WETASKIWIN, Alta. – Once farmers put out the welcome mat for visitors to the farm, they need to make sure they make the visit as memorable as possible, says an Alberta Agriculture farm marketing specialist.
Part of creating that memorable experience is having enough choice for every visitor, said Kerry Engel of Alberta Agriculture’s agri-entrepreneurship division.
Engel used the example of shopping for pumpkins with her children. Buying one large pumpkin wouldn’t work in a family with two small girls who each want their own pumpkin, but Engel is willing to spend money on two smaller, less expensive pumpkins to keep peace in the family.
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“It’s about having a variety of sizes and prices,” said Engel of Westlock, Alta.
Fall has become the largest season for farm direct marketing and farm marketers should take advantage of all the unique fall products, Engel told a group of farmers wanting to expand their farm to include an on-farm event or festival.
“Think of all the produce we can sell and make it part of the fall experience.”
Engel advised farmers not to stop at selling pumpkins. Sell the special pumpkin knives, pumpkin stencils, pumpkin costumes, pumpkin pies and even pumpkin cookies as a way to get people to spend more money at the farm.
“Try and increase the dollars spent per customer.”
During her presentation Engel showed a picture of small mini pumpkins hanging from trees in net bags as a unique Halloween decoration. Engel is a believer in showing the customer how to use a product.
After returning from an Ontario farm tour, Engel was disappointed she couldn’t find bundles of corn stalks or mini straw bales in Alberta. The pint sized straw bales sell for $2 each and are meant strictly for decorating at Halloween or Thanksgiving. It’s an easy way to triple the money from a straw bale or a few corn stalks.
Even the decorations help set the tone for a country visit. Engel suggests cleaning up Grandma’s old wood stove as a display shelf or using old wooden barrels to display produce.
For the artistically challenged customer, Engel suggests selling the entire display or providing craft instruction sheets.
“Show people how to use the stuff you sell.”
Once you’ve created a farm experience, you have to let people know about it, said Sharon Stollery, also with the department’s agri-entrepreneurship division.
Stollery recommended dropping brochures at the local tourist office and expanding to regional and provincial offices.
“These are places that need brochures,” said Stollery.
She advised getting event information onto the Travel Alberta website, and getting to know the regional tourism specialists.
“These are important people for your market. They’re like sales reps for you,” said Stollery.
