COLUMBUS, Ohio – When COVID-19 was at its peak a year ago, producers everywhere felt the brunt of the virus as it forced many of them to find alternative ways of getting their products to the consumer. Prior to the pandemic, producers had direct avenues of getting their fruits, vegetables and meats directly to restaurants and stores. But due to the pandemic that supply line was slowed, and in many instances, stopped.

Farmers have taken action, many of them turning to direct marketing and social media as a way of connecting to consumers. Direct marketing simmered within Ohio’s agriculture industry for years prior to COVID, spreading slowly through the farming community.

“Direct sales has been simmering for years,” said Rob Leeds, OSU Extension specialist. According to Leeds, the trend of direct sales was ignited at COVID’s peak a year ago, as growers and animal farmers looked for new ways to sell their meat and produce.

“That’s definitely something that has spiked since COVID hit, and it really helped,” said Melinda Lee, director of the Franklin County Farm Bureau. “It helped them find new customers and really expanded their business.”

This marketing trend in the state may be here to stay as many farmers who resorted to direct sales and social media to keep their fruits and vegetables from spoiling say they’ll continue to sell straight to consumers to keep an added revenue stream flowing.

“Direct marketing isn’t limited to specific crops or meat,” Leeds said. “The shift has more to do with age. When they bring in the younger generation, the younger generation is more social savvy, and they’re the ones who may take an operation in a different direction.”

According to Christie Welch, an agricultural marketing specialist for Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon, farmers see higher profit margins on direct sales.

“The producer gets the retail price as opposed to the wholesale price,” she said. “But a trade-off exists. Direct marketing requires much more effort on the part of the farmer. Rather than preparing one big shipment of produce for a single customer, farmers must prepare numerous individual shipments for a multitude of customers. If you’re selling to individual customers, you have to take the order, get the order paid for, pack the order and figure out how it’s going to be delivered. You really have to balance resources and figure out what is going to work best for you.”

Bob Jones, owner of Chef’s Garden in Huron, Ohio, was greatly impacted by the pandemic, but lifted his proceeds thanks to direct sales. Chef’s Garden sells produce such as squash, peas, carrots and leafy greens to restaurants. So when COVID hit in the spring of 2020 sales at Chef’s Garden fell 80 percent.

“Everything came to a grinding halt,” Jones said.

Desperate for another revenue source, the farm set up a website and began selling vegetable boxes. Foodies eager for quality produce for home-cooked meals ordered the boxes in droves. 

“We were blessed to have come out of the pandemic stronger than we were before,” Jones said.

Jones’ operation is a large one, but social media can help market small farms, too. According to Curtis Stone, a farmer and farm consultant in Canada, one of the reasons why small farms struggle is they don’t treat their farm like a business.

“We’ve learned online marketing is significant lever to help small businesses grow their revenue,” Stone said. “Facebook specifically appears to be the most valued social media platform by small businesses to build their brand and drive sales. However, very few farmers are using social media to promote their business. They need to start using social media as a promotion and sales tools.”

Stone offers tips for small farms wanting to engage in social media:

• Start with a Facebook profile, using a logo and tagline and listing contact information and link in the website.

• Consider Instagram. Food, people and animals lend themselves well to imagery. Instagram may offer a high return for the time spent posting.

• Generate your own content. Original content will keep visitors coming back. Keep the content fresh and original as best you can.

• Engage, entertain and inform. Use social media to further your story. Give visitors a behind the scene look at your operation and tell engaging stories about a day in the life of a small farmer.

• Post images. Studies show images are more likely to generate interaction and go viral. Choose positive images that bring about positive emotions.

• Include links in your images or posts that go to your website. If you don’t have a website, consider using a sales tool such as Food4All so that visitors can take action to buy your product or sign up for your CSA.

• Respond to any comments.

• Post consistently, if possibly once a day. Fresh content will keep visitors coming back.

“The internet has the potential to be ‘rocket fuel’ for small to medium-sized businesses and farms,” Stone said. “These business and farms that employ online marketing strategies are 280 percent more likely to grow revenues than businesses that don’t engage in them. Of course, the jury is out on whether or not advertising pays off on Facebook or Instagram, but it doesn’t cost much to experiment.”