3 Agritourism Marketing Mistakes

This is a guest post from Rachel Foster

Which of These 3 Agritourism Marketing Mistakes Are You Making?

Ah, the first hint of orange on the leaves…

And we all act like we’ve never seen a pumpkin before! So, the frenzy begins.

Busy moms far and wide take to the internet, looking for nearby agritourism opportunities…

Your website pops up. She clicks, then begins to scroll around, mumbling to herself…

“We need pumpkins for the front porch… and, hmm… a centerpiece for Thanksgiving. When is this place open? Do they do hayrides for the kids?”

She clicks around your website looking for the answer… in between text message alerts and an unexpected call from work… all while the dog stands at the door whining to be let out.

Your website is competing for her attention. You’ve got about 3 seconds to show her why her family needs to come to your farm this weekend. Will your marketing efforts get the job done?

Clear benefits, plus a personal connection, equals online sales success.

The words you use matter. They must:

• Quickly grab the attention of the website visitor.
• Show the reader how she benefits from purchasing a ticket for a farm tour.
•  Include a call to action.

It’s a shame that so many agritourism businesses fail to communicate quickly and efficiently with potential customers, because small farms are the heart of a community.

Plus, it’s such an easy thing to fix if you just understand a few simple principles.

Mistake #1: Listing Features Instead of Benefits

The typical web page will have a list that looks something like this:

•  Produce for sale
•  Gift shop
• Playground
• Barrel train
• Corn maze
• Petting zoo

But there’s a problem with feature lists…

Your customer isn’t interested in what you offer, only how she benefits from what you offer. That’s just human nature.

So, your list of features leaves a gap. The customer must build a mental bridge to overcome that gap before making a buying decision:

A portion of your website visitors will build that thought bridge, but many of them will not.

Close the gap for them.

List the benefits according to the customer’s perspective rather than listing the features. Here are a few examples:

• Make meal-time easy, delicious, and nutritious. Grab fresh leafy greens, sweet organic carrots, and savory beets – farm to table wholesale pricing and superior quality!
• Fill your home with the warmth of gratitude this fall when you pick out the perfect, handmade, harvest wreath or centerpiece – available in our gift shop while supplies last.
• Children laugh, play together, and burn off energy while enjoying the outdoors. Unlimited playground access is included with every ticket.

Get 30 more examples for free. The Copywriter’s Secret List of 30 Agritourism Event Descriptions That Sell More Tickets is available to you as a pdf download.

Mistake #2: Grouping Similar Events Together, and Describing the Group With Broad Terms

Ah, so many cliches apply here…

• If you chase two rabbits, you won’t catch either.
• If you try to reach everyone, you’ll reach no one.
• If you try to sell school field trips in the same paragraph as a family outing, you won’t sell either.

Okay, so that last one isn’t really a cliché… but it should be!

The field trip and family outing grouping mentioned above is an example of mashing together two events based on their similar features – petting zoo, hayride, playground, etc.

But consider these two critical differences:

1)     One buyer is a school administrator. The other buyer is a parent.

2)     One buyer is focused on class management, budgeting, scheduling, and travel logistics. The other buyer is simply looking for affordable weekend fun with her kids.

You can’t use a single, generalized block of text to successfully persuade two very different types of buyers. One or both are likely to lose interest.

The solution – use well-defined menu options or crystal-clear thumbnails to separate events based on buying habits, then write specific benefits that appeal directly to the needs of the customer who is most likely to book that event.

Example:

Mistake #3: Choosing Not to Have a Lead Magnet/Optin Before the Fold, or as a Pop-Up

It sounds more complicated than it actually is…

Lead magnets (usually a discount coupon or free download) and op-tins (a place to enter a name and email address) work together to turn website visitors into future customers through automated email marketing.

An opt-in that is placed at the top of a landing page or homepage is described as being “before the fold”.

A pop-up opt-in does exactly what the name implies. It pops up, either after a set amount of time, or when the website visitor starts to close the tab.

An opt-in can be placed just about anywhere, but they don’t perform as well when the visitor has to scroll in order to see them.

Here’s an example:

Grabbing a new prospect’s email address, incentivizing them to come experience your farm, and growing a warm audience of customers is a game-changer when:

• You have events with tickets that need to be sold.
• There is extra product inventory that needs to be liquidated prior to expiration.
• You are considering adding farm education or crafting classes, and you need to do some market research to measure the demand.

Any web developer can take care of the technical aspects of adding this feature. Even DIY web builders, using drag-and-drop platforms, can easily add an opt-in after a short tutorial. Your website will get to work for you, building your email list, even while you sleep.

If you’re a busy farmer, who’s trying to do it all – planting, harvesting, selling, and raising livestock – then you deserve a break…

Get the entire list of 30 Agritourism Event Descriptions That Sell More Tickets to start using the power of words that sell to supersize your marketing efforts.

It’s 100% free for you, written by a Certified Direct Response Copywriter. Just follow this link and tell us where to send your list.

About the Author

Rachel Foster is a Certified Direct Response Copywriter who founded Wordsthatsellclasses.com to support business growth for providers of family-friendly fun and education. Interests include organic gardening, raising hens, and front porch swinging with a hot cup of coffee.