263 Interview with Farmhand: 101 Guide to Using SMS Texting in Your Farm Marketing Strategy
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
Release Date: 05/22/2024
My Digital Farmer | Marketing Strategies for Farmers
If your farm sells bulk meat, you’ve probably experienced this challenge: a customer places their deposit… and then has to wait 4–6 months before pickup. That’s a long time to keep someone excited, informed, and connected. But what if that “dead zone” in your customer journey could actually become your secret weapon for building loyalty, reducing buyer’s remorse, and increasing repeat purchases? In this week’s episode, I sit down with Breann Detweiler, a pastured meat farmer in my Farm Marketing School. During a private 1:1 call, we workshop how to build a...
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Last week we mapped out what your farm’s VIP program could look like. This week, it’s time to bring it to life. How do you structure it? Communicate it? Track it? And… what if someone loses VIP status? If you've ever wanted a loyal sub-group of "superfans" who promote your farm, buy regularly, and feel deeply connected to your brand—this episode gives you the blueprint to build that community on purpose. What You'll Learn in This Episode: The 4 different ways to structure a VIP system (and how to choose the right one) Simple methods to track VIP customer behavior without fancy...
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Have you ever walked into a place so often that the staff knew your name—and your order? There’s something magical about being recognized and treated like a regular. It creates loyalty. That’s the idea behind a VIP strategy—and your farm needs one. In today’s episode, I kick off a 2-part series that helps you create a plan to identify, reward, and retain your farm’s most valuable customers. Part 1 is all about figuring out who those people are, and what kind of behavior you want to encourage more of. You’ll learn: Why your business needs a VIP strategy What behaviors to track...
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Have you every wished for a fun excuse to surprise your customers, build some goodwill, and boost mid-season sales? Well, what if I told you that July 14th is National Give Something Away Day—and it might just be the perfect opportunity to try something new, spark some joy, and get people buzzing about your farm? In this episode, I show you how to use this quirky, under-the-radar holiday to your advantage—with a list of 8 creative giveaway ideas you can steal, tweak, or flat-out copy. Whether you want to build customer loyalty, generate excitement on social, or increase traffic to...
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What would happen if you merged a grocery store and a farmers market—and gave small farms a seven-day-a-week sales channel that actually pays them what they’re worth? In today’s episode, I interview Alex Blume, Marketing Manager for , a mission-driven retail concept based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that’s redefining how local food gets sold. Their innovative “farm stop” model helps small and mid-sized farms grow by giving them access to retail space 7 days a week—without the staffing or wholesale markups. Alex shares how the consignment model works, how they support over 250...
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Local Line is my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy-to-use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise. 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: MDF2025. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: Marketing doesn’t have to feel...
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Back in high school, I was that kid—the one who planned elaborate treasure hunt parties for my friends. I loved the thrill of creating a roadmap and leading them from clue to clue, always pointing to the next step. And honestly? That’s what a great thank you page does, too. A wise mentor once told me, "You're always taking your people somewhere..." In this episode, we’re talking about the most underutilized page in farm marketing—your thank you page. Whether it appears after someone signs up for your email list or buys your product, your thank you page isn’t just a...
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Have you ever had a big idea for your farm business—but you didn’t act on it because it felt too overwhelming or risky? That was me. Until my coach said five simple words that completely shifted my thinking: “Just put a container around it.” In this episode, I share how we beta tested our new Chef’s Line of prepared foods—and how using the concept of a beta test gave us the freedom to move forward without fear or perfectionism. If you’ve been sitting on an idea because it feels “too big,” this episode will show you how to test it, refine it, and build momentum with less...
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What if you could reclaim hours of your time each week—just by documenting and automating the simple tasks you’re already doing? In this episode, I sit down with Glen Young of Cold Springs Organics, a Farm Marketing School member and automation-building wizard, to talk about how he’s using Zapier + AI to automate processes in his farm business—from order management to email marketing, lead tagging, customer onboarding, and even abandoned cart follow-ups. Glen shares how he went from juggling everything manually to building smart, scalable workflows that save him time and create a...
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What happens when a total city girl decides to go all-in on the homesteading life… and ends up building a full-blown farm business from scratch? Here's the link to her homesteading membership: Podcast Sponsors: Local Line is my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy-to-use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise. Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid...
info_outlineMay 22, 2024
Are you using SMS in your marketing? SMS is "code" for text messaging. It stands for short message service.
And in today's podcast, my guest, Ari Memar, is going to give us a basic tutorial in how we can be using texting in our farm marketing strategy.
Turns out there is a LOT of money to be made when we leverage this tool, because the open rates are ridiculously high. But it can also be used for customer support and onboarding. Ari is the founder of FarmHand, a virtual assistant for small farms. And one of the tools it offers its customers is weekly texting. Ari shares how Farmhand uses this feature to guide new clients to buy and help his farmer clients make money.
This conversation made me want to go out and buy a texting app!! (He recommends Twillio and Text Magic by the way).
Podcast Guest: Who is Ari Memar?
As a hobby farmer in Sebastopol, CA, Ari Memar knows farming is more than just a job–it's a way of life. As stewards of our nature and local community, small farms are critical to our local community and food system but often overmatched by the resources available — technology, equipment, sales & marketing teams, back office staff — to larger farms. So, in partnership with local family farmers,, Ari founded Farmhand to equip farmers with the technology and services they need to win back local share of the food dollar, and support a thriving local food system.
To learn more about Farmhand, click here.
This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can't recommend it enough. Easy to use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise, Local Line should definitely be one of the e-commerce solutions you consider as you switch. 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: MDF2024. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline
This podcast was sponsored by Farm Marketing School - my monthly online marketing school membership just for farmers. Farm Marketing School is an on-demand library of marketing workshops and project plans that will help you build some of the most important marketing elements in your farm business like: building a promotion calendar, setting up your Google Business Profile, auditing your sales funnel, updating your home page of your website, building your first email nurture sequence, and practicing different types of offers. You get to chose what you want to study and build each month. These projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days, so that you slowly build your marketing system piece by piece. Use the step by step project planner and resource folder to help you jumpstart your work. Take advantage of my new marketing crash course inside, watch my new Email Marketing Course, or take the onboarding assessment tool to help you identify where your funnel is broken and what project to do first. To see what courses are currently inside of FMS, or to try out Farm Marketing School for a month at mydigitalfarmer.com/fms Start and cancel your membership anytime.
Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:
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Join my CSA Academy and learn how to support your CSA members Use my resources!! Try it out for the first month for $1 using coupon code TRIAL. (After that, the price increases to $19/month). Go to www.mydigitalfarmer.com/academy to see what’s included with the monthly membership. You’ll get access to the ENTIRE resource library I use to help support my CSA members and get them to CSA mastery fast! Use the templates inside to help you build your own customer onboarding and/or training curriculum this summer. This is a MAJOR shortcut to figuring out your onboarding process!! So valuable! Cancel your membership anytime. https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/academy
Beginner's Guide to CSA Guide -- Use my Canva template and share it with your CSA members in your fulfillment process. This quick read guide shares the quick tips from my CSA master members, for how to be successful as a new CSA member. https://www.mydigitalfarmer.com/csasuccess
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