Skip to content

Hawaii Farmers Markets Management Toolkit

  • Introduction
  • Organizational Blueprints for Farmers Markets
  • Farmers Market Data
  • Human Resources
  • Finances, Fundraising, & Business Management
  • Happy Vendors, Happy Managers
  • Accepting SNAP EBT & Other Currency
  • Marketing Your Market
  • Legal, Regulatory, & Policy Issues
  • Market Rules & Forms
Menu
  • Introduction
  • Organizational Blueprints for Farmers Markets
  • Farmers Market Data
  • Human Resources
  • Finances, Fundraising, & Business Management
  • Happy Vendors, Happy Managers
  • Accepting SNAP EBT & Other Currency
  • Marketing Your Market
  • Legal, Regulatory, & Policy Issues
  • Market Rules & Forms

Hawaii Farmers Markets Management Toolkit

  • Introduction
  • Organizational Blueprints for Farmers Markets
  • Farmers Market Data
  • Human Resources
  • Finances, Fundraising, & Business Management
  • Happy Vendors, Happy Managers
  • Accepting SNAP EBT & Other Currency
  • Marketing Your Market
  • Legal, Regulatory, & Policy Issues
  • Market Rules & Forms
Menu
  • Introduction
  • Organizational Blueprints for Farmers Markets
  • Farmers Market Data
  • Human Resources
  • Finances, Fundraising, & Business Management
  • Happy Vendors, Happy Managers
  • Accepting SNAP EBT & Other Currency
  • Marketing Your Market
  • Legal, Regulatory, & Policy Issues
  • Market Rules & Forms
  • Introduction
  • Organizational Blueprints for Farmers Markets
  • Farmers Market Data
  • Human Resources
  • Finances, Fundraising, & Business Management
  • Happy Vendors, Happy Managers
  • Accepting SNAP EBT & Other Currency
  • Marketing Your Market
  • Legal, Regulatory, & Policy Issues
  • Market Rules & Forms
Menu
  • Introduction
  • Organizational Blueprints for Farmers Markets
  • Farmers Market Data
  • Human Resources
  • Finances, Fundraising, & Business Management
  • Happy Vendors, Happy Managers
  • Accepting SNAP EBT & Other Currency
  • Marketing Your Market
  • Legal, Regulatory, & Policy Issues
  • Market Rules & Forms

Hawaii Farmers Markets Management Toolkit

Marketing Your Market

  • Marketing Your Mark
  • Know your Farmers Market Shopper
  • Working with the Media
  • Tips for your Farmers Market Website
  • Social Media for your Market
  • Farmers Market Graphics
Menu
  • Marketing Your Mark
  • Know your Farmers Market Shopper
  • Working with the Media
  • Tips for your Farmers Market Website
  • Social Media for your Market
  • Farmers Market Graphics

8. MARKETING YOUR MARKET

Shoppers’ love for farmers markets with all their visual abundance, local idiosyncrasies, and cauldron of humanity is a marketing dream. More humbling is the typical marketing budget of any farmers market. This chapter provides cheap tools and shopper research to help target your marketing efforts.  

Know Your Farmers Market Shopper

Provides an overview of what we know about core farmers market shopper motivations, demographics, and attributes.

Working with the Print Media

Like robins and bluebirds, features about farmers markets herald in the spring.  How can you proactively reach out to the local media and keep them reporting throughout your market season?

Tips for Your Farmers Markets Website

Make sure your website is as effective as it can be so that shoppers, vendors, and sponsor can easily find the information they need. A few simple tweaks may make a big difference.

Social Media for Your Farmers Markets

Learn the basics and how to get started with social media drawing from Emily Crawford’s presentation at the WSFMA conference.

Farmers Market Graphics – free for markets and vendors to use!

A grant from the WSDA Specialty Block Grant Program helped the Washington Farmers Market Action Team work with a communications firm to create three graphics targeted at core farmers market shoppers. Graphics can be downloaded for free.

Farmers Market Listings in Hawai’i

Do you ever wonder how people find farmers markets? See the most common farmers market lists in Hawai’i. Is your market listed? Is the information up to date?

Recommended Resources:

  • Marketing Checklist

KNOW YOUR FARMERS MARKET SHOPPER

By Colleen Donovan, WSU Small Farms Program

Updated: 9-23-2016

Farmers markets in Washington State report an average of around 1,400 shoppers per market day and 36,000 for the 2015 season. Of course, the range of shoppers varies widely by market, location, number of market days, market age, and size. The largest markets report nearly 9,000 shoppers on a typical day and over 454,000 for the season. Collectively, WSFMA member markets reported 3.4 million shoppers in 2015. What do we know about our farmers market shoppers?

Shoppers today have more choices than ever on how to buy local and organic food. In 2015, 41% of Washington farmers markets thought the number of shoppers stayed “about the same,” while 36% thought there were “more” or “significantly more” shoppers. Almost a quarter of markets reported having fewer shoppers.

We can think of two main types of farmers market shoppers: core shoppers and occasional shoppers. “Core” farmers market shoppers spend at least $20.00 and come once a month or more. These are people who make an effort to come even when the weather is bad, and self-identify with “their” farmers market. Occasional shoppers enjoy the market and may bring out of town visitors, but don’t make a point of going on a regular basis, and don’t do any serious shopping. Given farmers markets’ meager marketing budgets, it is usually more cost effective and efficient to focus on core farmers market shoppers.

Overall, the shopper base supporting farmers markets is diversifying and reflective of the local community. 

We know from WSU’s 14 Rapid Market Assessments that Washington shoppers report a mix of motivations, from self-interest to civic values. Regardless of where we went in the state, “supporting a local farmer” was shoppers’ top reason for shopping at the market.

Motivations for Shopping at Farmers Market (N = 4,720)

WSU Rapid Market Assessments, 2009-2014

Core Farmers Market Demographics
  • Predominantly female (>65%)
  • Mix of ages: from Generation Y and Gen X to Baby Boomers
  • “Non-poor” and not necessarily high middle income (research is inconclusive)
  • Tends to have more than one adult per shopping group
  • Tend to have higher levels of formal education
Core Farmers Market Shopper Attributes
  • Are responsible for cooking and meal preparation; enjoy cooking
  • Buy organic and local foods
  • Seek products that are fresh, healthy, safe
  • Seek specialty items
  • Value positive social and environmental impacts
  • How food is produced is important to core shoppers
  • Seek/expect authenticity and transparency in their purchasing
  • Have non-food related habits to promote health (i.e., exercise)
  • Enjoy gardening
  • Core FM shoppers are not necessarily “foodies” and represent a much broader range of ideologies and politics.

WORKING WITH THE MEDIA

You local media can help promote your farmers market organization, the current season, farmers, other vendors, and specific events. Markets need this visibility to recruit market sponsors, volunteers, and staff. The core principles of knowing your audience, crafting your message, and get it published apply to traditional media outlets (i.e., newspapers, radio) as well as the frontiers of social media.

Why is Media Important
  • Getting your message to a wider audience
  • Targeting your message to specific shopper audience
  • Free publicity for your events and farmers market in general
  • Gives importance and legitimacy to your farmers market
  • Increases your visibility in general public and with VIPs (including local elected officials)
  • Shapes public opinions

TIP: Submit your farmers market schedule to public radio event calendars. It’s free and a great way to reach NPR audiences in your area. Highlight key events separately: opening day, when beloved crops are peaking (blueberries, tomatoes, peaches, corn, etc.), as well as any special events. Key NPR stations in WA include Northwest Public Radio, 

KUOW, and KNKX (formerly known as KPLU) .

Understanding Different Types of Media
  • Television
  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Internet
  • Social Media
Develop a Media Plan
  • Determine long term goals
  • Your timeline
How To Write a Press Release
  • Write the headline
  • Write the body copy
  • Communicate who, what, when, where, why and how clearly
  • Include information about your farmers market
  • Add contact information
  • End with # # #
Eight Ground Rules When Working with Reporters

by Brad Phillips @MrMedia Training

  1. Don’t go off the record
  2. Never say “no comment”
  3. You cannot “approve” a story
  4. But you can offer to fact check a story
  5. You can request questions in advance (sometimes)
  6. You can tape the interview
  7. You can limit the time of the interview
  8. You can declare certain topics off-limits
Preparing for an Interview & More Interview Tips
More Media Resources
  • Michigan Farmers Market Association’s Media Kit for their “Bridge Cards” (like Quest Cards in WA). The info here on working with the media works well for any occasion.
  • Working With Your Local News Media  (WSFMA)
  • Media Tips from the WSDA (Feb 2016)

TIPS FOR YOUR FARMERS MARKET WEBSITE

By Colleen Donovan & Karen Kinney

Updated: 10-31-2016

Shoppers, vendors, sponsors, supporters, the media, and public expect to find information about your farmers market on the Internet. As such, farmers markets have created websites that try to provide information for a mix of different audiences. This can be a challenging balance to navigate and maintain, especially at the pace technology and the Internet are evolving. The eight website tips described here are especially relevant for smaller markets with part-time staff and rotating market computers, roaming files, and intermittent tech support.

❶  Search for your farmers market

Know exactly what people find when they search for your market. Try searching for your market using a variety of names, not just the official one. The market may be the “Kittitas County Farmers Market” but people will search for the “Ellensburg farmers market” or even common abbreviations like “Eburg market.”

Does your website or Facebook page show up? Is it the first result or down in the mix? Try Google images as well as the main Google search. Be sure to try different search engines to see if results are consistent or vary. Try it on a smartphone or tablet as well. Can someone read it?

There may also be a lot of “flotsam and jetsam” online from previous market website incarnations, past posts, and links you thought were buried or didn’t know about. If possible, try to get rid of any potentially confusing or incorrect information about your market.

❷  Fit the Website to your market capacity

Just as there is no “one size fits all” for farmers markets, there is no one size fits all for farmers market websites. The most important feature of any market website is that it is up-to-date. What time, technical skills, and money does your market have available to create and keep a website up-to-date? You may have a comprehensive digital marketing strategy which includes a “full service” website. Or you may have a single page that serves as a static “front shingle” that has all of your important information.

There is no right or wrong. The key is being able to maintain your site in a way that best represents your market and reinforces your brand identity.

❸  Feature information for shoppers first

Most of your market’s website users are probably your current and prospective shoppers. On average, markets have thousands of shoppers whereas there are dozens of vendors and a handful of staff or volunteers. Therefore, think about designing your website with your shoppers in mind first and foremost. In graphics, this is called the “visual hierarchy.” What do you want someone to see first?

Ideally, anyone should be able to Google your market and immediately answer these three questions – without scrolling or having to spend more than 3 seconds to find:

  • Name of the farmers market
  • When is the market open? Preferably answered by having clear dates for the season AND market day times AND the current calendar year.
  • Where is the market located? Including street address, city and state.

This information is far more important than beautiful market visuals. It may be counter intuitive, but “how” and “when” to go to your market edges out the “why” go to your market on the visual hierarchy. Current shoppers already know why (but can’t remember when you open) and prospective core shoppers are already are sold on farmers markets but need information about yours. Once you have the “big three” questions (name, when you’re open this year, and where are you located) abundantly clear, the second tier of information includes:

  • Contact information for the market
  • Information for your vendors
  • Information about your vendors and/or product mix
❹  List the full address for where your market is located

When you give the market location and the market mailing address, be sure to list the town, state, and zip code. Some market websites never really say what state they are in. Locals may know the difference but search engines don’t. A website for a market with the same name (or city) but in a different state may show up instead of yours. This happens far more than you might think. The full address and zip code is especially important for people who try to look up your location or directions to your market on Google maps. (It is also well worth searching for your market on Google maps to make sure the results are correct.)

❺  Help vendors find your market information

Farmers market websites typically have a section or links with the market policies, rules, and application. Be sure to label this information in such a way that makes it easy for your current and prospective vendors to find it. Simply labeling it “Vendors” can be confusing to shoppers who may expect a list of vendors or products. Labels like “Join Us” can be too vague for vendors to know that this includes them. “Become a Vendor” or “How to Vend” are much more likely to be found. Keep in mind if a vendor sells at six markets, he or she may be navigating six different market websites. The goal is to reduce the “where is it?” or “I couldn’t find it” factor.

❻  Have a real person named on the market website

Much of farmers market work involves personal relationships, transparency and trust. It is, therefore, very odd (or unfriendly looking) when market websites (and farm websites) are disembodied: there is no person “named.” To fix this, include a name of a real person as the market contact. If privacy is a consideration, even just listing a first name only can help personalize the market.

❼  Use photos wisely

Farmers markets are visually incredible and lend themselves to great pictures. However, they can also be overdone. Try to curate your visual images instead of overwhelming people with too many.

  • Don’t let photos dominate your website at the expense of conveying the critical information in Tip 3.
  • Pick shots that distinguish or identify your market. If the image could also be at a produce stand or produce section of the grocery store, think about re-framing it.
  • Keep visuals and photos in sync with the season. Pumpkins in May and cherries in November erode your credibility.
❽  Plan an annual website schedule

Nothing reduces confidence in a farmers market website more than a “Welcome to the New Season” message in November. Try to plan to update your website on a schedule that is realistic for you. A minimal schedule for a seasonal market might be:

Message

Purpose of Message

Timing

Get ready for the new season

Remind shoppers about market; build anticipation

Before market opens

New season is here

Remind/retrain shoppers to come; build excitement

When market opens

Come enjoy amazing variety-quality of vendors/products

Maintain momentum when people are distracted by vacations and gardening, etc.

Peak season

Market closing soon – enjoy/celebrate harvest

Good crowd in late season

Before market closes

Thank you for a great season

Signals that market season is over and appreciation

When market closes

See you in May (or whatever month market opens)!

Plant seed for coming to market in spring

New calendar year

Website Resources

  • “Digital Marketing 101: Stay open year-round & tell your story online” presentation by Emily Crawford of Pike Place Market at the WSFMA Conference (2016).
  • “Websites for Beginners” handy tips from Leigh Newman-Bell of Pike Place Market (April 2016).
  • Photo and Video Release form template

Website Examples

  • Blacksburg Farmers Market A sophisticated FM website…but what state is it in?
  • Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association Excellent contemporary style with shopper orientation; serves a regional group of markets.

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR MARKET

By Colleen Donovan & Karen Kinney

Updated: 6-30-2019

Social media is among the fastest growing marketing tools used by businesses and causes of every stripe, including farmers markets. It is also one of the fastest changing. Simply keeping up with the new “platforms” and “apps” can be a full time job. Research shows that “word of mouth” is one of the most effective marketing channels for farmers markets and this now includes online communication with “friends,” family, peers, and even strangers. With all the beauty farmers markets offer, posting photos and other visuals alone can speak volumes about your seasonal abundance.

Choosing a Social Media Platform

Given the seemingly infinite social media options, where does a farmers market with an already extremely busy market manager start? There may be a simple social media tool that will fit with the time and technical skills you have on hand.  Access to the apps may not have a cost, but using social media is not free as the time needed to learn and maintain your social media strategy is extremely valuable.

In a presentation at the 2015 WSFMA conference, Emily Crawford of Pike Place Market recommended starting by reflecting on four questions:

❶  What audience do you want to reach?

❷  Which social media platforms best meet your goals?

❸  Which tool would you be most likely to use?

❹  What tools do you already have?

Social media

What it does

Primary users

Facebook

This is the most robust site, featuring text, photos, video, links.

Doubles as a free and easy to update webpage.

Drives 20x more traffic to websites than Twitter.

Well over a billion users. Nearly 30% are between 25-34 years old.

Twitter

Micro Blogging / Personal News Channel

“Tweets” must be 140 characters or less

Posts reflect daily activities

Users can “re-tweet” your messages

Over 300 million users

Pinterest

Photo-based virtual pin board or scrap book

47% of online shoppers have made a purchase based on recommendations from Pinterest

Ability to cultivate different boards to tell different stories

Gen X and Boomers

Women-dominated platform at 70% , core users are 18-34

Instagram

Photo- and video-sharing

Easy to share photos and video from Instagram to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites

Millennials

Source: Adapted from Emily Crawford, “Social Media Strategies: Find the right social media platform to tell your story” (2015 WSFMA Conference, Olympia, WA).

Rules of Thumb

Whichever social media platform you decide to do, it must be maintained. Social media, after all, is designed to be interactive and alive. Facebook posts that are over a month old feel like ancient history online. Designate someone to be the point person for actively managing your market’s social media presence. However, it is also important to share this responsibility and recruit others to post, gather content, and share photos. Emily Crawford of the Pike Place Market recommends the following “rules of thumb” for keeping your social media fresh and effective.

Post content regularly

It doesn’t all have to be original. You can repurpose content from other areas, but be sure to tailor and connect the content of anything you post to what’s happening at your market.

Sometimes asking a question can engage people. The trick is to pose engaging questions that challenge their thinking – but not too much. “Who is your favorite farm vendor at the market?” is too general and flat (plus politically problematic). Try asking: “If you could invite a farmer for lunch and use their products for the meal, who would it be?”

Create valuable content – be helpful

Give advance notice of activities at your market. Be sure to include dates and times. Is it enticing? If not, think of a way to make it appeal to your audience. Use compelling images and always link to more detailed information.

Use the best quality photos that you have available. If needed, recruit a great photographer to help stage shots that reinforce the “brand” messaging your market wants to project.

Respond to posts by others

Conversation is key to building strong relationships via social media. While you don’t necessarily need to respond every time someone posts or comments on your site, acknowledging when someone makes a thoughtful post, or shares something unique is a nice way to show your followers that you are paying attention.

The one time you must always respond is if negative or offensive comments are made. There are many great articles online on how best to approach this type of feedback, and how to tell the difference between a genuine complaint and a “troll.” Think about what standards you want for your site and how, in general you will handle negative comments before the situation occurs and you will be better able to deal with the situation objectively and consistently.

Connect with others in your field

This means “liking” your vendors’ sites, your market sponsors, other farmers markets, the WSFMA, and Farmers Market Coalition, any restaurants or chefs that shop at your market, food writers, partners like Master Gardeners or the WIC clinic, and especially any organization that promotes your local businesses and tourism.

It’s okay to be light-hearted.

People tend to check social media as a break between projects or to have a little fun, not necessarily to digest the intricacies of your market policies and health department regulations. Think cocktail party banter, not board meeting presentation.

Create a schedule to keep the site fresh.

You do not necessarily need to post on every site every day, but find a frequency that works for you and stick to it. Not only will having a regular schedule for developing content help you prioritize your updates, your audience can look forward to hearing from you consistently.

Social Media Support

Each social media tool has loads of features to improve your online presence and to “boost” viewings, likes, and sharing. If this feels like foreign territory, ask for help from someone in your market circle who knows the ins and outs. Typically, “millennials” (born in the 1980s to 2000s) who have grown up with the Internet are good interpreters and tour guides to social media’s possibilities.

Recommended resources

  • Social Media Strategies for Market Managers by Sarah Dylan Jensen (2019)
  • 10 Tips For Marketing With Social Media (recommended by the Farmers Market Coalition)
  • “Farmers Market Social Media Cheat Sheet”
  • “Handling Negative Comments or Complaints in Social Media”
  • “Social Media & Your Business: How to Guide for Vendors” from the Seattle Farmers Market Association
  • “The Social Media Glossary: 207 Essential Definitions”
  • “Social Media Tools for Farm Product Marketing”
  • “Weeding the Social Media Garden” from FMC

FARMERS MARKET GRAPHICS

By Colleen Donovan & Karen Kinney

Updated: 9-19-2016

In 2015, the Farmers Market Action Team created a series of graphics to help increase sales of specialty crop farmers. The strategy is to “feed the word of mouth” by targeting core shoppers and getting them to talk up shopping at farmers markets to their peers, friends, and family. The graphics are available in English and Spanish. They are free for any farmers market or specialty crop farmer to use for marketing and promotions. The project received funding from the WSDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

management.hawaiifarmersmarkets.org

COPYRIGHT 2022 HFM MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT, ALL RIGHT RESERVED