Food Producers Talk Social Media: Top Takeaways!

Did you miss our recent webinar Food Producers Talk Social Media? Wondering about some tips to implement in your own social media marketing? Catch a recap of our Producer Panel Conversation, where you can hear from Dan Rivera of Triple Green Jade Farm, Jessica Bouharevich of White Rainbow Farm, and Cori Deans of Small Town Cultures.

Our featured entrepreneurs had some useful tips, check out our favorites below. If you’d like to see the entire session, find the recording HERE.

Use your authentic voice when talking about your farm or food products. People want to hear from you and your role in the business. Speaking about your farm operation or food items in a real and honest way is the best way to connect with current and potential customers.

Dan: When starting a food or farm business it’s a nice idea to document what it is that you are doing. Showcase to people what it is that you are spending your time on, be authentic with your business, don’t get caught up in what you should be doing. Focus on WHAT you are actually doing and focus on quality over quantity of posts.

Triplegreenjadefarm: Insta post text: ‘Filled our raised beds yesterday with compost and topsoil. 1.5 cubic yards shoveled out by hand in about an hour. Go to know for the future! “What’s this got to do with our bread oven, you ask?” Well, most of the herbs (rosemary, cilantro, dill, for example) and veggies that we will include in our hearth-baked bread recipes will be organically grown right here. The rest will be for our own homestead garden use. #raisedbeds #dirt # gettingdirty’

Don’t automatically count out certain platforms just because you think they won’t do well or you don’t want to use them.

Jess: Facebook reaches a large audience and is used by many especially in more rural parts of the state. Even with the rise of other social platforms like TikTok and Instagram Facebook is still very relevant and used by many people.

Dan: Email Marketing is NOT DEAD. It’s a nice way to connect with people because they opted in to get a newsletter or email update and it is a good place to share multiple things, like stories or weekly offerings of products

Use and share educational materials on social media. It’s a great way to connect and educate your customer base about why you choose and create the products that you do.

Cori: Nice idea to highlight credible sources of information that support the production and use of your products. Be careful with making health claims though. Share the process with your consumers and educate them on the product that you are selling them.

smalltowncultures Instagram text: ‘Our process: 1. Vegetables grown in healthy soil are naturally teeming with probiotic microbes called lactobacillus 2. we create the environment for the lactobacillus to thrive by eliminating O2 and adding a specific amount of salinity 3. Fermentation occurs as the probiotics eat the carbohydrates in the plant matter and produce lactic acid and CO2 4. This process creates a tangy “pickled” flavor, desirable texture, full colony probiotics & preserves the vegetables @naomipeduzzi.art #fermentaion #wildfermentation #sauerkraut # kimchi #pickles #lactofermentation #ferment #probiotic #probiotics

How to Deal with Unhappy Customers and Negative Comments Online

Jess: We are striving for a 95% customer satisfaction rate, so for us, it means reaching out and connecting with that person individually. We seek to come to an understanding rather than make assumptions. It’s nice to have a conversation off-screen with someone and be able to ask them questions. But, sometimes you do need to delete comments on a post. Though often we just respond with a smile and nod on social media thanking them for their opinion.

Join us for our next panel – The Price is Right! Livestock Pricing Panel on January 12th at 7:00pm, you can register for this free online panel HERE. Registration is also open for our Ag and Food Producers Academy, read more about the course offerings HERE.

Lauren grew up in neighboring Vermont exploring and loving the green mountains and vast landscapes. Her undergraduate degree made her appreciate the communities that surround local foods and a Master’s Certificate in Food Studies from the University of Southern Maine made her want to pursue a career in the food system. In 2021 and 2022, she was the Local Foods Marketing and Development Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County.