How to Make Farm Tours and Agritourism Work for Your Farm

Farm Tours

How to make a farm tour work for you.

Is hosting a farm tour a good fit for me? For my farm?

Is it worth the risk?

Make it Clear Where to Go and Where Not to Go Get Insured Place staff strategically Practice the Tour

If you prepare ahead and minimize hazards, yes.

What do I need to do to make this a good experience for the visitors?

What do I need to do to prepare? For the ASAP Farm Tour

Consider the audience.

Map out the tour.

Make a rough sketch of talking points.

Train staff or volunteers

For self-guided tours, make the booklet and the signs.

Make plans for all kinds of weather.

Make a plan for parking.

How much staff do I need the day

of? For the ASAP Farm Tour

Registration Table: One Farm Staff

Bees: One farm staff or partner

Spring Field: One Farm Staff

Shiitake Mushrooms: One Farm Staff

Farm Stand/store: One farm staff, one farm volunteer

Smoothie making: One farm volunteer/friend/community partner

What do I need to do to make this a worth-while experience for the farm?

Welcoming Visitors to Your Farm: Connecting with Your Customer Base

Molly Nicholie

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?

Benefits of Agritourism and Farms Tours Why other Appalachian Grown Farms participate:

❖ Increase exposure for the farm and business

❖ Raise awareness of what is produced locally and promoting what is "local"

❖ Expose more people to local food and farms

❖ Market products and other farm offerings like special events, festivals, and lodging

❖ Reach new customers and turn occasional customers into farm “fans”

❖ Provide an education and outreach opportunity to the public

❖ Sell product

❖ Drive traffic to the farm and increase customer base

❖ Connect with the local community

MAKING THE MOST OF A FARM TOUR

Marketing: Try to reach the same person 3-5 times with a consistent message.

Before the Tour

■ Engaging customers at farmers markets

■ Building name/brand recognition

■ Optimizing cross-promotions

■ Community outreach

■ Earned media


During the Tour

■ Sharing your story

■ Connecting through shared experience

■ Offering take home materials

■ Collecting contacts

■ Sampling and selling products


After the Tour

■ Building on connections

■ Encourage visitors to share their stories

■ Earned media


How can you best use the tour to share your farm story and build connections?

BASIC MARKETING STRATEGY

⦿Story behind your food – differentiating yourself You have an authentic story to tell. Convey to your customers why your product is amazing – the quality, freshness, how supporting your business supports the local economy, uniqueness, personal connection with farmer and their family. You are able to give customers a real story and this is valuable.

Crafting Your Farm Story ● Create a clear, straightforward story that can

be adapted for audience and time ● What to include:

○ Who you are/your connection to place

○ Why you farm

○ Challenge/barrier - Engages your audience

○ Action/Resolution -Connects your audience emotionally

○ Meaning/upshot/take home -What difference are you making? Why does what you do matter? What makes you different?

Stories influence how we decide. Our decisions and actions are often based

more on emotional reactions than rational thought.

Storytelling is a tool for...

...Establishing yourself in people’s memories.

Stories help customers remember you and your farm.


...Connecting to the right people and customers.

Stories help the type of customers you want to have feel connected with you.

WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO REACH?

⦿This narrow focus is called a “market segment”.

⦿You can segment people by all kinds of factors, like:

◼ Gender or age ◼ Price willingness ◼ Interests ◼ Location ◼ Religion or ethnicity ◼ Income ◼ Size of Household ◼ Local vs. tourist ◼ Etc.

So, think about who you most want as customers…

Then come up with examples of real people to help you gear your story towards them.


...Inspiring customer commitment.

When customers feel connected to your story, they are far more likely to remain loyal, buying from you again and

again.

Connect with people using emotion or humor.

Build your story starting with the core idea that “hooks” people.

BUILDING LOYAL CUSTOMERS

⦿ It is ten times easier to sell something else to an existing customer who loves your business than it is to find a new customer.

Visitor Experience

WHILE YOU WAIT

HANDS ON: EXPERIENCES & SALES

Cross Promotions

Why ASAP Coordinates a Farm Tour

◻ ASAP’s mission to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food

◻ Encouraging the public to engage

with and help shape our region’s food system by sharing experiences, asking questions, asking for local and connecting with farms.