Bringing visitors to your farm can be a good way to promote your products and develop lasting connections with customers. Offering on-farm experiences requires two layers of marketing: first, promoting the on-farm experience, and second, promoting farm products. Whether you’re trying to sell cooking classes, farmstead cheese, CSA shares, a farm stay, or something else, these resources will guide you through best practices in marketing.
Best Practices in Agritourism Video Series
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Writing a Marketing Plan
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- Marketing for Agritourism (PDF)
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Vermont Small Business Development Center - Marketing Plan Template (PDF)
¶¶Òõ̽̽ Extension New Farmer Project
Introductory Tools for Digital Marketing
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Booking Platforms
Social Media - Choosing Your Channel/Making a Plan
- - University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension
- Social Media Best Practices Guide (PDF) - Alex Tursi
- Campaign Planning (PDF) - Alex Tursi
- Building a Social Editorial Calendar (PDF) - Marketo
- - Upstart University
- - Good Eggs Marketing
- - Kate MacLean, Longest Acres Farm
Leveraging Social Media for Events
- Checklist for Event Marketing (PDF) - Vermont Fresh Network
Websites
- - Good Egg Marketing
- - Good Egg Marketing
Email and e-Newsletters
- - Sarah Webb of Shelburne Farms and Laura Olsen from Green Mountain Girls Farm.
Search Engines
Visual Content - Digital & Otherwise
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Working with a Professional Photographer
- "Small Business - Photos" (PDF) - Community Capital of Vermont
Tools for Graphic Design
- - Canva
- - PicMonkey
- - Photopea
Working with the Press
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- - The Hustle
- How to Write a Press Release (PDF) - from Cision
Customer Service
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Happy and satisfied customers are key to success, and planning should begin well before your first visitor.
- - Cornell University
- Customer Service (PDF) - Tennessee Cooperative Extension, 2005
Fact Sheets and Guides
- Customer Relations (PDF) - Cornell Cooperative Extension
Other Resources
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- - University of California Cooperative Extension
- Marketing Agritourism While Providing Quality Service (PDF) - Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Marketing Platforms
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- Listings of agriculture and culinary experiences that are open to the public in Vermont.
- The official site of the Farm Stay USA Association with a listing of authentic farm and ranch stays throughout the US.
- and . Websites that connect travelers looking for authentic dining options with hosts who offer meals in their homes.*
- . Be sure to post your events on the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing’s official events calendar
- . An important communications resource in every Vermont community. Consider posting an event or buying an ad.
- . Design and operates farm visits around the US.
- . Lists and books farm stays with maps for us region and other parts of the world. It has a list of filters where you can find a farm based on your preferences (pet friendly farms, wine tours, hikes, etc.)
- . Listing and booking. Lists farms by usa states, internationals, events and farm activities This can give you ideas on what are the must common offerings and what is more unique.