Ag Marketing– On the Internet!
Using Current Technology and Social
Media to Market Your Products
Dr. Brian Whitacre
Department of Agricultural Economics
Oklahoma State University
[email protected]
Why is the Internet Important?
• More and more, people are turning to the Internet as their
FIRST SOURCE of information
– Even more as mobile Internet usage increases
• Survey respondents asked where they would turn if they only
had 1 source of information:
Choice of Source of Information
Source: Zogby Interactive
Survey, June 2009
60
Percentage of Respondents
50
40
30
20
10
0
Internet
Television
Radio
Newspaper
And Even More In the Future!
• Respondents also asked what they saw as the
main source of information in 5 years:
Source: Zogby Interactive
Survey, June 2009
Dominant Information Source in 5 Years
90
Percentage of Respondents
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Internet
Television
Radio
Newspaper
5 Real-World Options for Marketing Ag
Products Online
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Local Harvest
Craigslist
Email Newsletters
Blogs
Facebook
Local Harvest
(www.localharvest.org)
• Customers search for organic food grown
close to them
• Can search by product or by state
• Join FOR FREE!
• 148 farms currently listed in Oklahoma
– Info specific to their farm / link to website (if they
have one)
www.localharvest.org
How to Sign
Get
Started
up for an
account
Shop by Category
Craigslist
(www.craigslist.org)
• FREE Online Classifieds
• Extremely simple website design (circa 1996)
• Organized by Community
– Can search nearby communities or larger
metropolitan areas
• “Farm + Garden” category
– Sell corn, wheat, goats…
– Post your phone #
– Use anonymous email address
• Constantly updated
www.craigslist.org
How to Get Started
Post to
Classifieds
Search
‘Farm+Garden’
Email Newsletters
• Most Popular: Constant Contact
• Pay monthly fee (~$15), send out emails to
your contact list (must develop yourself)
– Good choice for many agribusinesses with repeat
customers (agritourism, wineries, bed & breakfast)
• NOT a website – you will simply design nicelooking emails (templates provided)
• Stats provided on who opened, went to links,
etc.
www.constantcontact.com
How to Get Started
Look into
View Email
promoting an event
Newsletters
Check out
pricing plans
Blogs
• Online journal for your farm
• Updated daily / weekly / monthly
– Can require significant time investment!
• Used to create awareness of what you are doing,
and generate returning customer base
– Pictures of farm life, products, events
• FREE programs available: wordpress, blogspot
• Check out some OK farm blogs:
– http://turtlerockfarm.wordpress.com/
– http://bootstrapfarm.blogspot.com/
– http://lifeatfortyacrefarm.blogspot.com/
How to Get Started
• www.blogspot.com
Sign up!
• www.wordpress.com
Sign up!
Facebook
• Facebook: Has overtaken Google as THE most
popular Internet site
– Build “Fan Pages”
– Post pictures / videos
– Hold discussions
– Page primarily developed through dynamic
relationship with fans
How to Get Started
• Get a Personal Facebook Page (if you haven’t
already)
• Create a “Fan Page” for your farm
– Search “Create” under your personal page
Create a Page!
How Much Time Do I Spend on This??
• No surprise…the farms that spend the most
time on their blogs / Facebook / Craiglist are
the ones that get the most out of it
• 3 different farms on Facebook:
About Websites…
• All of the above techniques can be used
WITHOUT a dedicated farm website
• But, all work BETTER if you can link to a farmspecific site
• Can be simple (single page) or more involved
(multiple pages, e-commerce)
• Websites are NOT overly expensive to get!
– ~$100 / year for all necessary ingredients
Some Do-It-Yourself
Website Builders:
• Yahoo! SiteBuilder
– http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/index.php
• GoDaddy’s Website Tonight
– http://www.godaddy.com/hosting/website-builder.aspx
• Wix.com
– http://www.wix.com/
The OSU E-commerce Program
• We offer workshops on:
– Website Building
– PayPal 101
– Search Engine Optimization (including marketing
on Facebook)
• Contact:
Workshops are hands-on (in a computer
lab), limited to 10 – 15 people, and last
approximately 3 hours each
Dr. Brian Whitacre
Oklahoma State University
[email protected]
(405) 744-9825