Get a Leg Up: Thanksgiving Marketing Tips
6 marketing tips to attract more customers and drive your farm’s sales throughout the holiday season.
Most brands prepare for the post-Thanksgiving shopping sprees — Black Friday, Cyber Mondays, and Shop Small Saturday, but as a farmer, you know that your highest Thanksgiving farm sales come before the holiday.
It’s easy to feel drained late in the season and in preparation for the holidays, but no need to stress!
Thanksgiving is truly an easier time to sell — customers are looking for high quality ingredients to prepare a memorable meal with friends and family. And you’ve got just what they’re looking for!
The GrownBy Team pulled together six effective marketing tips and tricks for a successful end of season sales that will help you make the most of the next Thanksgiving holiday.
🗓 Start planning early.
People don’t usually make a purchase the first time they see something, so starting your holiday marketing early will ensure that current and potential customers will see your delicious goods multiple times, at various touchpoints before deciding to make a purchase from your farm.
Particularly with Thanksgiving, when folks often plan their menu weeks in advance, it’s critical to confirm what you’ll have available and why your ingredients are the superior option!
WHAT ARE TOUCHPOINTS? Touchpoints include visits to your online shop, interactions on your Instagram or Facebook profiles, email marketing messaging, print ads in local publications, and even in person conversations and signage at the farmers market. The more positive interactions with a customer, the more likely they’ll consider your farm for future purchases.
📝 Use persuasive language.
As farmers, the limits of our harvests can be used to our advantage. When telling customers about your upcoming products be sure to use language that highlights your limited quantities. Creating urgency to buy will encourage customers to make a purchase sooner rather than at the last minute, which can help take some of the pressure off you and your crew.
Try utilizing phrases such as “limited quantities” or “while supplies last,” in your social media posts, email marketing, and on your store front.
🏆Offer incentives and bundles.
As a farm, you know your products are better than anything you can get on grocery store shelves. Make sure your customers know that, too!
While early bird discounts are popular, you don’t always have to offer a discount or free product to promote your goods. Instead, offer customers the convenience of pre-packaged Thanksgiving bundles that include a variety of essential ingredients for their holiday meals.
Product bundling is a retail marketing strategy that involves creating and selling a curated collection of complementary products that make meal prep more convenient for the customer.
You can offer a bundle of farm-fresh ingredients typically used in Thanksgiving meals — a bird with a couple pounds of potatoes, onions and carrots, or a variety of fresh or dried herbs (which would also make great gift for the host!)
🦃 Highlight your farming practices.
In other words, incentives don’t have to be sales or discounts! Holidays are often a time when people seek fresh and locally sourced produce, so your faming practices and farm products are already in demand.
Are your heritage birds pasture raised and soy free? Let the seasoned home cook or professional chef know! Do you have Real Organic systems in place? Use this as an opportunity to remind your customers that you go the extra mile.
📸 Feature beautiful photos.
Help your shop and social media stand out with high-quality photos of your products. When it comes to meats, you may want to experiment with both prepared dishes, and your happy animals on pasture.
Check out our post from last week for more photography tips.
💭 Have a plan. And a backup plan.
Have order deadlines in place, your stock updated, your packaging stocked, and any extra crew on the schedule to help fulfill orders. And always be prepared for a slew of last minute orders!
From all of us at Farm Generations Cooperative, we wish you a bountiful Thanksgiving!
GrownBy is the fair and farmer-owned marketplace.
Use the GrownBy app to list your products and give consumers the opportunity to find and buy your fresh produce or preserved items all year long. Build your farm shop on the GrownBy Marketplace for free and start selling your products in less than an hour.
STAY UPDATED ON OUR MARKET TIPS SERIES Stay tuned for more information, tips, and inspiration for creating, marketing, and improving your value-added products on your farm store. Follow along at @farmgenerationscoop and @grownbyapp.
