You customers have to know why they are spending money on your product. Just because you know it is awesome, does not necessarily mean that they know it. That is where education based marketing comes into play.

Consumers are getting sold to almost 24 hours a day. Selling based marketing is dying. There are so many products out on the market that consumers are looking for more information about the products they buy. That is particularly evident in the food industry. Education around food is not only something that is becoming a necessity, but it also a popular thing to do now as well.

With "know your farmer know your food" almost becoming a badge of honor among foodies, it is our job as the farmers to educate those consumers so they have the right information when bragging to their friends. There are so many reasons to share your story, and as a agricultural business marketing and sales should be at the top of the priority list.

In this agricultural podcast I talk about the efforts I am making to tell my story, and how educating my customers is paying off for me. I then interview the director of marketing at Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs on the strategies they are using to educate their customers.

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In this farm podcast you will learn:

• Listen to your market to determine your marketing message
• Using social media to connect with your farm customers
• Making use of user generated content to enhance your farm's online presence
• Measuring marketing success through consumer activity online
• Partnering with like-minded companies
• Survive in business by specializing
• Being a values-driven company

Interview with Karl Johnson of Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs

"I'll never work on another egg farm," Karl said when he got out of his high school job. He then finds himself years later working for another egg farm and loving every second of it. If you ever get the chance to meet the folks (and the chickens) at Pete & Gerry's you'd understand why he likes being there.

Karl came out of retirement to work at Pete & Gerry's as their director of marketing. 'I am working as hard now as I ever have," hey laughs. When you hear of all the innovative marketing strategies he has implemented including social media to engage customers and measure marketing results, you would never guess that this guy was even close to retirement age.

Besides being talented at his job, Karl is an all around great guy. I have had the pleasure of working with him for a number of years as P&G has supported Kate and I through our journeys. He is a great interviewee and a good friend.

Items mentioned in this farm podcast include:

• Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs
• Pete and Gerry's Facebook
• Pete and Gerry's Pinterest
• Applegate Farms
• Stonyfield Organics
• Barowsky's Organic English Muffins
• Life is Good Festival
• Strolling of the Heifers
• GFP 003: Jesse LaFlamme Interview
• YouTube Video "How to start a farm with no money"

Take aways:

How are you educating your customers? Do they know why they should buy from you?

Are you measuring you marketing successes?

How can you use social media to connect with your cusomters?

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My skills are ever-evolving as an interviewer. Thanks for taking the time to listen in, and let me know what you think. You can leave a comment below, send me an e-mail, reach me on Facebook or Twitter, or leave a 5 star rating in iTunes if you liked the show.

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