Rose Strong of Springtown, Pa. writes:
“I am a volunteer for the Springtown Farmers Market and I’m looking for some marketing and publicity ideas.
“We started off with a bang last year but for some reason we lost our shoppers, and our vendors sort of dwindled down a bit. One week there’d be lots of customers, but not too many vendors, the next week is was a good vendor attendance and a lack of shoppers.
“This year we were fortunate to receive a $10,000 donation from a local resident as well as applying for a Dept. of Agriculture grant. So we are planning a website, major advertising in a local weekly newspaper and rack cards for local businesses to have on their counters and hand out.
“What other other inexpensive, creative ideas can your Hounds suggest to help us promote this year’s market from May 20 to Oct 28?”
I would suggest an online newsletter thru a company like Constant Contact. You could profile the vendors, post a calendar and include recipes. If you send the newsletter out monthly, you could do weekly reminders in a smaller form – all of course with links back to your website. You could have prizes and/or give aways to gather emails.
I help people set up online marketing campaigns using Constant Contact – if you have any questions or if I can help you in any way, please send an email LMD@LisaMarieDiasDesigns.com – Good luck for a great season!
There so many reasons to support our local farmers market these days. You could have a different ad each week with ‘Reason # whatever’ to visit Springtown Farmers Market.
Kick off your season with a Raw Food Uncook-off. Host a Green Foodie Contest. Join forces or initiate a Buy Local, Live Sustainable Group. Host weekly Potlucks on a day you are closed. Why not set aside a space where children can start seeds while their parents shop, they will need to come back every week to check the progress and water their little sprouts. Also, do a comparison shop at a local chain grocer. If your cart comes in less, publicize it.
Make your farmers market a social spot, ‘the third place’ to hang out. Give them reasons to come every week, the shopping will happen.
Each week have all of the vendors contribute an item/product and create one big basket of goodies with all of the contributions. Be sure each vendor’s business card is attached to their item. Put the big basket on display at the entrance to the flea market or other highly visible location. Sell raffle “tickets” for $1 to flea market shoppers; use a brief form for shoppers fill out including their name, email address and phone number, and then they drop their completed form into a drawing box. (Everyone will spend $1 to hopefully win ALL OF THAT GOOD STUFF!!!) Each week, you pick a winner. Write a press release about the winner, including all the items they won. This gets you/the flea market and the vendors free publicity in local newspapers. Additionally, the money you raise through the raffle (even though you have some money available already) can be turned around and used for advertising and other publicity costs…If you have a newsletter, publish the winner information in it, too, and include some personal information about the winner and his/her photo…making it an opportunity for THAT individual to get some free (business) publicity…The “winner’s basket of goodies” will help build attendance over time; the winner will use all the products, brag about them to friends or friends will admire, taste, etc., the items, and then everybody will want to go to the flea market to check it out! And with steady, great attendance, you’ll attract more and loyal vendors…With the email addresses you collect on the raffle entry forms, you can build an email list and email the newsletter to them. Announce weekly/seasonal themes, new vendors, include coupons, and, of course, it will have the article about the “winner of the goody basket.”…One more way to distribute the newsletter might be for area stores, restaurants, etc., to give them out or set them by the cash register. You could sell small ads, too, which would help drive traffic to these stores, etc., after people are finished strolling around the flea market. If you’ve got an email list built with hundreds of names, the cost of a small ad will be a bargain to them (and especially enticing since many of these places probably have had to cut back on the major advertising they “normally” do and they’re begging for business, too).
I love farmers’ markets and actually helped start one at a local hospital a couple years ago. Being in a visible place helps, as does media attention. Another thing that seems to keep people coming back is doing live chef demonstrations, recipe cards using the farm produce, or giving away free shopping bags with your logo on them. You could also do something like measuring cups with your logo, so that every time someone cooks they think of your market. Good luck!
Of course, the not-always-accurate perception is that it’s hard to eat local and organic when you are trying to save money. Offer a seminar series titled “Local and Organic on a Budget.” Set up a table and demonstrate a few cheap recipes using in-season produce from the market.
Last year was the first year I belonged to a CSA (Community-Sponsored Agriculture) program, in which you buy a share from a local farmer and receive an allotment of fresh produce once a week.
Two suggestions based on my experience (which parallels those who go to a farmer’s market every week).
1)I didn’t have a good sense from week to week of which vegetables would be in season. It would be great to know from your web site which vegetables would most likely be available for sale each week. Since you’re in Pennsylvania and I’m in Massachusetts, it seems like this would apply to your area too.
2)I found myself with vegetables I wasn’t sure how to cook! (Elephant garlic, beets, kale) I suggest you post recipes each week keyed to what’s in season and especially the rarer sorts of fruits and vegetables. I think the growers would each be happy to contribute recipes (you can get them thinking about it now), and your web site can not only help the farmers market buyers but also the farmers who get highlighted for contributing the recipes.
Good luck,
Marcia Yudkin
Goshen MA (population 920)
Author, 6 Steps to Free Publicity (Career Press)
Consider publishing a weekly or twice-weekly ezine during your prime selling season, and monthly during your off season. As busy as everyone is these days, my guess is that people aren’t coming regularly because they just plain forget (especially since you said it started off with a bang). A welcome reminder and a little encouragement wouldn’t hurt!
Do-it-yourself ezine options run about $20/month (look at aweber or getresponse). Build your list by offering a coupon, recipe booklet using available local produce and recipes submitted by farmers, or something else of value. Good luck!
Twitter! Start now so that you have a good number of local people following you before the market opens. In addition to publicizing the dates/times of the market, you can use it to announce any special events, include links to recipes for fruits and vegetables when they’re in season, and links to vendors’ websites. It’s free, it’s easy, and it works.
Plan to invite local chefs! By doing this you create an on-going set of promotional opportunities. Book your chefs in advance, make publicizing their participation part of your promotional push. Your chefs can shop the market to select fresh product to use in their demonstration — patrons to the market will appreciate sampling what the chef has made as well as learning about using fresh seasonal ingedients at home.
Capitalize on the idea further: invite the Chef’s restaurant to announce their appearance to patron’s at the restaurant. Distribute recipe cards that tie back to your market; have someone video the chef’s demo and put it on You Tube and put links to the video on your blog and website. Tweet about the chef.
Further ideas: monitor and promote any supplier relationships that happen between local growers and restauranteurs — this good solid story for your business reporter.
Pitch Fresh each week: Use your paper’s calendar listing, your blog, and twitter to get the word out on what’s fresh each week — all through out the summer there’s a changing list of great fresh produce. Keep your food reporter in this loop too — you might want to offer simple recipes the paper can run that uses fresh local product.
I started a Saturday Market in San Marcos, TX three months ago. I have all types of vendors, not just produce. This draws every type of shopper in. Plus I have 4 hours of live, local music. This is really great, because the pressure to shop and spend money is lifted, and market goers can relax, and listen to music. They most always end up buying something that catches their eye.
I print out posters, and distribute them everywhere I can in our town, and near by communities. I also make handbills with the musicians that are playing and leave them at the counters and tables of specific business, such as coffeeshops, cafes, boutiques, etc. Anywhere that is a “hang out” for people, is a good bet.
I use Myspace as our web presence for now, because it is easy to maintain, and is the best way to connect with the younger crowd here. I am 20, and my peers are the ones I want most to be involved in this market. I want to share my love of organic food, good art, and sense of community with them.
The Chamber of Commerce picked up on my Myspace page, and invited me to a meeting. They were all very supportive, and now I am working with the Board of Tourism, to promote the Saturday Market to out of town visitors.
I’ve learned that the people of San Marcos are very visual, and posters work great to get their attention. Also, I start advertising about two weeks ahead. Any earlier, and I can’t interest people.
So find out how the people in your area proccess advertising. Do they need a lot of notice? Does print work better than visual? Maybe radio ads.
I hope your market thrives and grows!! Best of luck to you and your vendors!!
Kateri
Stop popping pills and visit Springtown Farmers Market.
A recent government survey revealed that vitamins don’t work! The researchers found that we should be eating more fruits and vegetables to stay health. There is no freshers produce than Springtown Farmers Market.
Maybe give’em a little nut about the dangers of processing food.
Have an expert talk about how to grow their own produce, prepare soil for a garden, tips on when to plant.
Tips on How to Publicize your Farmer Market.
All tips were wonderful and you incorporate all of them.
1. Work with Buck’s County Area Agency on Aging. The State of PA give Senior Citizens $20 to buy produce and fresh vegetables. Each year your county distribute then to seniors through senior centers. Work with them to promote your market.
2. Work with Your County Department of Recreation, or Arts and Culture or your local arts council to provide the art and entertainment (they may have funding or grants).
3. Work with your County Penn State Cooperative Extension. They offer programs on food planning, nutrition and operate a master gardener program. The Master Garden Program set up a booth at the Scranton Cooperative Farmer and they were successful.
Also work with your county press office and have them help you press releases. Send press releases to all papers. Don’t forget your weekly newspaper they will run photos. Also get your local TV Station to sign on a media sponsor.
Michael Taluto, former Press Secretary Lackawanna County, PA
You need to get involved in the community around you, they are the people most able to help you spread the word about your farmers markets. Word of mouth is key here.
Have your vendors pre pay up front for their vendor location,and offer them a discount for it. That will lock them in. Vendors are very savvy now and will go market hopping from week to week if you allow it.