. Not too long ago I received a copy of the "On Farm Marketing Report" from Ontario, Canada.

The report was commissioned by the Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association (OFFMA) in 2005. They surveyed their members, and ninety-nine farms responded, representing $116 Million in annual gross receipts. For comparison with your operation, over half of these farms reported gross receipts over $250,000 annually.

Here's how the OFFMA members responded to the question, "what percentage of gross revenue do you spend on advertising and promotion?"

	Range	% of Farms
	less than 5%	49%
	5-9.9%	38%
	10-14.9%	8%
	15-20%	4%
	More than 20%	1%

The amount you budget is up to you, but remember your resources are limited so it is very important to spend it wisely. You may note that the survey asked the amount spent on "advertising and promotion."

Please understand that you can significantly increase your revenue with a good marketing strategy that does not necessarily require a lot of advertising dollars. Let me explain how I have categorized the various marketing strategies into what I refer to in my seminars and workshops as the Eckert Marketing Pie.™

Let me explain each piece of the pie and why it is important to integrate all of the strategies into your farm-marketing plan.

Promotions
Promotions are creative ways to excite the public about visiting your business and encouraging them to buy more while they are there. Promotions, such as contests, coupons, loyalty programs, seminars, celebrity appearances, and even charitable donations draw in visitors, and usually require more creativity than budget.

Advertising
This is what people usually think of when they think of marketing, but advertising for small businesses is usually a very small piece of the pie. Advertising requires the purchase of ad space or airtime in a newspaper, radio or TV station, billboard, or yellow pages. In order to be effective, advertising requires repetition, and with a small budget, this simply isn't feasible.

Media Relations
Building a relationship with the media is another great way to maximize your exposure for the least amount of investment, although it does require your time and creativity.

Through inventive news releases, telephone contacts, and similar avenues, you can obtain considerable publicity from newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations. When you create an interesting new way to talk about things on the farm, the press will love you - after all, they are looking for interesting new stories. You help them, and they'll help you.

Customer Focus
Ultimately, your marketing should all focus on one thing, your customer! Customer focus envelopes every aspect of your business, from how you staff greets your customers, to the readability of your signs, the speed of your checkout counter, the types of products you sell, and the maintenance of your property.

 

 

Customer Communications
Customer communications is a vital tool in maintaining good customer focus, using printed materials, newsletters, and your website to stay connected with your customers. When done right, customer communications is also a two-way exchange. As you gather more information about your customers, you will begin refining your services to meet their needs.

Creating a strong farm-marketing plan is important for your success. Taking the time to plan your marketing is an investment in your business and one you can't leave to chance.

I feel strongly about an integrated strategy and have now written five books covering this information in much greater detail. I would also remind you of the exceptional resource available through the state of Kansas department of Commerce-the state funded our research and preparation of the book "Growing Agritourism in Kansas, a Starter Manual for Farmers and Ranchers." You can still buy this book from the department, and if you don't have a copy, I would urge you to contact them today (see article below).

Special thanks to Cathy Bartolic, the executive director of OFFMA, for allowing me to share this information with you. I applaud OFFMA for getting the funding to do this study.

Click here to read other articles written by Jane Eckert and published on the Kansas AgriTourism Website.

Jane Eckert, a national speaker, author and agritourism expert, is principal of Eckert AgriMarketing (www.eckertagrimarketing.com and www.farmwebdesign.com ), a firm that helps farmers market products directly to consumers and develop their operations into tourist destinations. Jane can be reached by phone 314-862-6288 or at jane@eckertagrimarketing.com

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Growing AgriTourism In Kansas
A Starter Manual for Farmers and Ranchers

If you are a Kansas resident have not read this book at least once, you owe it to yourself and your business to order a copy today from the Kansas Department of Commerce.

'Growing Agritourism' is an extraordinary compilation of information written from the producer's point of view, with step-by-step details, hundreds of proven ideas and critical information about every aspect of running an agritourism destination.

The book also underscores the importance of producers partnering with travel professionals in order to market agritourism. The book was written for the state of Kansas by Jane Eckert, who has presented agritourism workshops and keynotes in 35 states and 5 Canadian provinces. Her book gives farmers and ranchers a blueprint on how to work with their local, regional and state tourism organizations.

This book was commissioned by the Kansas Department of Commerce as part of it's Agritourism Initiative in 2004, and copies are still available to Kansas residents for only $15, which includes shipping and handling.

Click here for more information, view the table of contents, and download instructions to order your copy before supplies run out.

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