How Your Brand Can Be an Online Resource in 2015

14-CORE-ARTICLE-FeaturedImage_CarrotIn a world where the digital era has changed the way many industries do business, the fresh produce industry has not been immune. Fresh produce marketers currently face the reality that their consumer and buyer audiences are often seeking similar information and in the same place: online. The expanding demands of reaching and influencing both buyers and consumers at the same time and in the same place can leave marketers feeling overwhelmed and resorting to building a bigger megaphone and “shouting” until they reach everyone with their message.

The truth is, although marketing strategies for B2B and B2C are becoming less distinct for fresh produce marketers, there is one marketing mindset we need to have in order to be the most relevant online resource for the products you grow, ship and/or sell – PRESENT.

For example, if you grow carrots, focus on being THE resource for fresh carrots in the digital space, whether it’s in branded packaging or a private label. You may not be able to sell your carrots in every retailer in the US, but you can be sure that you are a reliable and present resource on “carrots” for people seeking information on this topic. Information seekers may be buyers at a regional retail chain looking for a new carrots supplier, or they may be a millennial searching for a show-stopping side dish recipe to bring to Thanksgiving. When you consider that no matter who the information seeker is, as long as you are the result for having the carrots information – you are in a positive position.

As you plan for 2015, start simply by assessing your current content and your assets with the above thought in mind and consider these 3 actions below:

1. Develop Buyer/Shopper Personas and cater to them.

Buyer personas are representations of prototypical customers based on real insights, data and information you have gathered on your target audiences. Developing buyer personas is a qualitative process that will help you to truly understand your buyers/customers on a deep level. Start creating online forms to help you gain meaningful insights into the types of audiences that are finding you online.

2. Be helpful and relevant.

Instead of being self-promotional through your digital marketing, offer to help your buyers and consumers by providing relevant content for their needs. Helpful marketing will work to delight your audiences, developing content that addresses buyer personas’ pain points and makes you ready and available should a buyer or customer come looking for the answers from you.

3. Measure more, guess less.

As fresh produce marketers, we have so much data available to us through various analytical resources such as Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, Hootsuite, Pinterest and HubSpot. Properly measuring your marketing and critically thinking about how the data relates can lead us to better quantify and qualify our efforts to understand the stories that lie within our analytics.

Implementing these strategies will point your marketing in the right direction to becoming an online resource in the New Year. In addition to these tips, budgeting smarter is an important part of reaching your goals at the end of 2015. Download “5 Steps to Getting More Marketing Dollars” to make smart budgeting decisions along with your thoughtful strategy.