BF 205: Social Media & Online Marketing

Attract and Connect with Customers Using a Strategic Farm Presence Online

Are webpages still useful? Does Facebook drive sales in real life? What do hashtags do? What kinds of photos do customers respond to? What are good strategies for low-cost online sales/marketing? What is Square and should I be using it? If you’ve been struggling with questions like these for your farm, this course is a great starting place for you. Taught by farmers and other ag professionals, you’ll get real-life, practical ideas and explanations to help you build a successful online presence, grow your customer base, and sell more product.

Target Audience

Aspiring, new, or experienced farmers are welcome to participate, but it assumes participants will be beginner to intermediate social media/online marketing users who are interested in polishing and expanding their skills for increased social media traffic and online marketing for farm businesses. Students should have basic digital proficiency, including use of email, internet searches, and may already have some personal and/or business social media accounts set up, including Facebook, Instagram, etc. The course is not geared to advanced online marketing users and/or those who anticipate the majority of their farm sales to come from online sources.

Course Objectives

The course is designed to improve your understanding of social media, online marketing ideas and tools that may increase sales and increase awareness about your business. From experienced farmers and farm service providers, you will learn:

• Some of the more common tools and strategies to attract followers online,
• How to drive customers to sales locations (online or real-life)
• Marketing planning activities, including distribution, pricing, customer demographics and sales region.
• Tips for improving photos, videos, graphics, memes, and more.

Webinar Activities & Topics

This class will include content by instructor/s, including marketing planning, photography, and more. A variety of guest speakers will share experiences in building a farm business and how they use social media/online marketing in business. Two to three agri-service professionals will provide overviews of social media, online marketing, digital sales tools and strategies.

Webinar Schedule

In 2024, this course will be offered live for 6-weeks on Thursdays from 7:00 - 8:30 PM (Eastern) from February 29 – April 4. While we encourage live attendance, so you have the opportunity to engage with presenters and ask questions, all webinars are recorded and posted in the online classroom to watch anytime. Once enrolled in this course, you will retain access to all materials indefinitely, and can return to participate in the live webinars in future offerings of the course if you wish. Join us!