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This is a day-long workshop which I ran for a group of Community Supported Agriculture projects, supported by the Soil Association.During the day we work our way through a do-able marketing plan - to help to make sure that when the food is ready for harvest, there are people there to eat it!
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Grow it and they will come
Developing a do-able marketing plan for your CSARob Greenland www.thesocialbusiness.co.uk
Photo from Southern Foodways Alliance via Flickr
What we’ll do today
• Introduce a way of coming up with your own
marketing plan
• Understand what marketing is about - one step
at a time
• Do some practical exercises
• Help you to look at how to build long-term
relationships with customers
Who do you love? Why?And what do you want out of
today?
Who I am. What I do.
• Training - market research, marketing, social business planning
• Consultancy - social enterprise
• One to one support
Photo from Ant Smallwood via flickr.com
www.thesocialbusiness.co.uk
Named top UK social enterprise blog
Me and Local Food
• Former member of Swillington CSA
• Local Food adviser
• Ex-allotmenteer• All-round interest in local economies
Photo from Ant Smallwood via flickr.com
I believe this
• It’s important to do simple stuff that works
• If you think things through, you will come up with good, cost effective ways to market your business
• And above all, you need to build your business around your customers
Your Field of Bad Dreams
• Grow it - and they might not come
Why is all of this important?
• Because a lot of social enterprises aren’t very good at marketing
• We often focus on production - and forget about the marketing
• We sometimes use lack of marketing budget as a convenient excuse
What is marketing?
• Every contact you make with
customers, suppliers and staff
• The whole business seen from your
customer’s point of view
• Building relationships with
customers
What is a market?
• A set of all existing and potential buyers of a product or service
or
• The total value of products or services which satisfy the same customer need
How do I decide what market I’m in?
• Ask what your customer needs
• With the person next to you - discuss what needs you plan to meet /currently meet.
Photo from flydime via flickr.com
Understanding your market
• No shortcut - market research
– Your market
– Your customers
– Your competitors
• Today we’re focusing on customers
Customer segmentation
• Division of a market into
different groups of customers
who have things in common.
• Why is it important to do
this?
Because customers are not all the same!
• Different customers have different needs
• If you understand that, you can tailor
what you offer to meet their needs
• It can help you to identify who to focus
on - and perhaps target new customer
groups
Who are their customers?
Who are your customers?
• Some ways you may group customers together include:
• Age, gender, employment status, family status, ethnic origin, income level etc
• How they buy your product/service - eg committed buyers, special occasion buyers…
• Can you identify which groups to focus on - and find your niche?
Now do the same for your CSAs
• Try to break down who you think your target
customers are into “segments” - customers
with broadly common characteristics.
• You might come up with around five or six
groups
• Try to give each group a name - be
creative!
Your marketing mix
• Your chance to tailor what you offer
to meet each group’s needs.
• Your mix is a unique combination of:
– Product
– Price
– Promotion
– Place
What’s their marketing mix?
How about a CSA’s marketing mix?
• Think about how to tailor the following
features:
– Product - what will you offer (and not offer)?
– Price - discounts, payment options, guaranteed pricing?
– Place - where will you sell?
– We’ll look at promotion later
So, to recap…
• We’ve looked at what market you’re in
• We’ve identified a number of customer
groups with common characteristics -
customer segmentation
• We’ve looked at what you will offer -
your marketing mix
Next
• Think like a customer - think
benefits
• Then decide how you’ll get your
message across (the bit most of
us think of as marketing)
Your step-by-step marketing plan
If:• You understand who your customers are
• You know what you’re selling to them
• You understand what benefits they can get from you
• Then you can come up with a marketing plan - as long as you keep thinking like a customer
Step by step
• What benefits will your service bring?
• What are your key messages (focus in particular on benefits)?
• Then, how will you get your messages across?
Develop a long-term relationship
• Please promise me one thing now:
• Think long and hard before taking out an advertorial in your local paper
• Instead - think creatively - how will you build up a relationship with your customers?
Some things that might work for you
Word of mouth E-newsletter BlogPR - good
news
Launch Sponsorship Talk to people Flyers/Posters
Be friendly Stunt Partnerships Twitter
Business cards Networking MailshotSignage/A
Frame
Website FacebookPay per click
adsSpeak at events
What has worked for you?
Photo from acnatta via flickr.com
But remember…
• What works in one
place doesn’t
necessarily work
in another.
• That’s why I
don’t offer a
“top ten” of
marketing ideas.Photo from sacks08 via flickr.com
To recap• Be clear about what market you’re in• Understand your customers - inside out• Tailor your service to meet their needs• Think about the benefits your service offers to your customers
• Get your messages right (sell the benefits)• Then - and only then - think about spending money on “marketing”.
• Be realistic - and do achievable things well
What happens next?
• What will you do next?
• Where can you go for support?
• Are there ways you can
collaborate?
www.thesocialbusiness.co.uk