235 How to Build a CSA Renewal Promotion Step by Step
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Release Date: 11/01/2023
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
I thought the goal of my recent promotion was simple: sell 40 prepaid online store credit memberships. That was it. 40 spots. Hit the revenue goal. Move on. But as I was building the emails, teasing it on social media, and checking my stats inside (my email service provider), I noticed something unexpected… My email list had jumped a LOT. And it wasn’t random. It was happening because of how I positioned the promotion before it ever opened. That’s when it clicked! Every promotion has a second goal. And most farmers completely miss it. Yes, promotions are meant to...
info_outlineMy Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Ever sit down to write your weekly email… Cursor blinking. Brain dead. And you’re thinking: “I KNOW I should email my list… but what on earth do I say this week?” In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on how I actually find ideas when I feel stuck! Most great emails don’t start with “content ideas” at all! They start with stories hiding in plain sight. If writing your weekly email feels harder than it should, chances are you’re looking in the wrong place for ideas. In this episode, I walk you through how to identify the central story of an email, and why...
info_outlineMy Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
A few months ago, I opened my mailbox to find a beautifully packaged starter box of goat milk soap from Allan Laird of Hooves and Feathers. Allan is a Farm Marketing School student… and he was proudly showing me his homework. 😊 Inside the box were thoughtfully chosen products, a clear “try-this-first” experience, and a sense that this wasn’t just soap — it was a brand with intention. I remember thinking, This is what happens when someone applies simple marketing frameworks with consistency. So I called Allan and said, “You need to come on the podcast and walk us through what...
info_outlineMy Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Have you ever stared at your farm’s website homepage and thought… what am I even supposed to put here? Your website is the source of truth for your brand. It’s where people go to learn more, double-check you, and decide if they want to buy. And if your homepage is unclear or overwhelming, most people won’t stick around. In today’s episode, I’m breaking down a simple framework for what actually belongs on your farm’s website homepage—so it’s clear, strategic, and helps turn visitors into customers. We’re talking about the specific messaging blocks every strong farm...
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What if your farm didn’t have to “scale up” to be successful? What if it could stay small, seasonal, creative — and still feel deeply worth it? In this conversation, I sit down with a farmer who has intentionally chosen a different path: one rooted in values, flexibility, and creativity — and who’s built a beautiful business around it. This episode is a quietly powerful case study. Claire and I talk about: Running a farm while not being a full-time farmer Letting creativity lead your product development Using one strong “gateway...
info_outlineMy Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
What if I told you I recently ran a 7-day CSA Chicken + Pork Share promotion on my farm, using only email, a private Facebook group, and a simple promotion framework? It went REALLY well, exceeding my sales predictions. If you’ve ever thought about launching a monthly meat share — or already have one and want to sell it more consistently — this episode is your behind-the-scenes look at how I design, organize, and execute a high-performing farm promotion from scratch. I walk you through: How I structured the product How I worked with my partner farm How I decided pricing, timing,...
info_outlineMy Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Last summer, I got invited to be on TV. Exciting, right? Then they asked a simple follow-up question: “Can you send over your media kit?” And I froze. I didn’t have one. I wasn’t even totally sure what should be in one. Fast forward to this winter, as I start doing more speaking, partnerships, and visibility work for both my farm and My Digital Farmer -- I realized this was a gap I needed to close. So I invited someone back on the show who lives and breathes this stuff. On today’s episode, I’m joined again by Erika Tebbens from Taste the Local Difference. If Erika sounds familiar,...
info_outlineMy Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
This week on the podcast, I’m pulling back the curtain on something I’ve never shared publicly before… Inside Farm Marketing School, we’ve been doing a powerful three-month deep dive on rewriting your money story -- and today, I’m releasing one of those private “members-only” private podcasts here on the main feed. This is Episode 2 of that private series, and it’s all about the energy of money -- how it flows, how it gets blocked, and why the emotional tone behind your money exchanges matters just as much as the dollars themselves. You’ll hear stories from my own life,...
info_outlineMy Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
What do you do when your customer just… stops paying attention? This week’s episode was inspired by a walk on our farm -- and a stubborn dog who found a vole in the field and completely tuned me out. Calling louder didn’t work. Waiting didn’t work. What finally worked was walking back out to her, getting in her line of sight, and offering her the right treat -- something she actually wanted. That moment sparked a powerful realization about customers who go quiet (and what actually brings them back). If you’ve ever looked at your email list or customer list and...
info_outlineMy Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Every January, we’re told to start fresh by setting goals, building plans, and fixing what didn’t work last year. But what if that pressure is the very thing that keeps us stuck? In this episode, I’m inviting you to try something different—something simpler, deeper, and far more sustainable. Instead of resolutions or rigid goals, what if you chose one word to guide your year? In this episode, I walk you through the practice of choosing a one-word intention—and how that single word can become a lens for your decisions, your energy, and the way you show up in both life and business. I...
info_outlineDo you wish more of your current CSA members would renew their share early?
I just wrapped up my end-of-season "early renewal" promotion campaign to my current CSA members, and it's October 23. I asked 400 members to give me their commitments for next summer.
My results?... 310 of 385 spots were pre-sold in 7 days before November 1st! That's 7 months before we start our season. And most of them came on day one of the promotion period.
In today's podcast, I'm doing a full-scale audit of the whole process, and sharing my 4 step framework that can guide your own planning process behind big promotion launches. This framework can help you build any sales promotion for your farm.
If you're a CSA farmer, this will give you some great ideas for how to build hype and turn your renewal promo into an event.
This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2023. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline
Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:
Need free Farm Marketing training? Join my email list! I have a free "Crash Course in farm marketing" that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you'll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better.
CSA Early Renewal Campaigns -- Online Course! Today's podcast does an overview of my 2023 CSA renewal campaign, but I have a deep-dive digital course that will help you personalize the material and build out your own "launch" promotion strategy. The course is called CSA Early Bird Campaigns that Convert. In this program, I teach you my exact process for how I build my renewal promotion campaign every fall, that gets 80-90% of my members to sign up again by November 1st. You'll learn how to build a compelling offer, write the sales emails and social posts, how to create a pre-launch runway, what to talk about in your messaging, and more. I also include swipe files for email copy and social media posts to show you what kinds of messaging you can create over a 7-10 day period to drive the sales.
Sign up for my CSA Academy -- and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you're a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1.
Find my Facebook group for farmers!
Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer