What elements of your mission do you want your brand/logo to focus on?
If you had to choose 3 key values to incorporate into the logo/brand, what would they be?
Are there references you’d like your brand/logo to take references from? (other logos, orgs, or iconic tools of your trade)
What are the words you hope the community you serve would use to describe you?

Social Media Strategies: From Posts to Purchases

Our presenters for this session included:

Rian Finnegan – Little Loaf Bakeshop

Jennifer Kouvant - Six Dutchess Farm

Shay Williams – The Marketing Studio

You can rewatch the recording of the first session here:

Social Media Strategies: From Post to Purchases

including a transcript and archive of messages from the chat.

Free and low-cost resources mentioned for brand & marketing development included:

Instagram

“Business Account” features (analytics, tagging capabilities)
“Collaboration” tool for cross-posting
“Stories” for sharing customer content
“Alt Text” feature for SEO optimization

Facebook (select “post to” feature but folks are finding it less helpful lately)

TikTok

Bluesky

Square Squarespace Toast (email marketing integration)

Some “homework” to ponder related to social media strategies:

Jennifer proposes you make a reel of yourself at market showing what you have! Tag your market and vendors, and share it to your stories

Rian proposes you take some time to journal on your mission statement and values. Define what your brand is (or isn’t).

Shay proposes you take the simplest content idea from your saved folder and just make it! Overcome that initial barrier to content creation, which is usually just momentum.

Promotions, Loyalty Programs, and Cross-Market Collaborations

Our presenters for this session included:

Wendy Zhao – Lili & Astara

K.C. Lovell – Four Wall Farm

Haile Thomas – Matcha Thomas

You can rewatch the recording of the first session here:

Promotions, Loyalty Programs, & Cross-Market Collaborations

(we purposely ended the recording prior to the breakout sessions as this was time spent working creatively and we didn’t want anyone to feel inhibited in generating ideas!)

Some thoughts from our speakers on initiating the kinds of programs we discussed:

Wendy encouraged Square users to look into their built-in loyalty programs. People love to be rewarded and it has led to a repeat, loyal customer base for her business.

K.C. encouraged us to think about recipes as collaborations: involve the products of other vendors in order to increase your product diversity. A secondary benefit is that collaborating creates opportunities for exchange of ideas and mentorship!

Haile encouraged us to think of collaboration as “co-world building” (borrowed from science fiction and fantasy and applied to branding) because it emphasizes defining the underlying values of each business and working in alignment.

Our breakout session exercise:

Brainstorm which vendors at your market might be aligned with your business’s underlying, core values. Imagine a potential collaboration! We randomly assigned pairs and worked together in the session, but in real life you might think these questions through before reaching out:

Who is your audience? What do you envision creating?
Does your collaboration entail purchasing from one another? Creating a product together? Will you promote one another on social media?
What are you willing to put in in terms of time, money, effort? What are potential deal-breakers?

Booth Design: Baskets of Abundance and Labels of Explanation

Our presenters for this session included:

Sheila Kushner – DACHA Country House Ferments

Sam Zurofsky & Allison Patrick – Long Season Farm

Teresa Weber – All Heart Baking Co.

Bo DiBuono – Manor Sangria

You can rewatch the recording of the session here:

Booth Design: Baskets of Abundance & Labels of Explanation

Some thoughts from our speakers on designing your booth:

Beacon Farmers Market Manager, Amy Bandolik, gave an overview of what she’s observed to make a great visual impact in her experience managing countless Sunday markets—be sure to check out her full presentation. Ultimately, there are countless ways to design your booth! What translates to customers is intentionality and cohesion.

Sheila spoke about her color palette: greens to evoke freshness and purples/red to evoke bold flavors. She makes sure that samples are visible and accessible in order to introduce people to ferments they might not be familiar with.

Sam & Allison both highlighted the importance of their staff’s attitude: their smiles and enthusiasm communicate excitement about vegetables! For produce vendors in particular, they talked about the need to show abundance; A.B.C. (always be consolidating) keeps the perceived volume high until the market's end.

Teresa broke down booth design into some component parts: tent & large signage, baskets & display (create containment and height), packaging, and the human element.

Bo spoke about being clear and not clever: markets can be visually overwhelming for shoppers! Make your signage bold, direct, and straightforward. Be unique but stay on message. Body language is the difference.

Some “homework” to ponder related to evaluating & refreshing your booth design:

Amy encouraged us to evaluate the visual impact of our product from 30 feet away (catch the eye), 10 feet away (spark the interest), and 1 foot away (seal the deal).

Here is a worksheet that Amy created to help with self-evaluation!

Selling With Heart: Effective Sales & Customer Service Strategies

Our presenters for this session included:

Laura Sansone – NY Textile Lab

Hannah Bear – Upstate Granola

Monica Jerminario – Happy Belly

You can rewatch the recording of the session here:

Selling with Heart: Effective Sales & Customer Service Strategies

Some thoughts from our speakers on selling with heart:

Newburgh Farmers’ Market Manager, Ilyana Campos, gave a presentation on why selling with heart matters: it builds trust and loyalty, turns transactions into relationships, and reflects the values behind your product. Think of this as your brand in action!

Laura spoke about the importance of storytelling in communicating with customers. Her work connects the dots between many aspects of environmentally-focused clothing production. Over the years, she has done workshops at Farmers’ Markets, in addition to selling in her booth, to create a hands-on connection between customers and their textiles.

Hannah highlighted Upstate’s practice of communicating their family-based origin story. They focus on connection, care, empathy, humility, understanding, and generosity. They always provide samples!

Monica spoke about her personal health journey and the origin story of her business. The rigors she had to go through to uncover her own intolerances are brought forward into her approach to product development. Happy Belly is a family operation and they created genuine connection with many customers by sharing their family’s journey with infant loss.

Some “homework” to ponder related to honing in on your sales strategies:

Laura suggests creating something to give away that tells your story in a concise way. Postcards, business cards, or something more creative that can link to more expansive content.

Hannah challenges you to consider your audience and honing in on the best communication strategies to reach them.

Monica suggests that our greatest asset right now is authenticity in communication. Consider creating a social media post that shares something deeper about you or your process.

SAVVY SIGNAGE: CLEAR MESSAGING AND BUZZWORDS THAT WORK

Our presenters for this session included:

Patrick Jones – Outdoor Fellow

Chris Bob – Woodstock Microgreens

Sofia Todisco – Flours Pasta & Bakeshop

You can rewatch the recording of the session here:

Savvy Signage: Clear Messaging and Buzzwords that Work

Some thoughts from our speakers on savvy signage:

Our Operations Manager, Liz Craig, gave a presentation on the 3 Essential Signs customers look for in making a decision to purchase. Try to answer the following questions with your signs: What is it, How much does it cost, and How can I use it?

Patrick’s presentation focused on making sure his brand’s visual identity is represented in all of the signage for Outdoor Fellow. He had a great tip about putting up a sign that visually shows which forms of payment you accept. Patrick is a master at using signage around his booth to draw folks in with clever messaging that mimics what people might be thinking (what’s that smell?). He noted that he’s recently added “shelf talkers” which allow him to give personal recommendations and scent notes.

Chris highlighted that having signage that answers FAQs will save you time and energy—and make you money! Think about what people typically have questions about, and try to answer those with signs.

Sofia spoke about the challenges of translating a permanent setup (she owns a brick & mortar storefront) into a market booth and how to create consistency through sign design. She plays a lot with small signs near the product, often switching things up with seasonal variations. Tip: when things sell out, she uses masking tape to mark her chalkboard sign.

Resources for materials included:

Next Day Display

upringting.com

Thermal label printers

Sticker Giant

Some “homework” to ponder related to honing in on your sales strategies:

Patrick challenges everyone to audit your market setup! Try out one new sign and see the result. (And if you don’t already have a brand toolkit, work on creating one!)

Chris suggests we eavesdrop on the customers on line and see which signs they actually refer to out loud. Which signs are drawing people in? Which ones are ineffective?

Sophia wants us to go shopping at the stores you already love with “design eyes” and see what kind of signage they’re using.