Promoting Markets

Promoting Your Market with Public Relations and Advertising
Public Relations: Your effort to get word of your market into the media for FREE.

Advertising: The same effort, but usually paid (Exceptions: Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are free); or you can sometimes purchase left-over or "remnant" space at a discount.


PUBLIC RELATIONS
Use Events to Create Interest, Draw Customers, Get Press

• • Events are natural news pegs: most newspapers (and some community radio stations) have a calendar section where they list events for FREE.
• • Know the deadlines. Call ahead.
• • Ask how they prefer to receive information: e-mail, fax, snail mail or phone.
• • Find out the appropriate editor to send it to.
• • Keep your press release or media advisory short and sweet. See attached samples.
• • Don't be afraid to follow up with phone calls. Editors are swamped.
• • Use the Disney promotional method: Always have music, food, overlapping activities, something for kids and something that is free.

Event Ideas:

• • Plan your events with seasonal produce: i.e, "Tornado of Tomatoes", "Sassy Salsa Saturday", "Melon Madness", "Apple-oooza", etc. Use the opportunity to educate consumers. Do a tasting of the featured produce, linking vendors with colored plates/balloons.
• • Sponsor an event that has cross-promotional power; i.e, sponsoring bike safety day at the market with a local bike club or sports store. Have a bike parade with kids. The bike partner will promote it to their customers, too.
• • Cooking Demonstrations (with or without guest chefs): When good smells permeate the air, customers are motivated to buy. Try grilling or stir frying. Offer recipes.
• • Promote healthy programs such as Five-A-Day fruit and vegetables and school lunches and snacks. These kinds of events draw interest from press.
• • Promote awareness programs such as Family Farm Day, Earth Day or Bike Safety Day

Establish Friendships in the Community: Invite people to your market

• Join a group with newspaper editors, food writers or gardening writers
• Radio hosts
• Magazine editors
• TV Station Managers
• Government officials (Send them VIP invitations to the market)
• Hotel Concierges (leave brochures with them)
• Become friends with local store owners

Community Service

• Become involved with local charities.
• Community service groups: Let them set up a table (ask them to send out e-mails to their constituents, too).
• "Compassionate publicity": If you raise money for a cause or organization like Hurricane Katrina or a Food Bank, don't be shy about letting the press know what your market did.

The Power of Anecdotal Data (Ideas for press releases)

• Farmers names on menus
• Friends of the market (an elite core who support you)
• Volunteers (shows support)
• The retooling of a vendors' business (how vendors went from wholesale to retail)

ADVERTISING AND OTHER PROMOTIONS
Look at how long your season is (how many weeks of advertising). Create a marketing plan and a media schedule.

• Know Why Consumers Attend a Farmers' Market. Use it in your ads & promotions.
  1. Freshness
  2. Flavor
  3. Friendly
  4. Things they can't get elsewhere
• Direct marketing is all about repeat business.

Always: Have a clear message

• Present it clearly
• Say "direct from", "local" or region grown
• Say who, what, where, when
• Say "Every Saturday" not "Saturdays"
• Provide a method to get further info
• Proofread. Read backwards.

Brand Your Name

• Repeating graphic elements (borders, logos, etc.) on your flyers and ads
• Smart placement of advertising (the back page of a local "free" newspaper)
• Using signage at your market to reinforce your identity

Be Seen Locally

• Flyers: put up around town
• Internet (consider bartering with someone for a website)
• Depending on your market, encourage vendors to send out e-mails to customers (or use local charities, i.e., if you will be donating food to a food bank, have them send out e-mails to their lists)
• Newspapers
• Magazines (let a farmer write their own article)
• Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to promote community events
• Word of mouth
• Radio
• Speaking with local groups

Sample PSAs and Press Releases

Nutrition Enhancement press release

National Farmers' Market Week press release

Albuquerque PSAs