GROWING YOUR BRAND MARKETING TOOLS FOR MS AGRITOURISM & LOCAL FOODS

MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDE

Mississippi State University Graduate Students

The Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development at Mississippi State University employs Graduate Research Assistants enrolled at Mississippi State University to provide assistance to the Institute to conduct research and to work with Institute staff to conduct a broad scope of work. Funding received by the Stennis Institute is used to provide graduate students with tuition and graduate student stipends, thereby enabling them to pursue graduate level course work at Mississippi State University. These students make a significant and important contribution to all research conducted by the Stennis Institute.

John Harper is from Braxton, Mississippi and graduated from Mendenhall High School in 2007. He earned an associate’s degree in Business Administration from Copiah‐Lincoln Community College before transferring to Mississippi State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. John began his work as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Stennis Institute upon entering the master’s degree program at Mississippi State University. He completed his master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration program in 2013. John is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in Higher Education Leadership to prepare for a career in administration at a college or university.

Kayla Lee‐Hopkins is a native of Brandon, Mississippi and graduated from Northwest Rankin High school in 2007. Previously, she worked as a Program Support Clerk for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Jackson, Mississippi. Kayla received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Mississippi State University and graduated summa cum laude in 2011.t Tha year, she subsequently entered graduate level study with the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Mississippi State, and it was at this time that she began work as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Stennis Institute of Government. In 2013, Kayla earned a master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration in addition to the receiving the award for Outstanding Graduate Student. Currently, she is in the process of pursuing a doctoral degree in Community College Leadership from Mississippi State’s Department of Leadership and Foundations. Specifically, her interests in a higher educational context include research and institutional effectiveness; assessment; and data analytics, reporting, and governance.

Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Contents

The Marketing Communications Mix ...... 6 The Elements of the Communications Mix ...... 7 The Integrated Marketing Campaign ...... 15 Social Media ...... 15 The Website ...... 19 Website Design ...... 20 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ...... 24 Using Social Media in the Landing Page ...... 24 Blog ...... 25 Direct Mail ...... 25 Email/Enewsletters ...... 26 Direct Mail versus Email ...... 27 Advertising...... 27 Public Relations ...... 28 Important Partnership for Promotion Opportunities ...... 30 Market Segmentation and Positioning ...... 31 Research about Direct‐to‐Consumer Markets ...... 32 Research about Agritourists ...... 33 Promotional Planning and the Use of Social Media for Events ...... 37 Worksheet ...... 40 Additional Resources ...... 43 About Farmers’ Market Permits ...... 45 About Animal Health and Safety Guidelines ...... 47 Horse Show Planning Guidelines ...... 49 Horse Show Check List ...... 54 Mississippi Media Contact Database ...... 57

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Welcome to Growing Your Brand: Marketing Tools for Mississippi Agritourism & Local Foods! During this workshop you will be working towards developing a marketing and branding strategy for your business. The information contained in this workbook is designed to provide you with an overview for developing a brand and using social media to market your products and services within the broader framework of a comprehensive marketing and advertising plan. This workbook provides an introductory overview of the marketing communications mix and contains multiple links to online resources that will further guide you through the process of creating social media content. Customized socio-demographic data specific to your market area will be provided as a separate handout, this data will help you to develop a market segmentation and positioning strategy for the products and/or services your business offers. Thank you for taking the time to participate in this series of workshops and we look forward to working with you to Grow Your Brand.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Defining Agritourism:

Agritourism is generally defined as a range of recreational, educational, and other activities and services provided by farmers and ranchers that are related to agriculture. Agritourism connects consumers with agricultural heritage, natural resources, or culinary experiences that may take place on or off the farm or ranch.

Agritourism includes:

 On‐farm direct sales (roadside stands, you‐pick, community supported agriculture [CSA])  Off‐farm direct sales (farmers’ markets, fairs, festivals, CSA)  Hospitality or Entertainment services (guided tours, farm/ranch vacations, family reunions/corporate retreats, farm‐to‐table community or private dining/catering, hayrides, corn mazes)  Educational experiences (demonstrations or workshops organic/sustainable farming, natural resource conservation, lessons or training [cooking], and farm‐work and “hands‐ on” experiences)  Outdoor Recreation (fishing, hunting, horseback riding, wildlife photography, field trials)

How Agritourism Fits into your Business

Agritourism can be a primary, supplementary, or complementary business enterprise.1

The primary enterprise — as the primary enterprise, agritourism would be the dominant activity on your farm. For example, you may decide to open a winery on your farm and invite guests to spend the day or the weekend tasting wine. As part of the wine tasting package, you may include overnight lodging in a cottage on your property. You may produce grapes for the wine on your farm to supplement your wine tasting activities. Because agritourism is the focus of your investment in the farm and a large share of total revenues, it becomes your primary enterprise.

A supplementary enterprise — as a supplementary enterprise, agritourism could be a minor activity that would support the other products on your farm or ranch. For instance, if your primary enterprise is livestock production, you may decide to invite school groups to your farm several days a month to learn about your animals and your occupation. Occasionally hosting guests on your farm would make agritourism a supplementary enterprise to your primary enterprise if the share of resources invested, management effort needed, and total revenues were fairly marginal.

1 Excerpted from “Agri‐Tourism” Virginia Cooperative Extension, Publication 310‐003, 2001. 4

Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

A complementary enterprise — as a complementary enterprise, agritourism activities would more equally share the resource and management investments with other enterprises in your farm or ranch product mix. For example, you may have a fruit or vegetable production enterprise on your farm. If you were to sell half of your produce to a wholesaler and the remainder to pick‐your‐own guests on your farm, then the two enterprises (the wholesale market and the direct market) would be considered complementary enterprises.

Entering the Agritourism Business or Expanding Existing Agritourism Activities

If you are considering entering the agritourism market or trying to expand your existing agritourism business, begin by evaluating the resources that will be required to achieve your objective. This will require evaluating the physical, human, financial, marketing, and legal resources that are available and those that will be required to create, expand, and sustain a successful business. Factors that must be considered include:

 Operational and Management Assets  Human Resources  Business Strategic Planning: Financial planning (business plan, cash flow, profit, and loss)  Risk Assessment, Safety, and Liability  Legal and Regulatory  Marketing Plan: Identify target markets, attract target markets to the enterprise, meet the needs of target market, and create desire in the target market to return with repeat business

This session focuses on developing a marketing plan.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

The Marketing Communications Mix

The success of an agritourism business relies heavily upon developing an effective marketing communications mix. Marketing efforts may be targeted towards a range of different target audiences that may include: tourists, local consumers, organizations, school field trips, attendees, exhibitors, participants, sponsors, and advertisers. You will need to select the most effective strategy to market the products and/or services you will offer and convey the marketing message effectively to each potential target audience to achieve success.

The marketing communications mix is generally defined as all strategies, tactics, and activities involved in getting the desired marketing message to intended target markets, regardless of the media that is used. An effective marketing communication mix will create synergy across all media to achieve maximum impact. The marketing mix includes advertising, public relations, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling, and digital marketing. The marketing communications mix plays a critical role in creating awareness and arousing interest in the products or services your agritourism business offers; it stimulates, motivates, and persuades customers to visit your agritourism business and/or to purchase the products or services you offer.

Advertising

Digital Public Marketing Relations

The Marketing Communication Mix

Personal Direct Selling Marketing

Promotion

Figure 1: The Marketing Communication Mix In today’s world, people are inundated with advertising messages from different media such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and online sources. As a result, they tend to screen out a large part of the information they receive from advertisers and marketers. When a clear,

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi consistent, and compelling message is carefully integrated and coordinated across all of the elements of the communication mix used to market your products and/or services, this integrated marketing communication approach is more effective at capturing the attention of the intended audience, will have greater impact, and is more likely to influence or affect their behavior.

The Elements of the Communications Mix

 Advertising. Advertising is a non‐personal form of paid communication that is delivered through selected media; the media most commonly used for advertising is television, radio, newspapers, paid placements on the internet, billboards, magazines, direct mail, and point of purchase materials. Each media etyp has strengths, weaknesses, and different cost structures. Media costs are usually measured in “cost per thousand of delivered audience” (CPM).

The effectiveness of advertising campaigns is frequently measured by reach and frequency. Net reach is the percentage of the target audience that is exposed to an advertising message one or more times during a specific time period (e.g., four weeks). Net reach is a good measure when the target audience only requires one exposure to the advertising message or when the objective is to reach as many people as possible; however, it is not a good measure when a target audience needs to be exposed to an advertising message more than once for it to be effective. Frequency measures the total number of times a person or household is exposed to an advertising message.

There are four basic types of advertising: 1) image advertising, 2) advocacy advertising, 3) public service advertising, and 4) product/service oriented advertising.

. Image advertising is designed to create a favorable mental picture in the minds of consumers. Image advertising evokes positive attitudes about the advertised firm, product, or service; it is usually designed to appeal to people with specific lifestyles or values. For agritourism, this may mean creating a favorable image of the business in general and/or creating a favorable image of a specific product, event, or activity. Although image advertising does not focus on the functional attributes of your business (i.e. visual appeal, safety, cleanliness, and building amenities), the functional attributes of the products and services you offer all contribute to the image of your business and the products and services that you offer. Image must be integrated and consistent across all the marketing and advertising, from the name of your business, your business logo, and particularly in the photographic images that you use in advertising.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

. Advocacy advertising is used to support a specific message or cause; it may be integrated with advertising to promote products or services that you offer and to promote awareness of a specific issue (e.g. organic, “free range”, sustainable agriculture, or resource conservation). There are also many services that may be provided by your agritourism business that provide societal benefits. Examples include: therapeutic horseback riding programs for autistic children or for military veterans; hunting programs that promote resource conservation, or cooking workshops that promote the consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables. Integrating advocacy messaging with your advertising and/or donating ae percentag of the proceeds of sales may increase consumers’ awareness of the societal benefits your products and services provide. . Public service advertising focuses on the public welfare. Public service advertising frequently receives free advertising space or time from the medium in which it is featured and can be an eeffectiv approach to communicating information about the public benefits of your agritourism products or services. Specific activities or events being offered at your business may be providing a beneficial public service, be directed towards a humanitarian cause, or a philosophical ideal that creates opportunities for sponsorships by a nonprofit institution, business organization, civic group, or other organization. Public service advertising can be effectively integrated with advocacy advertising for specific activities; e.g., combining health screenings with “healthy” cooking demonstrations. . Product/service oriented advertising is focused on the promotion of a specific product or service.

 Direct Marketing is generally considered a form of advertising. The primary forms of direct marketing are mail, print, and electronic media. In 2011, an estimated $50.1 billion was spent in the U.S. on print direct mail for consumer direct marketing.

The Direct Marketing Association estimates that U.S. marketers spent $83.7 billion for consumer direct marketing in 2011 and an additional $79.3 billion for business‐ to‐business direct marketing; total spending on direct marketing was estimated to be $163.0 billion in 2011. Direct marketing spending by media category is shown in the table above.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

The Direct Marketing Association Statistical Fact Book provides the following information on direct mail:

. Previous customers of an organization are more likely to respond to direct mail offers . The average consumer receives 24.7 pieces of mail per week . Among all mail formats, postcards are the most likely to be read . Seventy‐nine percent of households either read or scan advertising mailings sent to their household . Consumers respond best to timely, relevant information that caters to their specific needs

 Personal Selling is a form of communication with a potential consumer or buyer using face‐to‐face communication for the purpose of selling a service or product. Personal selling is an important part of the marketing communications mix; it is one of the most effective forms of marketing, but it is also time consuming and expensive. Personal selling allows the message to be specifically targeted and customized to meet the needs of a particular consumer or buyer, and it allows for immediate feedback. For an agritourism business, personal selling occurs during every face‐to‐face contact with a customer. All personnel who are engaged in personal selling must be well trained, knowledgeable, motivated, and customer oriented.

Depending upon the nature of your business, you may be frequently dealing directly with customers e.g., a farm stand, you‐pick, or farmers’ market); some agritourism businesses also market their products or services to commercial customers e.g., local restaurants, hospitals, or schools. For operations that market to commercial customers, personal selling will require significantly greater planning, as outline below:

Personal selling is comprised of seven basic steps: 1) Prospecting and qualifying to locate and identify potential customers, and then to determine if the potential customer is in a position (able, willing, and authorized) to buy; 2) The pre‐approach consists of researching prospective customers to understand the needs of a potential customer and what benefits you can offer to the customer, making sure that customer needs are addressed in any sales literature or publications. The information in presentation materials should be complete and comprehensive (how long, how much, how many), and the objective of the sales call should be clearly established; 9

Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

3) The approach is the initial meeting. It includes making a good first impression, introducing the products and/or services being offered, and striving to develop a relationship; 4) The presentation includes a complete discussion of the product, the services being offered, the benefits of the product or service to the buyer, and answering any questions or concerns the buyer may have. Good presentations must attract the attention of the buyers, stimulate interest, and motivate a desire to purchase; 5) Handling objections; 6) Completing the sale or closing; and 7) Follow‐up.

 Public Relations is a form of communication that is designed to enhance an organization’s reputation, to increase knowledge about what the organization does, and to increase awareness of the products or services that are offered by your business. Public relations depends upon “free” media coverage. Although the media coverage that is generated by public relations is free, significant planning, time, effort, and resources are required to support an effective and ongoing public relations communication strategy. Public relations involve managing the flow of information between the organization and multiple forms of media; this includes the use of social media, press releases and announcements to the media, newsletters sent to customers and other audiences, appearances at public events, and participating in local activities.

 Sales Promotion is intended to create demand for a product or service by offering incentives that drive sales during a short period of time. Sales promotions have a limited duration and are designed to obtain a specified response in a short period of time. Sales promotions are designed to generate excitement and a sense of urgency, i.e. “for a limited time only.” Many businesses offer “early bird, senior citizen, or family” discounts; these sales promotions are designed to generate revenues during off‐hours of operations, generate an increased volume of sales, or increase market penetration. In some cases, a “season’s pass” or “membership” may be offered over an extended period of time to increase visitation and related sales. Sales promotion marketing approaches may also include: contests and sweepstakes, product sampling, logoed merchandise, and discount coupons/fees.

. Promotional Items. A wide range of promotional items can be used to promote your agritourism operations and may also generate additional revenues. Items such as t‐ shirts, caps, or other items emblazoned with your logo and the name of your business promote your business and alsoe increas awareness.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

 Sponsorships. Sponsorship is the financial or in‐kind support of an activity used primarily to reach specified business goals. Companies look to improve their image and brand by shaping positive attitudes about their product or service. Sponsorship marketing is done financially or through the provision of products or services to support an event, activity, person, or organization where two or more parties benefit from the arrangement. The key to building successful sponsorship programs is to match the correct products or services with the organizations that want to be affiliated with these products or services (image).

Promotional activities augment communications with consumers and add value to the consumption experience. Sponsorship provides an opportunity to engage the consumer with a company, its brands, and the community. Because agritourism activities are “local,” consumer involvement and associations with the products and services offered by the “local” business may be higher, thereby creating a place‐based image for potential sponsorships. Consumers are apt to be more receptive to marketing messages and images associated with local business than they are to those presented via other methods. In 2013, North American based The Benefits of Sponsorship companies will spend $1.28  Enhancing Image or Shaping Consumer Attitudes. billion to sponsor music venues, Often companies are looking to improve how they festivals and tours are perceived by their target audience. Sponsoring Source: IEG Research events that appeal to their market are likely to shape buying attitudes and help generate a positive reaction.  Highlighting Corporate Social Responsibility. Sponsorship enables a company to be seen as a good corporate citizen and to be seen as supporting the community and contributing to its economic development. Sponsorship creates goodwill within the community.  Driving Sales. Sponsorship geared towards driving sales can be an extremely potent promotional tool. This objective allows sponsors to showcase the attributes of their products or services. Food and beverage companies often use sponsorship to encourage samplings and sales.  Creating positive publicity and heightening visibility. Every sponsor is seeking wide exposure in all forms of media; this includes radio, television, and print media. Exposure through social media to include websites, Facebook, and YouTube is an important element of obtaining sponsorships. Positive publicity helps create heightened visibility of products and services. Various media covering the event may include sponsors names and/or photos. In addition, the kind of media coverage a sponsor may get is often unaffordable if the company were to think of purchasing it, and if it were available. To maximize this objective,

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

it is important to work with the sponsoring company to develop a comprehensive media campaign. Research suggests that a  Differentiating from competitors. The mere act of sponsor’s community sponsoring an event, especially an exclusive involvement is more likely to sponsorship, is a significant way to create positively enhance consumers’ competitor differentiation. Sponsorship provides perception of the sponsor’s the sponsor or the company with the opportunity brand and this positive opinion to stand out head and shoulders above the towards the sponsor’s brand is competition. Sponsorship allows smaller companies associated with heightened to compete with industry giants that have larger intentions to purchase the advertising budgets. firm’s products  Entertaining Clients and Enhancing Interpersonal Business Relationships. Sponsorship that offers hospitality opportunities is always very attractive to companies (e.g. a hayride, farm‐to‐ table dinners, or family outingsr fo the sponsor’s business clients).  Recruiting, retaining, or motivating employees. Providing tickets and opportunities for employees and their families to participate in agritourism activities or teambuilding activities enable the sponsoring company to reward employees.

How Sponsorship Works

What attracts a sponsor is "eye balls." The more people or targeted impressions you can deliver to a sponsor, the more funding you will be able to attract. Success depends on what your organization does, who your customers are, and how you structure the exposure for the sponsor.

Events Most Attractive to Sponsors

The top five events that companies tend to sponsor are sporting events, entertainment events, educational events, arts‐related events, and events that benefit non‐profit organizations.

Getting Started—Eight Steps to Building a Sponsor Program

 Create a Prospect list. The development of a list of prospective sponsors requires identifying what product or service is well aligned with the image/product/service of the sponsor.

 Define Your Product and Service. Be as specific as possible about what you have to offer.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

 Define the Target Market. A sponsorship marketing strategy will only be successful if it is aimed at the appropriate group of people. You can quickly identify your target market by looking at your current customers and considering common factors that they share. . Demographics such as age, sex, marital status, occupation, ethnic group, religion, education, etc. . Psychographics or behavioural groups, such as hunters, fishermen, conservationists, or families . Geographic location (local, regional, national)

 Set Your Objectives. A clear, documented idea of what your organization is trying to achieve is needed. Do you want to have your advertising/marketing costs covered by a sponsor, increase your advertising buys, or maybe have the cost of your next special event covered?

 Develop a Marketing Strategy. When your objectives are clear, the next step is to develop a marketing strategy to help achieve those objectives. If you want to have the cost of maintaining your website or developing social media content, your strategy may revolve around selling advertising in it. If, on the other hand, you want to cover the cost of your next special event, you need to use different strategies, such as emphasizing how the sponsor will be represented in promotional materials and advertising. Remember, the more people you can deliver to a sponsor, the more valuable they will find your program. Use whatever means it takes to do that, including: newsletters, signs, radio, TV spots, press releases, websites, and social media, etc.

 Develop an Action Plan. Once you know what you want to do, it's time to actually do it! The key to a good action plan is to outline the activities to be achieved—assign people to get the tasks done and make sure to set a realistic deadline. Don't forget to set up a reporting process so you know what's done and what might need extra attention.

 Build your Sponsor Packet. The Sponsor Packet is what you will use to communicate your sponsor program to prospects. In its most basic format, a Sponsor Packet would include: . Description of who you are and what you do . Description of the target market you can deliver to sponsors, i.e. 25 – 35 year old family heads of households . Summary of your marketing objectives, i.e. to expand marketing exposure . Marketing strategies, i.e. online and offline marketing activities . The Sponsor Packet should contain a one page, attractively designed summary that includes an overview of the business, demographic and psychographic information on your customer base, a description of the reach and frequency of your marketing activities, a description of alternative sponsorship opportunities, the cost to the sponsor for each opportunity, and a brief statement or two about how the sponsor will benefit from sponsorship.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Describe the opportunity, provide information about the audience, explain the benefits to the sponsor, and make a call for action.

 Package it. You'll be asking a lot from your sponsors so make sure your presentation represents you well. Be accurate and concise with your content. If possible try to have it professionally printed and include photographs to enhance the presentation. The use of special paper and covers can also enhance the presentation.

Putting Sponsorship to Work

After you've completed your sponsor packet, it's time to put it to work.

1. Identify your sponsors. Determine the companies that are best suited as a sponsor to your event. Create a contact list that includes as much information as possible.

2. People. Find out who you should address the sponsorship proposal to (usually the Marketing Manager) and include their proper title and position. Ensure you have the correct spelling.

3. Contact. Speak briefly with them on the phone to let them know you will be sending a proposal.

4. Timing. Present your sponsor packet proposal well in advance. Businesses budget for sponsorship annually. They can also take a while to approve sponsorship proposals, particularly if they have to be cleared by the General Manager or Board of Directors.

5. Follow up. Allow a week after you have sent a proposal before making a follow up call. The sponsor may not be able to answer at that stage. However, it provides an opportunity for them to ask any questions. Offer to come into their office to speak to them if they so desire. Ask them when you could expect to receive an answer.

6. Reporting. Once a sponsorship has been negotiated and secured, keep in regular contact with your sponsor. It is a good practice to send a letter, e‐mail, or to phone the sponsor at least once a month to keep them updated and informed. Any materials that use the sponsor’s name, logo, photographs, or promotional information should be sent for review and approval by the sponsor.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

The Integrated Marketing Campaign

Creating an effective integrated marketing campaign requires continuous attention and frequent updating, attention to detail, and commitment to the process. Maintaining an integrated marketing scheme isn’t something that can be done on a whim or at the spur of the moment; it is an involved and encompassing process—but, with proper planning, it is an activity that owners and staff can certainly learn to master. An integrated marketing strategy should consider the use of the following media:

 Website and Social Media  Direct Mail  Email  Advertising (print and electronic)  Public Relations/Outreach  Partners in Promotion

Social Media

With the explosion of technology in recent years, social media has been widely adopted as a critical component for marketing products, services, and business activities. Working with social media can involve an array of components; some prominent social media mediums include:

 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/  Twitter https://twitter.com/  YouTube https://www.youtube.com/  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/  Flickr http://flickr.tumblr.com/  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/  Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com  Snapchat https://www.snapchat.com/  Google http://www.google.com

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Facebook—Most people today are at least somewhat familiar with Facebook, but the individuals who aren’t should both know and take heed to this: Facebook is arguably the most important social media tool that can be used to communicate with an audience of over six billion users and with approximately 1.59 billion active monthly users, it has potentially infinite value as a marketing tool. Specifically, it is a social networking site where users can create personal profiles, add others as “friends,” send them messages, and post status updates about themselves. They can also join pages, groups, or networks owned by businesses and organizations to access news, event information, photos, and videos. One in every seven people in the world have a Facebook profile, and this is why the site is such an effective method for marketing and advertising.

Remember, the Facebook market is primarily looking to socialize, not to buy. Facebook is primarily used to drive traffic to your website and/or to convert your Facebook audience to subscribe to your e‐mail list.

Facebook for Business https://www.facebook.com/business/goals/increase‐online‐sales/

Twitter—Twitter is a social networking website that functions as a micro‐blogging service. It is a great communication tool as it allows for the exchange of quick, brief messages. Users can write and view “tweets” of all the accounts they follow. “Tweets” can only be up to a maximum of 140 characters, which makes expression via posts conveniently short. Creating a Twitter account will enable a business to keep customers, sponsors, suppliers, and others (i.e., followers) updated on any relevant events and activities that may be ongoing. Having a Twitter account also allows you to receive feedback from customers and to ranswe any questions they might have. Ideally, a facility’s Twitter page should have an instantly recognizable “handle” or display name so that it can be found with ease. Aside from just having a standard page, facilities might also consider having their own “hashtag” to use at the end of every tweet. The “#” symbol followed by a word represents a hashtag, which becomes group subject matter that can be searched for in the search box on the Twitter home page, as well as through Google. Using a hashtag will help interested parties (who might not be following an organization’s page) access it, and it will also enable potential customers to easily keep track of activities.

Also consider keeping a running Twitter feed on the side of your Facebook page or your website. Linking multiple social networking profiles and pages more effectively leverages the presence of your agritourism business in the social media environment: it expands a company’s voice, the number of people it reaches, and collates it into a format that has all of the best features of each website. Sign up to join Twitter at https://twitter.com/. To get

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a further introduction to Twitter, watch the following video: http://www.commoncraft.com/video/twitter

YouTube— YouTube is a video sharing website known for a wide variety of videos that originate from all over the world. Users can upload, share, and watch videos, which makes YouTube a very powerful visual medium. Registered users are allowed to upload an unlimited amount of content, which can then be viewed by anyone else on YouTube (registered or unregistered). The “comments” section featured under uploaded content offers viewers a forum for discussion of the various clips they watch. YouTube can be used to engage and inform potential customers through narratives about your business, to include the history of your farm, unique characteristics of your business, videos of activities, customer interviews, or event previews and re‐caps. In order to ensure and build a public presence on YouTube, create a channel on the website.

YouTube viewers seek meaningful content and engagement with real people and their stories; the site is relationship driven. The audience is not captive and can quickly stop viewing, so content must be delivered clearly and quickly; play rates tend to drop significantly after approximately 45 seconds. Content should provide a real story that engages the audience and encourages them to learn more. Provide the next step that customers should take upon watching your video. A quick guide to creating a YouTube channel can be found via the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4jFd40Wcmg

LinkedIn—LinkedIn is different from Facebook because it is a social networking site with a more business‐oriented focus. It is generally used as a tool for professional networking, but has recently become an important social media content site for business to business marketing. Creating a profile on LinkedIn is a great way of promoting any facility or organization, gaining an online presence, building credibility, networking with countless industry sponsors and exhibitors, and maintaining an equal presence with existing competition. There are numerous free features available that can help to promote your business, and LinkedIn also offers paid ads that can help to promote your website. Create a LinkedIn profile at: https://www.linkedin.com/

Flickr—Flickr is a social media sitet tha is similar to a virtual scrapbook. With millions of photos and videos shared from all over the world, it is a website for image and video hosting and an online community for networking. Users can upload pictures or videos, view the content uploaded by other users, comment on that content, and interface with people they choose to be “contacts” with. Flickr is a great resource for social media marketing because, like YouTube, it is visual. This allows you to tell a story in pictures. Flickr offers

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

proof that “a picture is worth a 1,000 words.” To sign your business up for Flickr visit: http://www.flickr.com/

Instagram — Instagram is a free photo‐sharing application that allows users to take photos/videos with their mobile phones and then to share it with others. As with other social media, Instagram is used to enhance engagement with followers by providing value. Photos and videos that evoke emotion – e.g. humor, happiness, nostalgia, fun, or motivation – are effective for capturing attention. Instagram allows you to seamlessly share visual content across other social networks. To learn how to integrate Instagram with your Facebook page visit the following link: http://facebook.about.com/od/PagesGroups/fr/How‐To‐Add‐An‐Instagram‐Tab‐To‐Your‐ Facebook‐Page.htm

Pinterest — Pinterest is a social media website that functions as an image sharing bulletin board. An image is a “pin” and a collection of images is a “board;” board names (the title given to each “board”) serve as tags to create and indexing system. Pinterest allows users to follow, “like,” and “repin” other people’s images to their Pinterest board — “likes,” comments, and “repins” are measures of content popularity. To explore ideas for group boards and board names you can use either PinGroupie or BoardDeck. Pinterest has gained increased influence as a social shopping media with featured “Buy” buttons located on the pins of products sold by retailers. For more information on setting up a Pinterest account: http://weblogs.about.com/od/choosingabloghost/p/What‐Is‐Pinterest.htm

Google AdWords https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayuUQQQe6NY is a fee based online advertising service that charges on a “cost‐per‐click” process that only charges when someone clicks on your ad; it enables you to set a maximum price on the cost‐per‐click and a daily budget for the total amount you are willing to spend.

Organic versus Paid Advertising

It is desirable to use social mediums that are best suited to the usage patterns of the target market. This means that an organization’s social media strategy may change or vary depending on the products, services, and activities offered. For instance, LinkedIn could be a resource for business communication, while Facebook might be ideal for reaching individuals on a personal level. Whatever social medium is brought into play, a wider audience can be reached. The use of online social media expands the reach and scope of communicating with a range of potential

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

customers. Social media can reach new audiences and target markets, and it is an effective method for enhancing relationships with customers. It also can provide feedback on what is being said about your agritourism business.

The Website

In addition to social media, there are multiple online marketing and promotional opportunities that can be used to maximize communication with your customers. An agritourism business must have an effective website; this means creating a centralized site for the business that will showcase the products, services, and amenities offered, and all of its various upcoming and ongoing activities. In web design, this includes the creation of a landing page. Also called a destination page, a “landing page is any page on a website where traffic is sent specifically to prompt a certain action or result.”2 The landing page is a crucial element of marketing because it is frequently the first encounter between your organization and the public.

If the business has no website, one can quickly be created through any webhosting service. Webhosting services provide the relevant business website data and place the page on the internet. Once a webhosting server has been chosen, the actual page can be created with the help of any one of the many companies selling domain names. These companies will help build an organization’s page and provide it with the ownership of a domain name of its choosing, (assuming it is available); these companies typically sell the names for 2 years at a time and provide website maintenance services to customers.

To create a website without paying a professional, there are many do‐it‐yourself options available. There is so much information available about getting a website up and running and so many aspects to website design, the task may seem to be overwhelming. Fortunately, creating a website is now easier than ever — make sure to comparison shop and look for connectivity across social media channels. The following list provides an example of the names and website addresses for website builders:

1. www.wix.com

www.web.com 2.

2 Copyblogger.com accessed April 1, 2016.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

3. www.webs.com

4. www.squarespace.com

www.weebly.com 5.

6. www.webhostinghub.com

7. http://www.1and1.com

8. http://www.sitebuilder.com

9. http://www.homestead.com/

10. http://www.buildyoursite.com/

Source: http://www.top10bestwebsitebuilders.com

Website Design The design of a website for an agritourism business should meet the standards of any professional business: it needs to be professional, well‐organized, provide all required information (particularly contact information that is easy to find on the website), and provide easy accessibility for all users to navigate. You may select to design your own website, or, if you are unskilled in this area, you may opt to seek the help of a graphic design professional. In many cases, college students with experience in graphic arts may be a source of cost effective assistance in this process.

The website should contain all pertinent information related to the business. This includes:

 Pictures of the facility, the products, and/or illustration of services  A description of your facility  A description of all on‐site amenities, products, and services  A fee schedule for products and services  A calendar of events/availability  Contact information, including names, alternative telephone numbers, and e‐mail contact information 20

Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

The website should showcase pictures of the products offered and/or pictures of activities. The goal is to highlight a variety of the products or services you offer.

Other information that may be posted on the website to facilitate the attraction of tourists may include:

 Nearby lodging  Restaurants  Museums  Places to shop  Local/regional events, things to do, and local attractions

Pictured on pages 22 and 23 are examples of the landing pages and website design of two agritourism businesses in the state of Mississippi. Each of the example pages exhibit the following key elements of a website:  Images of the facility and facility events embedded and displayed  Drop down boxes and links to additional information  A photo gallery to access more pictures related to the facility, products, services, activities, and/or events  A tab including pertinent contact information  A list of products and/or services with pricing information  A link to view the calendar of events  Icons and links to facilitate access to social media network pages (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) Directions and/or maps  The facility’s email/link to sign up for the facility’s newsletter

Choosing a Domain Name Make it relevant to your business, content, or service Keep it short and memorable Get it right the first time!

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

The landing page for Cedar Hill Farm: http://gocedarhillfarm.com/

Note links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Pictured below is the landing page for Seward Farms in Lucedale, Mississippi http://sewardfarms.com/

Figure 2

Note sponsorships on this website

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

When designing the website, there should also be a focus on optimizing its use on multiple, if not all, browsers—including mobile devices. The number of people who use these devices to search the web is continually growing, and it is important to be able to engage these audiences through suitable channels. Another important point to consider in website design is the integration of pertinent keywords to naturally boost the page’s search engine rankings. This process is explained in more detail in the following section on search engine optimization.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) To ensure people actually see the website, it is important to take measures that will gain the landing page hits (visits). This can be achieved through what’s called SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. This is the process of “improving the volume or quality of traffic to a Web site from search engines via unpaid or organic search traffic.”3 Basically, this means identifying key words that people will type into Google in order to access the facility’s website—whether on purpose or inadvertently. The use of SEO makes whatever text appears on a landing page important, which is why it is crucial to make sure all of the facility’s site pages are optimized.

A quick guide to walk you through this process can be found by reading an article entitled: Seven Ways to Optimize a Web Page for the Search Engines, on Aspire Internet Design’s website. This is a link to the article: http://aspireid.com/search‐engine‐optimization/7‐ways‐to‐ optimize‐a‐web‐page‐for‐the‐search‐engines/

Using Social Media in the Landing Page Optimizing web content is not only important for helping to increase traffic to the landing page, it is also important for generating traffic to all of the center’s various social media channels. Once the keywords that users will most commonly search for to access a facility’s landing page have been identified, they should be included and cross‐linked to all pertinent social media platforms. This is a way to get visitors to access the main website as well as social media pages, expanding the potential points of access and increasing the number of opportunities to gain exposure for the center.

Using social media links in the landing page is an equally important step in this process. It is essential that all of the social media icons for the facility appear on the home page of the central website. Social media links to the expo’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. should all clearly be displayed by these icons for easy access. Similarly, all social media should have a direct link to the landing page. Promoting pertinent information through social media will drive customers to the facility’s website and help showcase all of its content.

3 Source: Blog.HubSpot.com 24

Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

In addition, it is recommended that other pertinent or related websites that will be useful to customers and/or visitors to the website be linked to under a “Links” tab. Examples of other places within the community you could include on a “Links” page: tourism offices, the chamber of commerce, local Main Street associations, hotels or motels, restaurants, veterinarians, feed supply stores, local farmers’ markets or agricultural co‐ops, farriers, and other products or services that visitors may be seeking. These links provide a valuable source of information to visitors, and may also be a source of advertising revenue for your organization. Your website should also contain the logo and links to sponsors, but only you have received approval by the sponsors.

Blog In addition to social mediums and websites, blogs serve as valuable digital media tools that can be used in any marketing campaign. The following definition was taken from Blog.HubSpot.com:

A blog is a word that was created from two words: “Web log.” Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse‐ chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Given this definition, agritourism operators can begin to see why creating a blog for their business would benefit them. Doing so could effectively draw attention to your business, the products and services you offer, as well as its features, events, and benefits. Like social media platforms, a blog is a way to keep people “in‐the‐know” about what’s going on. Therefore, when creating a blog, it is important to integrate it with corresponding website and social media accounts. This will allow any new blog entries to keep social media channels updated regularly and to engage its existing audience and to reach new audiences.

Three Tips to keep in mind when creating a blog:

 Allow for users to subscribe to it via email  Make it easily shared through social media  Allow for easy interaction/feedback through comment boxes on posts

To learn more about creating a blog, visit: http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/u/StartingABlog.htm

Direct Mail Personalized direct mail can be a highly effective mode of advertisement, and unlike the previous channels that have been discussed, this one is not electronic. Research shows that

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi each mailing sent to a prospective customer increases the response rate greatly. Another advantage to sending direct mail pieces is that they also offer a portal to other digital channels used by the facility, such as the website, blog, and social networking pages. This added benefit is the very cornerstone of why an integrated marketing approach should be used to begin with: to be able to reach a wider audience and target the right demographic, in addition to increasing overall response rates.

Although direct mail can be a very effective mode of advertisement and marketing, it is an expensive form of advertising and requires the development of a strategically targeted mailing list database. These databases may be developed using lists of regular customers or by developing a list of carefully targeted potential customers.

Email/Enewsletters Email represents another tool for communicating with a specific audience via the Internet. No matter how great a website, social networking profile, or blog may be, it’s simply impossible to always keep these tools on an audience’s mind. Email marketing has the ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of customers and targeted markets. It also provides you with the ability to develop unique content for different market segments. For example, your customer database may contain customers that purchase only specific products, seek specific benefits, or local schools/teachers that have brought students on field trips to your farm; each of these target markets might be sent e‐mail/enewsletters with a different marketing message.

Integrated marketing that uses email as a part of a campaign strategy requires careful design. A poorly composed, colorless email is more apt to end up in the “trash” folder of the recipient rather than getting the intended message across. For this reason, the facility should design a quality email template that complements its website—this contributes to a comprehensive marketing strategy. It is also essential that emails relay useful, pertinent information on a recurring basis and provide links to other media sites.

Drawing from the principles of integrated marketing, it is possible to see how email marketing can leverage other social media as part of a coordinated marketing strategy. Emails promoting products, service, or facility activities can also be carefully timed to coincide with direct mail to reinforce the marketing message of your business.

Collecting contact information is of great importance, particularly email addresses. The website landing page needs to be able to collect the email of visitors to the site. A link on the landing page to “Join our Mailing List” allows people to sign up to receive updates and newsletters via email. The development of email contact lists can be done in a variety of ways, such as promotional giveaways that create value and drive traffic to subscribe to an email list. Contact information should be collected from customers on‐site and by feedback from all social media

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi being used. All of the emails obtained from any source should be maintained in a database (and properly categorized whenever possible).

Direct Mail versus Email The use of direct mail can be very effective because it is focused and personal. Although high returns are usually seen on direct mailings, they also come with relatively high costs. Email communication production is inexpensive and immediate, meaning it could potentially be more cost effective than direct mail. Thus, when marketing your business, it will be less expensive and more efficient to communicate via email. However, not everyone uses email; this is specifically true for some demographic segments. It is important to be able to substitute the use of direct mail by communicating via email (by sending a newsletter, for example) when appropriate. It may take time for an agricultural business to develop a clear perspective on the effectiveness of direct mail as compared ;to email at minimum, when sending email, a policy of verifying that the email is being opened by recipients should be adopted.

Advertising

Advertising can be online or offline and it is vital because it creates market awareness of your business. Any paid method of non‐personal communication about an organization, product, service, or event by a business is considered advertising. Before embarking on an advertising campaign, it is important to consider which type of ads will be used. There are multiple forms of advertising, that when effectively used, can contribute to the success of your business. Different forms of advertising may be required depending upon the audience (market segment) that is being targeted. Forms of advertising include:

 Digital advertising (social media, email ads, newsletter ads)  Print advertising (newspapers, magazines, brochures, fliers)  Television advertising  Music in advertising  Radio advertising  Online advertising (Banner Ads, search marketing)  Product placements  Physical advertising (bulletins, billboards, posters, transit)  Press advertising  Mobile billboard advertising  In‐store advertising (external store signs, in‐store shelf sign, shopping cart ads, in‐store radio/TV ads)  Celebrity branding

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Public Relations

Public Relations (PR) is a very important component of an effective integrated marketing campaign. Businesses and companies worldwide use public relations to create a positive image, to create market awareness, and to reinforce their marketing strategies. This is because the practice of PR is primarily aimed at maintaining public image and the nature of publicity an organization receives. There are multiple public relations instruments that may be used by an agritourism business, to include: press conferences, press kits, press interviews, and newsletters. These tools may be used to increase market exposure and awareness and to promote upcoming events. It is important to develop a good relationship with the media.

Historically, media relations have been the heart of public relations. There is no direct payment to the media for providing publicity, which is why PR is often viewed as the most credible marketing element to consumers. When working with the media, it is important to know how to successfully capture their interest and attention. Many visitors attend an event to see or experience something that is “new” or “exciting.” The concept of “new” also happens to be one of the most effective strategies in communications. Thus, communicating the message of “new” events and conveying a sense of “excitement” to the media should be considered when trying to get coverage.

If the facility is planning to announce a new event, a press release on “what’s new” should be prepared. News releases should be full of facts and omit any opinion. Group all of the key information into the leading paragraph. In addition to the news release, press kits feature more detailed information such as the event or facility background, biographies of key spokesperson and other supporting materials that may be useful to journalists. Owners/managers should make certain their press kits are simple and focused on the topic at hand—most reporters just want to receive the news and nothing extra. To cost effectively release information to the press, consider building a press release database (a press database with contact information for Mississippi newspapers is provided in the Additional Resources section of this manual; a linked electronic version of the database is also available from The Stennis Institute of Government & Community Development – to receive a copy email: [email protected]

When holding a press conference, make certain the announcement has value for the media, meaning they should have solid news for the media that will generate interest. When holding a press conference, the owner/manager or staff must take responsibility to arrange a location and to personally invite press contacts to attend. Alternatively, individual interviews may be scheduled with certain reporters.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Newsletters, whether in print or electronic format, are another key tool for promoting a business. Knowing the names and contact information of customers and potential customers enables regular contact with a target audience that can be delivered by mail, via email, or via links in social media. Newsletters should be simple and full of content that is of interest to the audience, and should have visual appeal. The following link provides a guide to writing newsletters and for using other public relations tools: http://www.iaee.com/downloads/1373403056.70290100_c07bd310c7/Public%20Relations.pdf

Public relations is inextricably linked to establishing partners in promotion — develop relationships in your community and with other organizations to enhance your business image and increase awareness of your agritourism business — this includes your neighbors, community leaders and local organizations, and state or national groups. Your local Chamber of Commerce, Visitors Bureau, and Cooperative Extension office are invaluable partners in promotion.

Partners in Promotion

It is important to note the integral role that Partners in Promotion play in an integrated marketing strategy. A partnership in promotion is an agreement between businesses to co‐ promote a product or service. For example, Payless and Gamestop were two companies that formed a promotional partnership during a holiday season, and both gave customers coupon discounts to be used towards the other’s merchandise. Because many of these stores are closely located to one another, both benefited. Another example is a promotional partnership between Coke® and Fox Films, with Coke® agreeing to compensate Fox to show a beverage in an upcoming movie. If you visit the website of the Professional Rodeo Association (http://prorodeo.com), you will notice that the landing page of this website has links to the websites of multiple commercial sponsors and to the pages of affiliated organizations (i.e., the American Quarter Horse Association); this website is an example of partners in promotion because the websites of all of these organizations are cross‐linked and the links to social media also cross‐link to those of commercial sponsors and affiliated organizations.

Partnerships in promotion are an excellent integrated marketing tool; they leverage the impact, increase the reach, and enhance the effectiveness of all the mediums discussed in previous sections (i.e. websites, social media, advertising, direct mail, e‐mail, etc.). Capitalizing on the potential for partnerships in promotion means working with multiple agritourism stakeholders

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi and making certain to provide partners in promotion with the tools, information, and encouragement that they need in order to promote their participation.

You may also consider forming partnerships with other agritourism businesses in your geographic area or partnerships with other agritourism businesses that offer similar products, services, or amenities. These partnerships can expand your reach and may also create opportunities to share the cost for creating and maintaining content on social media platforms. Your local farmers’ market may also provide opportunities to partner for promotion.

Important Partnership for Promotion Opportunities

 Mississippi Department of Agriculture & Commerce —

http://www.mdac.ms.gov/agency‐info/programs/mississippi‐agritourism/

o Agritourism registration and venue listings with links to websites  Example: Brownlee Farms — http://brownleefarms.com/ o Mississippi Agritourism Signage Program — http://www.mississippitods.interstatelogos.com/state/ o Farmers’ Markets in Mississippi — http://farmersmarkets.msstate.edu/ o Mississippi Market Maker — http://ms.foodmarketmaker.com/ a. Make Mine Mississippi — https://www.mdac.ms.gov/bureaus‐departments/market‐development/make‐mine‐ mississippi‐program/

 Mississippi Tourism — http://www.visitmississippi.org/trips/step1  Mississippi Agritourism Association — http://www.mississippiagritourism.org/  Mississippi Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association — http://msfruitandveg.com/  Other online marketing directories o www.pickyourown.org o www.agritourismworld.com o www.farmstayus.com (Serenity Acres, Wiggins, MS; Oakdale Farms, Brandon, MS) o www.ruralbounty.com (Seward Farms http://www.sewardfarms.com/ , Lucedale, MS) o www.chefscollaborative.org o www.localharvest.com o www.sleepinthehay.com o http://www.farmstayus.com/ o http://www.growingmississippi.org/ o http://agrilicious.org/home

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Market Segmentation and Positioning

What are you selling and who are you selling it to?

Generally, to simplify the answer to the question “what are you selling?,” begin by breaking down your answers between selling experiences and/or selling goods.

Experiences may include: Goods may include:

 connection to nature/rural/outdoors  Food  romantic/healthy/quiet/adventure  Specialty products  education/learning/conservation  Crafts/artifacts/art

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Research helps us understand “who we are selling it to”

Research about Direct‐to‐Consumer Markets Consumers want to purchase locally grown fresh produce. Opportunity exists, but depends upon effective marketing and advertising to achieve visibility and increased accessibility. Major trends that impact direct‐to‐consumer markets include:

 The “Locavore” Trend  Concerns about Health and Obesity  The Environmental or Green Movement  Going back to basics  Greater concern about food safety and seeking healthier food

Food safety preferences for produce include three segments:

1. Concern about pesticide and hormone use – “safety seekers” or “Health and Natural Consumers” 2. Concern about price and quality – e“pric pickers” or “price conscious consumers” 3. Concern about quality and service – “Brand Buyers” or “Quality Seekers” Consumer Issues:

 Nutrition, quality, and safety is a personal benefit.  Supporting local agriculture or environmental conservation is a societal benefit.  Potential antibiotic resistance or the unknown effects of hormones is a general public health concern that combines personal and societal benefits.  Consumer concerns about nutritional content, purity, freshness, and social concerns about the public good.  Publically oriented food attributes such as “free range, organic, natural, and locally produced.”  The “taste of place” – local foods that reflect a unique local character, that tell the story of a place, or bring the taste‐history‐culture of a region to the consumer.

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Types of Direct Consumers:

1. Well‐organized Eco‐families — support local and sustainable agricultural practices (civic agriculture) 2. Strugglers — consumers who are low‐income and price sensitive 3. Rural traditionalists — consumers with traditional agrarian values who have historical ties to agriculture 4. Professionals — consumers without children and singles in urban areas with a focus on quality and image

Research about Agritourists The primary types of agritourism sites visited are: Food/Culinary, Heritage, Agricultural Education, and Recreational Experiences. Types of agritourism travelers include:

 Out‐of‐State Activity Seekers. Generally, middle‐ to upper‐middle income bracket, travel in small parties, enjoy active – recreational‐type agritourism, and take longer trips where agritourism is often unplanned. They plan their travel mostly by internet and choose activities revolving around culinary events and on‐farm or heritage activities.  In‐State Explorers. Are predisposed to a variety of agritourism experiences, but most activities are unplanned. Generally plan their trips based on past experiences or recommendations from friends and family.  Family Ag Adventurers. Generally choose activities revolving around educational experiences and active recreational experiences. Plan trips based primarily on past experience and personal recommendations. Advertising through links with the Mississippi Office of Tourism and links to the websites of family‐oriented businesses such as children’s museums, local parks, or libraries can increase connections to this market segment.  Mississippi Enthusiasts. Primarily in‐state travelers and are parents or couples who return based on past experiences and plan their trips based on personal web searches. The primarily select activities that revolve around culinary experiences.  Accidental Tourists. Travel primarily without children or by themselves, and may be visiting for non‐recreational business, educational, or convention activities. Are in the state for a few days with a small window of time for leisure, but may be seeking activities to occupy their free time. May represent an opportunity for enterprises located close to major transportation corridors and population centers. Make spontaneous decisions based upon road signage, brochures placed in visitors’ centers or hotels, and referrals from other businesses.

The methods that agritourists use to plan their travel include:

 Past experience

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

 Arranged by hotel  Travel website  Personal web search  Travel agency  State tourism office  Welcome Center  Magazines  Direct Mailing  Signage  Travel Association  Park brochures  Regional brochures  Personal recommendations/word of mouth

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Agritourism Marketing and Branding in Mississippi

Content and Keyword Development for Social Media

Content development is an important element of advertising. Essentially, it uses content to draw the attention of potential customers. Content development is integral to using social media to market your agritourism business because the Internet is comprised entirely of information, i.e., content. Content development is driven by the target market (needs, wants, desires, interests, and benefits). You must know what your customers want and engage them in the content that you provide. When people search for information on the Internet they use keywords, the relationship between these queries and the keywords you select to use for the content you provide is at the heart of using social media to market your products or services.

Your keywords should mirror the different types of user queries that may be used when people are trying to find a product or service that you offer.

You might begin developing a content strategy by conducting a keyword analysis with a list of phrases that you believe your audience is using to find the types of products or services that you offer and by visiting the websites of similar businesses to obtain ideas. You may also view the HTML Page Source of similar businesses by going to their website landing page and examining the keywords used. Once you have arrived at the website landing page, you may view the keyword used by clicking on View – Page Source (or right click and select View Page Source in Safari or Google).

 You can then examine the