Countryside Marketing News & Tips

If you're running a farm shop, and much of the produce is yours, then it's important that your customers know this, and there's evidence to back up your claims. The Lacey family in Bolter End, near High Wycombe started their farm shop a few years ago, but not all their customers were aware of where the cows lived, or the fact that their award-winning milk was bottled just yards from the shop.  So together with some talented local photographers and Print Shop we designed some simple 'Story Boards' that evidence the provenance of their milk, cream, eggs and meat and now hang in the shop.  Simple, and cost-effective marketing.  

We're speaking at The Glamping Show Saddle Up! Exploring Equine Tourism and Glamping Partnerships 12:30 pm 21st September Theatre 2 Horse owners love taking their horses on holiday. They’re looking for farmland, bridleways, beaches or quiet country lanes to ride on, and comfortable and practical accommodation. Could your site be a base for a relaxing riding holiday?  Assess your target market, how to reach them through cost-effective marketing, what you need to offer and what kind of revenue you could generate from welcoming riders to your site.

We're now corporate members of The Institute of Agricultural Secretaries & Administrators, known as IAgSA .  And we will be hosting a workshop on Marketing for diversified farming enterprises at their  Regional Training Day on 3rd October 2018.

The LEADER programme (funded by the EU but administered by regional Local Action Groups in many areas)  is at the forefront of these initiatives.  Since January 2016 the programme has provided grants in England worth over £56M in total with an average grant size of just over £32K.  The largest grants awarded were over £200K, whilst the smallest were less than £2K. This £56M funded over the past 3 years, is part of the £138M available in England between 2015 and 2020 under the scheme. Most grants probably represent 40% of the overall project value.  As shown on this map , the geographic spread of the projects across England is reasonably uniform, although there seems to be a greater density in the South West and South Coast.  There are some notable areas where we would have expected to see projects such as the Isle of Wight and Worcestershire where none have been evident.  Map Link https://drive.google.com/open?id=1govm1fML0GaGoo3pNg50Y8...

Bucks farmers eligible for £150 for marketing training. Countryside Marketing has recently been accredited by the Bucks Skills Brokerage which means that businesses based in Buckinghamshire can use training vouchers towards projects they are working on with Countryside Marketing.  Countryside Marketing aims to help farmers starting out on the diversification journey with their marketing and sales.  This might involve creating websites, customer databases, social media, market research or marketing strategies.  Ted’s aim is to provide this support using the latest tools and techniques, which today enables marketing to be done very cost-effectively. “Our approach is a little different from traditional marketing and media agencies,” explained Ted.  “We recognise that farmers often like to be in control and have a ‘hands-on’ mentality.  We therefore help our customers to set up and use the appropriate marketing tools themselves, saving large sums of money ...

If a picture paints a thousand words, a map does it better in my opinion! I love maps and there's a free tool from Google that allows you to build your own maps, either for your farm, or your glamping business etc. Take a look at this video , the examples and the ' How To' guide to get started with Google MyMaps. Click this link (or copy & paste to your browser) https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OKPq5BcXtfkCrv0R2i966fhau95gU1HB