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Grow Your Bottom Line with Email Marketing
169 Plays2 days ago
In this episode of The Independent Farmer Podcast, host Janelle Maiocco sits down with Amy Campbell of Old Rich Valley Farm to discuss how consistent email marketing and strategic email collection can transform a farm's direct-to-consumer sales. Amy shares practical advice on overcoming the fear of emailing customers, leveraging weekly newsletters for storytelling, and using automated email reminders to secure recurring subscription revenue and market pre-orders.
For more Farm resources, visit: barn2door.com/resources
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Introduction
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Independent Farmer podcast, the go-to podcast for do-it-yourself farmers who are taking control of their own business, skipping the middleman, and selling direct to local consumer and wholesale buyers.
00:00:20
Speaker
This podcast is hosted by Barn to Door, the number one business tool for independent farmers to manage their business, promote their brand, and sell online and in person. Let's dive in to today's Independent Farmer podcast.
00:00:42
Speaker
Welcome to the Independent Farmer Podcast. I'm Janelle Mayako, CEO of Barn to Door and your host for today's episode. As you may be aware, Barn to Door is all about helping independent farmers make more money, ditch the office work, and look like a pro. By getting a system in place to sell direct, market under their own brand, and manage orders, farmers can skip the middleman and build a strong local business with recurring sales.
00:01:04
Speaker
We help automate marketing emails and order reminders, help farmers with pricing and packaging for profit, and shave hours and hours off logistics and delivery day.
Importance of Email Marketing for Farmers
00:01:12
Speaker
In today's conversation, we will get into both the importance of email marketing and collection, including why it matters and how to do it successfully. As a farmer, if you're selling directly into your own brand, marketing is essential to the success of your business. Today, I'm happy to welcome Amy.
00:01:26
Speaker
from Old Rich Valley Farm, who is part of our Farm Advisor Network and has worked with us for a number of years. Welcome, Amy. Thank you. so excited to chat. Yes, I'm excited to talk to you today. Good. Well, let's, before we dive in, because I know you, but our listeners don't necessarily. So tell us a little bit about your farm, where are your farm's located, what are you farming, when did you start, and what's the general size
Meet Amy from Old Rich Valley Farm
00:01:48
Speaker
of your farm? Okay. Okay, we are located in Virginia, the southwest part, very rural. So we're about 25 to 30 minutes from just a small town. And we have been selling directly since 2017, I think. So we started with beef and have since added pork and chicken. And I know we joined Barn to Door...
00:02:10
Speaker
Right around 2020, because when COVID broke out, we were glad to have a website and glad to have a place to send people. So that was really great. And that's about the time we started our subscriptions. So we sell probably over half of our sales are through subscriptions. And so we love the beef, pork and chicken subscriptions.
00:02:30
Speaker
And it's just me and my husband, Will, farming. And we have ah now five kids. So the oldest is 11 and the youngest is three months now. So always busy. Awesome. Love all the kids on the farm. And I suspect they're pretty helpful most of the time. Oh, yes. Yeah, especially the 11 and nine year old. I mean, they've been farming with us since they were one and three. And so they are just out there every day. They're doing all the chores with us or they're playing while we work. And so they're they're huge parts of the farm. um
00:03:02
Speaker
And they're always on our emails, too, that they're a huge part of our marketing because they're out there and they're cute. everybody Everybody loves to see them. I love it. I always think that the world would be a better place if children all grew up on farms. I mean, it's just, they're, they also are, you know, they're important. They have chores and they can contribute. And that just is good for them as well, right? For their esteem and for their contribution. That's really so amazing. I'm glad you're doing that. Okay. So you started then, and then what's the general size of your farm? And what would you say is the general size of your customer base?
Farm Operations and Customer Engagement
00:03:34
Speaker
So we are processing about 100 cows a year and then maybe less than 100 hogs and about 6,000 chickens, I think. So that's kind of our our yearly plan. We take animals to the processor every month because we do the subscriptions. So it's about eight cows and eight pigs each month. We probably have about 160 families that are doing the subscriptions.
00:04:00
Speaker
Well, and that's half, like to your point, if that's half of your you know your sales, which is amazing, right? You get that recurring monthly revenue. Then the other half is provides flexibility for all the one-off orders, individual orders, and also farmer's market, different things like that. So it's a nice natural buffer for all those additional customers. Could you guess how many emails you have?
00:04:20
Speaker
Maybe around 2,000. It's funny because we have over time, having worked with so many farmers, We're like, hey, can we pull out the data and see like if a farmer has X number of emails, does that mean they can procure X number of revenue?
00:04:35
Speaker
Basically, it's like the number of emails. We can actually look at the numbers and be like, if a farmer has a certain number of emails or a farmer needs to have a certain number of emails, if they want a certain amount of revenue. Now, that's assuming that there's a regular email cadence going out to all of those customers, right? In order to remind them or lock in subscriptions or remind them to order.
00:04:56
Speaker
That sort of a thing. But number of emails and including number of customers with accounts or credit cards on file in their account really truly translates to true revenue dollars and outcomes per year, which is just crazy. But, you know, it makes sense. Yeah, that does make sense. And, you know, some of those, the subscriptions, they're only going to purchased that subscription once. And so they're typically, some will add on products, but most of them are not repurchasing anything, but it is continuous revenue each month. So we love the subscriptions. Yeah, we definitely have a lot of firms that send order reminders in advance of subscription deliveries just to push literally add on orders to increase each of those orders. So there's a lot of great techniques. How would you say today, generally speaking, if you were talking to another farmer, they at a farmer's market and you were talking to them, how do you today do your marketing and selling? What would you say
Marketing Strategies and Email Collection
00:05:47
Speaker
to them?
00:05:47
Speaker
Well, to begin with, we have zero marketing background. Will has always been a farmer and I was a teacher turned salesman. farmer. And so everything we have learned has been through books and podcasts and watching other farms. So we do send, i guess about five years ago, probably we started sending an email every week. And so we call it this week on the farm and it's just our weekly update. So that's probably our main marketing at this point. When we first started, we were definitely using Facebook a lot, but that was
00:06:23
Speaker
what, 10 years ago. So Facebook has changed a lot in those 10 years. But that was what I feel like we did get a whole lot of customers just because we were posting pictures and telling stories of what was happening on the farm. So they enjoyed those stories and they wanted to be a part of our farm and a part of our story. So that's what we do with our weekly email. Every Friday, we send out an email and it's called This Week on the Farm. And we just send an update of what we have been doing, what season we're in, funny things that the kids say or anything. And of course, pictures, pictures of us out on the farm. Good. And I actually want to dig into that particular weekly email because I'm sure that you give it a ton of thought from a planning perspective and it'd be neat to break it down for people. But before we do that,
00:07:10
Speaker
Do you also do social media outside of, you said Facebook early, like what do you do today in terms of social media? And then are you going to farmer's markets? Are there places where you're quote unquote marketing in person? Yeah. um So as far as social media, we do have a Facebook and Instagram. I typically am linking my weekly email to Facebook. So that is, honestly, I'm not on Facebook as much. Every now and then we will just make an actual Facebook post. But then besides that, it's just very minimal on Facebook and pretty much nothing on Instagram. It's just really not our clientele is what I have there. I mean, it surprises a lot of firms. Like social media can be incredibly powerful if that's one of the channels you really lean into. But I would think like email marketing ends up being sort of the non-negotiable
00:07:58
Speaker
because it's just literally guaranteed ongoing communication with your customer, right? Whereas social media is you're, of course, you're promoting your brand, you're building your brand, which is, you know, there's a lot of great things about that. And we have, I think, other podcasts on the values and opportunities of social media.
00:08:14
Speaker
But we certainly have some firms who focus almost exclusively on email marketing. And it works. It can work. You know, you just have to kind of you got you got to get good at it.
00:08:24
Speaker
Right? You need to lean in. Wherever your marketing channels are, you just, you need to lean in and that's fine. It's good to understand which ones are most natural, which ones you want to get good at. Instead of maybe doing everything, you're just going to really focus. And we do go to one farmer's market every single week. And so that's on a Saturday. So I am collecting emails there. i talk about our subscriptions. I am pushing for people to pre-order. So i'm handing out like a rat card or ah a card with our information. On my email signup, I have a QR code that takes them directly to our barn to door website and our farm. And so ah I'm encouraging them to sign themselves up for our email or to them
00:09:06
Speaker
to go ahead and write their email on my list and I'll add them manually. But yeah, so that's that's our biggest delivery is that farmer's market area. Yeah, farmer's market can also be very powerful marketing exercise.
00:09:17
Speaker
And I love hearing that you intentionally collect emails there. I know a lot of our folks, when they're talking to farms on the phone all day, if they're ever at farmer's markets, not collecting emails, i I think our people almost jump out of their seat, you know, because they're so excited. Like, please start collecting emails for yourself.
00:09:33
Speaker
um you know, for your business because it's such double whammy in terms of opportunity not just to sell, but if you're marketing, you're collecting emails because that's going to be your future customer list as well.
00:09:43
Speaker
For sure. And I did not collect emails for probably two or three years when we started. And so we were going to the market, setting up and just hoping people showed up. And that's just not how it works. You have to actually, you know, try to reach out to them and constantly be telling them what you have and what you're doing, or they're not just going to show up.
00:10:02
Speaker
They're busy. Or like, or we miss you. Come back, right? Like the fact that you have their email now in between market, farmers markets, you can actually be like engaging them and and building that relationship, which is, you're right.
00:10:15
Speaker
Very important. Very important. Okay, so we have
Purchasing Process for Customers
00:10:17
Speaker
that marketing. And then if I'm a buyer from you from your farm, where can I make a purchase? So we have the weekly farmer's market, and then we have about seven monthly deliveries. And so I just have the schedule set for all these deliveries.
00:10:31
Speaker
And most of them are either in a church parking lot or ah just ah kind of an empty parking lot somewhere. And then we have a couple of quarterly deliveries set up as well. So I drive a little farther through those, so I don't want to go as often. um But we've got it set to where they can...
00:10:48
Speaker
continue to do the monthly subscription, they just pick up their meat quarterly. Well, their payments still come out monthly, which people living on a budget really appreciate, but they just, they pick up more meat at one time. Got it.
00:11:02
Speaker
So if I'm your buyer, I am going online to your store, sort of basically self-serve ordering. Like, I'm just going to go see everything that you have. I'm going to see all the delivery options, the one-time purchase, the subscription options, everything online, and complete that purchase there.
00:11:18
Speaker
And then I also obviously can purchase you the farmer market. And then you also do online, like you said, you're like a lot of people pre-purchase. Yeah, I would say, um you know, farmers markets can be hard because sometimes you go and you stand there and it's rainy and nobody shows up. um So the more you can push those pre-orders, you know they're coming and you are taking meat that is sold to the farmers market. And so it just mentally helps you prepare for a farmers market. But yes, I always have like, i don't know, three or four coolers full of pre-sold meat. And so that's just such a blessing. I love that. I feel like you're you're sort of guaranteeing that it's good use of your time regardless of the weather.
00:12:00
Speaker
which is huge. That's huge. that's curtain That's you taking control back. And at the farmer's markets, I like to talk about the subscriptions and the bulk boxes because I don't offer the bulk boxes at the market with me. I can't take all that. And so I say, if you want a bulk box, you have to order online, but I'll bring it to you next week or um or however. But yeah, so things like that. that's Most people are going to purchase those bigger items like that and then and come and pick it up. but But every now and then you get somebody that just orders one ground beef and one sausage, and but they've pre-ordered it. And so- So they're going to show up.
00:12:36
Speaker
They're going to show up. That's right. I love that. I love that. That's awesome. I love that. You already have sales. basically completed before you even show up at the farmer market. I know that's a hot topic for a lot of farms, so appreciate that.
00:12:48
Speaker
Okay, let's dig into building your
Advice for New Farmers on Email Collection
00:12:51
Speaker
email list. Very cool. you made a great estimate of having a couple thousand emails, which has been a lot of work to get there, and roughly 10 years in. So if you were going to give advice to your yourself 10 years ago when you were just getting started, would you have particular advice around how to begin collecting email and the importance of it?
00:13:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think any time, just carry a notes app or a a clipboard, whatever, with you all everywhere you go. Because anytime you can, especially every farmer's market, just really encouraging people that I am not going to like swarm your inbox, but I'm going to send you an update or recipes anything. you know, things that they actually want to read. And so just telling them that that's what you're going to be sending them, I guess, because I think sometimes people are a little bit skeptical of just giving you their email. But most of the time, if it's a farm, like they actually do want your product or they wouldn't be talking to you in the first place. I think for me, i had that mental block of I didn't want to bother people. So it took me a little bit to get over that, that no, they they're not bothered by my emails because they actually do want to know what's happening on the farm and what products are available, what's in season and and how they can purchase. So I just have to remind myself, even today, 10 years in, I have to remind myself that they actually do want this meat. And so I need to show them what's available. But yeah, just collecting at the farmer's markets. We also sponsor like a ranch rodeo at our local fair. And we have and an advertisement in the fair handbook. Things like that that are just more local. If you have ads and whatnot, does that mean if I go, is this is a way to collect an email? So if I go to your website, you like have an automated email form pop up.
00:14:32
Speaker
Yes. So again, i'm putting those QR codes on everything. So in the fair ad on the back of the ticket that we sponsored, um it's going to have a QR code and it's actually going to say something about $5 off a $50 purchase. And so again, if I can get them to order one time, then I've got their, you know, well locked in. The hardest part is ordering the first time because you actually have to put in your card information. And you know, it's it's a little bit more difficult to order that very first time. But once you do that, then you're in. And so if I can get their emails and get them to order, then that's perfect.
00:15:04
Speaker
i You know what? I do love that too. Cause not, not everybody has that great benefit of like your farm products and the taste and quality is so much better than other options out there. If you can just get,
00:15:15
Speaker
an email or any way to get that customer to to purchase that first time and do your best to have that be a good buying experience and a good fulfillment experience. you know You have to care a lot about that initial experience.
00:15:27
Speaker
But once they've tried the product and they've enjoyed that self-serve ordering, it's still pretty easy to get the food, whether it's a pickup or door-to-door delivery. And then they've tried it, like you're right. As long as you continue to engage them through email, which is pretty much standard practice now across all brands that are trying to engage and keep customers.
00:15:47
Speaker
I mean, I don't know if you've ever have given samples out even, right? It's just like, here, you know, come here, try this just to get done at the very beginning. Yeah. Yeah. We have, I don't know that we've just... given samples out as much, but, um, but we do try to even like sponsor, um, like we'll donate a little basket or a box of meat, um, to certain things. One that gets your name out that you're, that you're making that donation. Um, and two, whoever tries it, they get to try it for the first time, you know, and so definitely if you're doing something like that, put in your little
00:16:21
Speaker
brochure or your card that to make sure they know where they can reorder. But yeah, those are all great ways to to just get your name out. And I think another way, um we have not tapped into this as much, but like finding CrossFit gyms or places where there are people that are obviously trying to eat healthy and ah particularly eat a lot of meat if you're a meat person. Even like doctor's offices, I've heard of people, kind of a holistic type doctor that they are going to encourage you to, to buy that meat, that person's meat. So hopping into those are, that's just huge. If you could put a flyer up in those areas or go sit down and talk to that doctor or talk to the gym owner, those are really helpful. Turn the doctor and the gym owner into customers first and then you're gold, right? Yeah. I love that. i mean, it's, Technically, that's marketing dollars um that you're, if you're gifting that to potential other local business owners, that and might be a good way to even use them as a pickup location or drop site location for their customers, which is really cool.
00:17:22
Speaker
I'm really glad that you mentioned QR codes. I want to make sure to say that a few times. Like QR codes are really amazing. It used to be you would have to like include your URL and then somebody would have to go type it in And now it's a QR code. That's pretty magical in terms of taking questions out Even that friction, they could just use their phone and go straight to your site and add their email there.
00:17:42
Speaker
Like it just removes all that friction. So highly recommend using QR codes, like Amy's saying, on tickets and if you're sponsoring or you have any like physical information.
00:17:54
Speaker
ad in a paper, those sorts of things. It can be a very effective, the the least friction way to get people to your site and and getting their email. Yeah. And as far as making things like that, I use Canva a lot and I just have the free Canva. I don't even do the paid subscription thing. But yeah, you can make your QR code on Canva and then you can make your business cards or your rack card type things. Or we get the barn to door toolkit every month. So a lot of those I love and I can use them. To Amy's point, we have a monthly marketing toolkit that some of our subscribers also just subscribe to. It's currently $39 a month, but you get like 50 or 60 social media designs like from our designers. They make these beautiful designs for MailChimp templates, for newsletters, for farmers, all seasonal, right? Like so July is going to be like chock full of everything patriotic and
00:18:44
Speaker
You know, if you get into the fall, it's going to be all the fall colors and talking about harvest boxes and different things like that. So it can be a huge help. And to Amy's point, a lot of them you can just use, just throw them right on, schedule them in social media, use them in your newsletters, but it can also help you generate ideas. So it's a good way to do that too, because sometimes it's the idea generation that is even the hard part. The other thing I wanted to say, because you said this at the beginning, and I want to echo this so much because I think, I feel like it's every single podcast I have where we even brush up against talking about email marketing or sending
Content of Weekly Email Campaigns
00:19:16
Speaker
emails weekly. It's just like, everybody's like, when I started, i was afraid. And now I send them weekly. They go back to that. And I think it's because A, it generates sales. B, it generates consistency. And and C, it serves as a reminder. What we often talk about is,
00:19:30
Speaker
Like people love to catch up on what's going on in your farm, but like even simple weekly order reminders, which through Barnsville Farmers can automate to their buyers. The neat part about them is, is they're literally just like a two sentence, here's a button to click and shop. It serves as a friendly reminder, but it's not like if it's ignored, nobody cares.
00:19:49
Speaker
right? And so it's like it goes to the top of their inbox, which is a lot like a Twitter feed at this point. And they might miss it and they might miss it, but then they'll see it once or twice a month, actually. And they'll be like, oh, that's right. Or they'll know where to find it pretty quickly if they need to scroll or search. But it's just a very sort of benign, friendly reminder versus the other emails, which actually are building your brand and storytelling, those kinds of things, that they might feel bad if they don't read it, right? It's a mix. So speaking of which, because I think This has been your powerhouse, which is your weekly, what did you say? Your weekly campaigns are called This Week on the Farm. And it's a weekly email campaign. Yeah, so we actually send it out every Friday morning. I do not know that that is the best time to send them out. But just for me and Will, that is the only time we can...
00:20:36
Speaker
get together and say all right, what happened on the farm this week? and And we are going to the farmer's market the next day. And so it is chocked full of order by three o'clock. Don't forget to order for tomorrow's farmer's market. And so we usually get that out by like 9 a.m. m We've never been great like planners or um getting stuff done ahead of time. And so honestly, at 830, we are still working on that email most of the time and getting it out. But yeah, so every Friday we send, we look through our phones to find the best pictures from that week. Those include pictures of the cows, the pigs, the chickens, our kids, us out there farming, whatever is happening, we just get the best pictures. And then we include, my husband usually writes the
00:21:21
Speaker
the main bulk of it. I just have to say, I love reading what Will writes. It's so awesome. He, yeah. Anyway, I'm just, I just have to say that if you guys do a really good job really talking about, pardon the pun, but good meaty things too. Like he's like, I'm reading this book and here's how, you know, like he really digs in, which I love, but it's also permission given completely. Okay. To every so often just have a really quick one. That's just a couple of sentences. If you're in a rush, Or like I said, a lot of our firms, they'll just set up automated order reminders so that if for whatever reason, you know, things break down, people get sick and you can't get something out, they are still getting an email, even if it's quick. And it's good to mix it up, the short versus the long form, because people, they have limited time. It's just good to sort of give farmers permission for it to be quick and dirty, but also the heartfelt stuff is really special.
00:22:14
Speaker
It's what you're building your brand and your relationships. Yeah. Yeah. And I think um Will is a really good writer. And so this is kind of just an outlet for him as well. But so he is always including what's happening on the farm as well as, like you said, what book he's reading or listening to, you know, when he's in the trafter you it's about a podcast we've listened to or just something that is interesting to him. And so he can just kind of go in or we talk about why beef prices are high right now. And so what that's going to look like for our pricing, you know, we are just, we try to be as transparent as we can. And so that's, through pictures that's through our words so that little section is just about our transparency i guess and and we do try to you know life is hard sometimes on the farm and think everyone else kind of has this like beautiful view of farming and they just think romanticized view of the of the homestead life yes
00:23:11
Speaker
Which is fair, but it's hard. It is. And so one of our goals is to try to show the hard as well without complaining. And that's a fine line to tread, but that is one of our goals. And so we do try to say like, we did this, this, and this. This was a mistake or this didn't turn out like we hoped or, you know, just the transparency, but then also not woe is me all the time. Yeah. i love that though, because you You're sort of honing in on some of the adjectives that really define your brand, right, which is transparency. And you're building trust when you do that. But you're also being really truthful and honest. And you're bringing people with you. And when you are transparent like that, you really are, i mean, frankly, you're kind of being intimate. Like you really are truly are bringing, building trust in those relationships with your customers, which I just think is great. Yeah, I think I remember one email Will sent out that um he told everybody how much we spent on hay that year, just on on the beef feed. It was ah an astronomical number for most people, you know, because farms deal in these huge numbers that that other businesses or people might not know. And we got so many responses, but it also made them understand like why the beef costs so much as well, because these are the inputs that are that are going into that cow. So yeah, we we have that section. And then we always have try to include recipes because with any farm, if you're trying to sell meat or vegetables, I mean, you're
Role of Recipes and Transparency in Marketing
00:24:34
Speaker
selling a raw product. And if they're not eating it, they're not going to come back for more. So I think that's one of our main goals as farmers, as producers is to educate and teach people how to cook and and the importance of eating at home. And so I think we we really emphasize like
00:24:50
Speaker
the family, the close family bonds and family dinners. And I mean, just we take pictures every now and then of us eating dinner together and put it in the email for people to see how busy we are, yet we still take time to eat family dinner together because it's important. And so just things like that, that's kind of part of our mission, I guess. Then i am always including lots of links to our farm store. So MailChimp has a beautiful integration with Barn to Door. where you can just drag and drop products over. And so I get to choose which products based on i want to really push bulk boxes this month, or I want to really push subscriptions or just those individual cuts. And so it's just really easy to drag and drop items in there. Awesome. So you have a section where you're going to say like, what's this is weekly, right? Yes, weekly. You're going to say like, what's happening on the farm with some lovely photos, you're going to have a recipe section is do you have a recipe every single week? Not every week. Do you have anything else that you rotate in there? And then you have lots of links. Like you obviously you're obviously going to showcase the items that you're selling so people can click and place in an order. Yeah. If we have like an, like we just had sausage patties and we don't normally have those. So that was like a new product that was back in stock. And so I have a whole thing about sausage patties and quick breakfast and high protein breakfast, stuff like that. So yes, that's going to be the recipes or new products. We just had a big cookout on our farm, which is, I guess, also marketing. But that's just a huge community event that we do every year and invite all of our customers and neighbors and friends. And so that was huge. But anyway, so that was, you know, that was like a section of the email for a few weeks. Yes. Awesome. Leading up to it and then sharing and just bringing community together. That's really neat. It's a, you know, ongoing storytelling, really. That's awesome. How often do you offer like promos or create some kind of FOMO? We try our best to keep our prices as low as possible. um So it's actually hard for us to offer many discounts because we just don't have that wiggle room. um And so we aren't discounting stuff too often. Our subscriptions, when it's time for them to renew because it's a yearly subscription, we will offer a discount for their first month. And that has really helped with bringing in, we have like a 90% renewal rate with those subscriptions. And we've been doing them for six, I guess six or seven years now. That's very high. Yes, it is. And and every year we pray, Lord, are they going to renew? And please, please help us. And and they do. And so that has been such a blessing for us. what
00:27:23
Speaker
yeah That would be one of the main promos, I guess, we offer. Yeah. And then, which is good, right? You're still, that you're focused on getting them for that first order, right? Or to commit to a subscription, both of which are really important. Okay. So outside of your weekly emails, do your weekly campaigns this week on the farm,
00:27:41
Speaker
Are there other emails that you send? Do you send like welcome emails to new people or do you just fold them into the weeklies? Yeah, we have, um we send order reminders. And so most of our orders are happening within a week or two. and then obviously the the farmer's markets every Saturday. And so we're really pushing order reminders when it is,
00:28:00
Speaker
close to time for those deliveries. And then, yes, we have automated emails set up. There's like a welcome email for new customers as soon as we get their email address. So we have a pop-up on our website to collect those. And then if I am manually adding them, if I get their email from the farmer's market or something, they're going to get our welcome email. And so that's a series of, I think, two emails. Then we also have one that if they haven't ordered for like...
00:28:29
Speaker
I think it's 90 days. So if they haven't ordered in a while, they get that email. have the life cycle emails. If they haven't ordered like, hey, we miss you. Come, you know, don't don't forget about us sort of thing. And in that case, I think you might entice them with a promo. But good to good to bring them back. Yeah, it's really neat. And I just want to pause here because when it comes to emails, like it's first on the one hand, you need to collect them and always be collecting them.
00:28:54
Speaker
wouldn't you say? And then on the other hand, it's you have them, now you need to send them and convert those into customers and repeat customers. And so that's in, you're using them in your communication. But what I love about it is, is there's emails that you're sending quote unquote manually, right? That you're doing every single week.
00:29:11
Speaker
But then there's some that you can set up automatically to go out for order reminders. And, you know, if they're welcome, if you're if you haven't been, you know, if they haven't ordered in 90 days, there's so so it's really neat to think of both email collection and email sending as there's going to be some manual parts and there's going to be some opportunity for automated collection of email and automated email sending.
00:29:34
Speaker
And you've mentioned a few times on your website, you have that pop-up form. for people to automatically put their email in, or if they purchase on your online store, their email is automatically added to your list. So it's neat. The POS, Barnsador offers POS as well for farmers to sell in person. We've also built in automatic collection of emails, you know, at a farmer's market.
00:29:56
Speaker
And so it's like neat to have all these different points of we're collecting emails, QR codes, all the different ways you can collect them automatically, which is just powerful. And same with email. So it's A lot of times I feel like marketing can feel a little overwhelming, but once you understand that you can make it work for you and you could set up a lot of automation, that can be, I think, quite empowering. Yeah. If you're, every time you run a card or swipe a card at the store, at the farmer's market, and you are getting their email, I mean, that's huge because you've already made that sale, but now you can
00:30:30
Speaker
send them an email and try to get them to pre-order. So yes, and and all the automated, it is, we are not tech savvy by any means. And so it takes a bit to set those up to begin with, but then they're just set up. You know, they're they're in place. They're working for you behind the scenes. And then like once a quarter, just go read back and revisit because I have seen I've I've gone back and I'm like, oh, I haven't done this in a while. And that is not really up to date or current, you know, so you do need to kind of mark your mark your calendar. And once a quarter, just go back and revisit just looking at your website, one, making sure everything's up to date. And then any automated things that you have set up, make sure they're still current. in the right season. I love that. that's That is really great wisdom. So if you have automated things set up at least once a quarter or every other month, you set a little something, little meeting reminder to yourself on your calendar and say, go check.
00:31:26
Speaker
Because to your point, we actually even have farmers who have like store banners on the top of their online store And then nothing breaks your heart more than when you show up in April and it's talking about Valentine's Day, right? So you're like, to that's a great example of, hey, just check every other month. And you know what?
00:31:42
Speaker
It can just be five things. I'm going to check my banner. I'm going to check the text in my automated order reminders or my welcome emails, that sort of thing, and just make sure things are working. as they should. That just happened to me, actually. um I guess about three weeks ago, I looked and my banner said, don't forget to fill your freezer up this winter. And i'm like, ah we're not really in winter anymore. We're like... Add that to your checklist for your for your automations. I mean, honestly, it happens. It happens to everybody. That's why it's such great advice to be like, hey, just check this every other month. The neat part about that is, in the meantime, it's automated. So it's working for you.
00:32:20
Speaker
with no effort at all, which is just amazing. As we're sort of wrapping up here at the end of this, Ian loved talking about all the email collection, especially QR codes, all the automated ways you can collect emails, and then, you know, the the regular email marketing, weekly email marketing for the win, really. Are there other pieces of advice that you might give when farmers are thinking about email collection and leveraging that for success?
Consistency and Storytelling in Customer Relations
00:32:45
Speaker
Yeah, I think the main thing would be to start as soon as possible. And so if you are not collecting emails, start today. And just think of any way, you know, at church or at the ball field, where wherever you are and there's other people, just bring up a conversation and be like, oh, yeah, we send out an email every week. I can add you if you're interested. You know, if and if they truly are interested in what you sell, then they're going to be excited to be on your email list. So I think just talking about our weekly emails is one way that we've collected email addresses as well. And then just being consistent, whether it's weekly or biweekly, once a month, whatever you're doing. I don't know. there's There's some things that I'm really into reading their emails and then all of a sudden I'm
00:33:29
Speaker
I haven't gotten one in three months. And so I kind of forget about that brand. And so if the more you are in their inbox, even in the off-season, just telling them, I know we talked about it, but it doesn't even have to be farm-related. Like it can just be what is happening in your family family.
00:33:47
Speaker
in your business, in your farm, what books you're reading. You know, it can be anything. People just really, the more you can connect and draw them in bring them into your story, and the more that they feel a part of your story. That would be my advice is just to to use that transparency in person and in any way that Any place you see that there are, you know, schools. I thought about if your kids go to school and there's other kids there, parents, different ways that you can talk to.
00:34:15
Speaker
Anytime you can talk to people, just try to bring up your farm. Yeah. Yeah. mean We talk about local businesses, but schools are another great opportunity for marketing. That is absolutely true.
00:34:27
Speaker
I love, too, that you mentioned be consistent. We talk a lot about how that helps create consistent buyers when you're consistent in what you offer.
00:34:39
Speaker
And that's not just an email cadence thing. That's why buyers love subscriptions is because of consistent. If you are a farm offering local pickup or delivery, have a consistent schedule. the Buyers want to have a habit of buying from you. And the way for it to be habit is if it's routine.
00:34:56
Speaker
And so if they're going to get ah you know, a meat box once a month, great. That's a habit. You know, if they're going buy eggs weekly, great. That's a habit. Like eggs, milk, we drink every week. We eat every week, right?
00:35:08
Speaker
You know, cheese proteins, obviously we're consuming those every week too, but it might make more sense to deliver those every other week or once a month. But whatever that is, whatever that cadence is to sort of literally quote unquote match their appetite in terms of making sure you're the provider for their eggs or milk or meat or produce, et cetera. That cadence is very powerful in terms of both order reminders, emails, delivery schedules, because once they're in, they're in Yeah. And having a consistent product as well as that, you know, making sure If they get steaks one month, that the next month or next year, they're going to be that same quality steak and that you constantly have them. I think that's one thing that is difficult when, especially when you're starting out. And I know this happens because it happened to us a lot starting out that you don't have the freezer space and stuff like that. But when they can get ground beef from you for months and then all of a sudden you're out for six months and they they're going to go find somebody else to get it from. As you grow, telling them, hey, we're not going to have it for a few months, but we hope to be more consistent after that. Or, you know, just being honest. But as you grow, just trying to have that consistent product and to always have product to be able to sell.
00:36:24
Speaker
i It's funny because in a few prior podcasts with farms, we've been talking about that, like the first couple of years of farming versus when you're now starting to really grow and scale and extend your season to be year round.
00:36:38
Speaker
And to keep the customer year-round, that might mean investing in more freezer space and then calculating, okay, I've got to hold this many chickens back or I have to hold this many back to keep, quote-unquote, literally feeding those families all year-round. It's a very interesting mental exercise, but it's also pretty amazing if you're already at that point having those...
00:36:58
Speaker
conversations about your business and your customers, right? That's great that you have that demand. And now it's time to try to plan around that and see if you can't slowly but surely step into that. But of course, be gracious with yourself, right? Because it's a process. And with talking about consistent deliveries, but yes, we have like a delivery every third Thursday at five o'clock to this parking lot. So setting that schedule. and And like you said, that's been our schedule for the last five or six years. And so that does really help people can put that date into their Google reminders, their calendar. And so they can remind themselves that it's time to order or pick up. So having those consistent schedules and making it at a time that is convenient for the customer. I think as fast
00:37:41
Speaker
Farmers, a lot of times we try to make a delivery time. We try to squeeze it in when we have time, which is not normal hours for other people. And so when people are getting off work, you know, trying to make them around five, 530, something like that. And so to where they can just pick up their meat on their way home from work or after school, we want to make it easy for the customers, not easy for the farmer. Or win-win if you can. Yes. Or win-win, yes. rats deep Yeah, that's great.
00:38:09
Speaker
No, um I love all of the above and you're absolutely right. And I also have to compliment you because the timing that you're saying, i don't know Friday mornings are good, but actually statistically they are. And so is the fact that you are sending them right before you're at the, like you have order cutoffs. It sounds like at 3 p.m. on Fridays for market pickup on Saturdays.
00:38:30
Speaker
It's really neat. And I know that Barntedore, that's how we built It was like you can put order cutoffs because frankly, Farmers need the control of like, this is the time I need orders to stop coming in or I can't appropriately pack or drive or whatever needs to happen. We have some farms that have to put a cutoff on a Friday for the whole weekend because they're doing a big loop or something like that. Right. So it's really cool.
00:38:53
Speaker
But sending in that same morning of when the cutoff is, is just gold. in terms of last minute orders and people being reminded last minute. And it's a great way to drive add-on orders, additional orders. So youre you actually are spot on and when you're sending it. But it's good, it's good to think about when to send them too. So awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time today. It's just been awesome. It's neat to sort of unpack what you're doing, very practically speaking as a farm and obviously building success. Half of your orders being subscriptions is just beautiful.
00:39:26
Speaker
And I can tell you as a buyer, i love every like Thursdays at five. That would be in my brain forever because often I'm like, oh, when does it? You know, like I buy from farmers and sometimes it's like, I don't know when they're coming next versus, oh, I know it's like one Saturday a month. And it was, you know, it's like it's coming any week now or whatever.
00:39:45
Speaker
So having that framework is really helpful and lovely as a buyer. No question about it. I want to extend my thanks to Amy for joining us on this week's podcast episode. You can check out more and follow Old Rich Valley Farm on their Instagram at oldrichvalleyfarm. I also recommend going to their website. Is it oldrichvalleyfarm.com? Uh-huh. Yep. Okay, fabulous.
00:40:07
Speaker
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00:40:19
Speaker
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00:40:52
Speaker
Thank you for tuning in today. We look forward to joining you next time on the Independent Farmer Podcast.
00:41:06
Speaker
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00:41:23
Speaker
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