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Mobile Messaging

It's a mobile world: Remind customers that it's YOUR MARKET DAY with a customized message to their mobile phone!

  • The service provider the NMFMA has chosen to help us with this marketing effort is called FarmFan, and Simon Huntley, the owner, has developed the business specifically for market vendors and farmers' market managers.

  • During 2017 (and hopefully into the future) the NMFMA will pay for the service, so it is free to NMFMA members!

  • There are several ways to collect phone numbers - some of which involve your time, and some that don't.

  • The technology aspects are easy.

  • Your messages will say exactly what you want. You will be able to pre-schedule messages up to two weeks ahead of time, and will receive market day reminders to send out a message.

Quick Links

Make this new marketing strategy successful for your market!

 
Here's more information from FarmFan:


STEP 1. Sign up for a free FarmFan account at http://about.farmfanapp.com. Again, the NMFMA will pay for this service for NMFMA members. When you sign up, FarmFan will notify the NMFMA so that your account is approved. 

FarmFan uses real-time text messages to market customers to communicate with them at the exact moment when they are deciding to come to the market that day. The open rate for text messages is 97% within 3 minutes and it is not overrun with the same noise as email and social media so people actually read your message.

FarmFan can also help you build a loyalty and rewards system on top of that. This is both a reason for customers to give you their mobile phone number so you can communicate with them, but it is also a way to reward your best customers.


FARMFAN FEATURES

Reminders

  • Reminder right before the market

    If you do not schedule your FarmFan update ahead of time, the app will send you a reminder by text message two hours before the market starts. Then, simply respond to the text message to send your update. This means you can't forget to send your update for each market!

  • Send a photo along with text message updates

    Optionally, include a photo with each text message. You can even take a picture on the go on at the market and send your update message with photo simply by texting it in to the FarmFan app!

Customer Sign-up
You have many options to get your customers to sign for FarmFan:

  • Website Widget 
    If your market has a website, it is important to get your website widget installed. This is a little pop-up box that hovers in the bottom right side of the screen. Customers can sign up for FarmFan right from your site, so we can help turn your online visitors into real customers!  The NMFMA will also install on a widget on our website, inviting customers to sign up for messages from their local markets.

    First, create a widget and then we'll give you instructions on how to install it.

  • Landing Page
    Your landing page is a specific URL where you can direct your customers to sign up for your FarmFan program. This is especially useful to encourage FarmFan sign ups from social media posts and email blasts. You could even use it for your Facebook Call-to-Action button on your Facebook business page. Again, the NMFMA will also do this.
    Your site has it's own unique link, grab your unique link here.

  • Social Media Integrations
    Optionally, hook your FarmFan updates into Facebook and Twitter and each update that you send out to your FarmFans will also be copied on to your social media platforms. This means that you only have to worry about updating FarmFan on market mornings and let us do the rest of the work for you!
    Set up social media links.

  • Text-to-Join
    Your customers can join FarmFan by texting a unique code to the FarmFan phone number. Once you generate the codes, you can put this information on a sign that you hang at your Farmers' Market or retail farm market. This allows people to join when they are physically at your stand.
    Enable text-to-join.

  • By Checking In
    If you are using our loyalty rewards system and allowing FarmFans to check in at the market, when they text in that week's passcode to get their points, they will be automatically joined to FarmFan if they have not joined already.

  • Manually
    If you want to keep it simple, you can leave out a sign up booklet (we have some spiral bound notebooks we can send on request) at your the market and have customers write down their information. You will the need to enter that information into the system manually.