Farms of Facebook Follow-up . Say that 10 times really fast!

Mark Saunders, president of NAFDMA started a facebook page for his business this year.

Mark shared with us how social marketing has impacted Saunders Farm . . .

"Facebook and other social media sites have become very important for our business. We need to connect with our customers every way we can.

Facebook is a way we connect and build our community.

We used to hear that you needed a website for your business; now you need a social media presence i.e. twitter, facebook, youtube, flickr to get your message out there and to let your customers share their experience of your farm.

Having a presence on Facebook and other sites has helped with our SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how high your website ranks in searches. "

Mark Saunders is the Director of Fun at Saunders Farm in Munster, Ontario. You can follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/directoroffun

or visit his farm at http://www.saundersfarm.com/

Mark will be in Lancaster in February at the 2010 NAFDMA convention. Will you?

Using Facebook to promote your farm and your events

Last February at our Savannah convention social marketing was all the BUZZ. The energy and excitement in these sessions was contagious.

Well, in true NAFDMA form it looks like NAFDMA members have turned that buzz into blogs, groups and viral marketing campaigns. It will be interesting to hear from everyone at our 2010 convention to see how these tools have worked for the various farms.

WHO is DOING what?
I've been anxiously following Tulley's Shocktober Fest group on Facebook as it races towards 1000 members. Tulley's gives away free scream passes, polls it's members on what scares them and connects with it's customers answering questions about the event. I'm sure Stuart will have the results of this campaign analysed and evaluated and will be willing to talk about it in Lancaster.

Everytime Saunders' Farm has an event it mysteriously ends up in the calendar in my Blackberry. I know Mark Saunders will tell us how he does that when we see him in Lancaster.

Other NAFDMA members are using Facebook to keep in touch with each other and their customers (fans). Here are a few that I found and if you are a NAFDMA farm on Facebook let us know in the comments below.

Shhh....2010 Convention secret: There will be a Social Marketing Workshop (don't tell Charlie I told you). Details soon at http://www.nafdma.com/

NAFDMA members on FACEBOOK:
Friends of NAFDMA
Description: For those who have become friends, associates and supliers from our yearly NAFDMA meetings. Also, for anybody who is interested in the lives of those who run Agritourism farms and facilities

Vala's Pumpkin Patch - interestingly not created by the Valas.
Description: Someone had to make this group. I know I'm not the only one on here that's been going to Vala's like every year since they were born.

I want to live at Vala's Pumpkin Patch forever
Category: Just for Fun - Fan Clubs
Description: From the Pig-Tucky derby to the Pumpkin eating dragon...we just can't get enough of you Vala's pumpkin patch. One month out of the year just doesn't do it for us. Bring on the kettle corn, carmel apples, and homemade fudge!! No childhood is complete without Vala's memories!!

I Love Uncle Johns Cider Mill
Description: For all those who grew up or still live in the St. Johns area, an ode to the greatest pumpkin patch, cider mill, and family farm there is! As you know, Uncle Johns has the best cider, doughnuts,baked goods and fresh fruit around. And now they are even making wine and have a tasting room!

Ellms Family Farm
Description: fall activitiescorn mazepumpkin patchFamily fun

We Love Red House Farm
Description: Manchester's no 1 farm shop and Tea Rooms
The Greater Manchester Maize Maze, Halloween Spooktacular, All round a great place to visit!

Tate Farms
Description: Family owned Agritourism Pumpkin Farm located outside the Huntsville city limits.

The Jungle Farm
Description: Three season farm - visit us for flowers in the spring, summer strawberries or the fall family pumpkin season.

social marketing stats from Trendwatching.com

So many of our members are wondering, "is this (blogging, twittering etc) worth it?" that I thought I'd share some recent statistics and trends.

My favorite Trend website, Trendwatching has a great briefing this week about social marketing.

"While the notion of consumers establishing and (passionately) tending to their online presences is no longer a source of wonder, the sheer scale and scope of the phenomenon is still astounding. Hundreds of millions of personal pages, feeds, status updates, tweets, profiles, blogs—courtesy of the Facebooks, the mySpaces, the Twitters, the LinkedIns—are building up to an eternally up-to-date encyclopedia of individuals that defies even the most futuristic predictions back in the early days of the web.

These profiles (and billions of other digital crumbs scattered across cyberspace), will live on forever. Not just because the web is a massive caching machine, but more importantly, because younger generations will never want to dispose of their groomed online presence to begin with.

Some (obligatory) figures:
Facebook reached 200 million active users on 8 April 2009. More than 100 million users log on to Facebook every day, while more than 20 million users update their status at least once each day.
MySpace now boasts 130 million members, LinkedIn counts over 40 million members, and Twitter over 30 million members (late May 2009). Oh, and China’s Twitter, TaoTao, now has nearly 50 million users.
Overall, the share of adult US internet users who have a profile on a social networking site has more than quadrupled in the past four years—from 8% in 2005 to 35% now. For adults aged 18-24, it’s 75%, and for tweens, it’s close to 100%. (Source: Pew Internet, January 2009.)
We could go on and on, but it all boils down to future ubiquity for personal online profiles, representing every individual who is online, which in mature consumer societies will mean 99% of the population. " Trendwatching.com June 2009

Check out the whole article at:
www.trendwatching.com/trends/foreverism/

Are you a NAFDMA member with a blog?

Let us know!
Send me a comment and I will add you to our list on the sidebar.

Attention NAFDMA members there is a Friends of NAFDMA group on Facebook. Look for it and sign up.