My Digital Farmer Podcast: Episode 295 - How to Use Weekly or Daily Specials to Increase Farm Sales

Release Date: January 15, 2025

Introduction

In Episode 295 of the My Digital Farmer Podcast, host Corinna Bench delves into the powerful marketing strategy of implementing weekly or daily specials to boost farm sales. Corinna, a CSA farmer and marketing specialist from MyDigitalFarmer.com and Shared Legacy Farms, provides actionable insights tailored for retail farm businesses aiming to enhance their lead generation, sales, and brand strength.

The Power of Daily and Weekly Specials

Corinna begins the episode by illustrating the significant impact that daily and weekly specials can have on farm sales. She emphasizes the dual role these specials play in attracting customers and driving repeat business.

"The daily or weekly special is a type of offer that can be a real game changer. And in today's episode, I'm going to show you how this strategy works, how to make it work for your business."
[00:00] Corinna Bench

Real-World Example: Distasio's Pizza

To ground her discussion, Corinna shares a personal anecdote about Distasio's Pizza in Elmore, Ohio. She describes how their consistent daily specials not only fostered her loyalty but also ingrained a purchasing habit.

"It sort of trained me to become loyal, and it's also trained me to check the Facebook page for this special. Now, it's very interesting just to see how this has created a habit inside of me."
[06:30] Corinna Bench

Corinna meticulously breaks down Distasio's daily specials, highlighting various offer formulas such as percentage discounts, buy-one-get-one-free deals, and minimum purchase thresholds. This example serves as a blueprint for listeners to craft their own specials.

Benefits of Implementing Specials

Corinna outlines several key advantages of incorporating daily and weekly specials into a farm’s marketing strategy:

1. Creating Urgency: Time-limited offers compel customers to act quickly.

   "Time limited offers have to encourage people to buy now."
   [10:15] Corinna Bench

2. Building Customer Habits: Regular specials establish purchasing routines, encouraging repeat visits.

   "Regular specials, especially if you're in the pattern of doing this every day or every week, it gives customers a reason to check back often."
   [12:45] Corinna Bench

3. Attracting New Customers: Specials can serve as an entry point for new customers transitioning from leads to buyers.

   "These daily and weekly specials will attract new customers. This is often the lure or the bait that gets someone off your email list and finally turning into a buyer."
   [13:55] Corinna Bench

4. Increasing Average Order Value (AOV): Strategic upselling alongside specials can elevate the total purchase amount.

   "These daily and weekly specials will attract new customers... and they often throw in something else so they'll increase the average order value."
   [15:20] Corinna Bench

Crafting Effective Specials: Offer Formulas

Corinna emphasizes the importance of simplicity and clarity in crafting specials. She introduces various offer formulas that resonate well with customers:

• Percentage Discounts: e.g., "20% off all hanging flower baskets today only."

• Buy X, Get Y Free: e.g., "Buy four herbs, get one free."

• Minimum Purchase Thresholds: e.g., "Spend $25 and get a free 4-inch herb plant."

"Make it simple. I have seen some daily specials or weekly specials that are hard to understand... We don't want it to be difficult for a customer to understand or difficult for us to communicate."
[18:50] Corinna Bench

She further advises incorporating relevant and seasonal elements into specials to align with customer needs and trends.

Promoting Your Specials

Corinna outlines multiple channels through which farms can effectively promote their daily or weekly specials:

1. Email Lists: Incorporate specials into weekly newsletters or as targeted offers for specific customer segments.

   "You could send out a weekly email with the weekly special in it. That could be the whole focus of the email."
   [22:30] Corinna Bench

2. Social Media: Utilize platforms like Facebook and Instagram to share visuals of specials, create countdowns, and engage with customers through stories and posts.

   "Sometimes you can pair this special with like a minimum purchase threshold... or use countdowns in your social media."
   [25:10] Corinna Bench

3. In-Store Signage: For physical locations, vibrant and clear signs at entrances and checkout points can effectively communicate current specials.

   "Having something right at the entrance when they walk in... you might even want to have it at checkout."
   [27:40] Corinna Bench

Maximizing Effectiveness: Tips and Tools

Corinna shares practical tips to ensure the success of specials:

• Planning Ahead: Create a promotion calendar to map out specials, allowing for efficient inventory management and timely marketing asset preparation.

  "Building a promotion calendar can help you a ton... mapping out a promotion calendar plan and put this mechanism in place in a few locations."
  [32:15] Corinna Bench

• Tracking Results: Monitor key metrics such as new customers, repeat business, and overall sales to assess the effectiveness of each special.

  "Track the results of this daily special. Weekly special promo strategy. Please keep notes on what actually works."
  [34:50] Corinna Bench

• Leveraging Technology: Utilize tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm and generate creative special offers quickly.

  "I went into ChatGPT... and I'm sharing this with you because I want to show you how you can partner up with ChatGPT to make this work of building daily special offers a whole lot faster."
  [40:20] Corinna Bench

Corinna demonstrates this by sharing a ChatGPT-generated rotation of daily specials for a greenhouse, showcasing how AI can streamline the creative process.

Consistency and Creativity

Maintaining consistency in offering specials helps solidify customer habits. Corinna advises ensuring that specials align with recurring customer behaviors or establishing new ones.

"Consistency is also key. You want to be training your customers to expect regular specials."
[38:00] Corinna Bench

Additionally, injecting creativity and fun into specials can make them memorable and shareable, enhancing customer engagement and word-of-mouth promotion.

"I've seen some really fun, creative twists on daily specials that make me chuckle. And I want to just buy it because it's, it's hilarious."
[39:30] Corinna Bench

Conclusion and Action Steps

Corinna wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to experiment with daily or weekly specials, monitor their impact, and refine their strategies based on observed results. She highlights the importance of integrating these specials into a broader promotion calendar and utilizing resources like Farm Marketing School for further education and support.

"I want you to experiment with your own daily or weekly special using the principles that I shared in this episode. So go and map out a week's worth of daily specials for your farm store or maybe your farmer's market booth and test them out."
[45:10] Corinna Bench

Key Takeaways

• Implementing Daily or Weekly Specials: A strategic tool to drive sales, attract new customers, and build loyal purchasing habits.

• Effective Offer Formulas: Utilize clear and simple offers like discounts, buy-one-get-one-free, and minimum purchase incentives.

• Promotional Channels: Leverage email, social media, and in-store signage to maximize reach and engagement.

• Planning and Tracking: Develop a promotion calendar and monitor key metrics to continuously improve the effectiveness of specials.

• Utilizing Technology: Tools like ChatGPT can aid in quickly generating creative and relevant special offers.

Resources Mentioned

• Farm Marketing School: An online membership program offering over 15 classes focused on farm marketing strategies and asset building.
  Visit MyDigitalFarmer.com/FMS to learn more.

• LocalLine: A comprehensive sales software designed for farmers and food hubs, offering features like e-commerce, automated inventory management, and more.
  Visit LocalLine at mydigitalfarmer.com and use coupon code MDF2025 for a free premium feature for one year with your subscription.

Stay Connected:

• Subscribe to the My Digital Farmer Podcast to receive updates and access to valuable marketing insights.
• Follow Corinna Bench on Instagram @ydigitalfarmer for more tips and behind-the-scenes content.

Thank you for tuning into Episode 295 of the My Digital Farmer Podcast. Remember, strategic marketing is key to transforming your farm business. Implement these strategies, track your progress, and watch your sales flourish.