Marketing

Marketing your agricultural products and services is a necessary part of your overall business success.

Marketing plans

For your farm business to thrive, it is crucial that you understand buyer needs. Develop your marketing plan to target the unique needs of your customers. A general marketing plan identifies market trends, competitors, customer feedback, sales targets, pricing and cost of production.

Marketing guides

These marketing how-to guides provide tips and best practices for B.C. agrifood and seafood businesses to expand marketing knowledge. Learn how to use market research, improve your sales pitch, sell your product to retailers and develop an e-commerce plan.

Farm tourism in B.C.

For farmers interested in diversifying their revenue sources by providing tourism experiences, it may be a challenge to know where and how to start. That is why the ministries of Agriculture and Food, Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, and the Agricultural Land Commission have worked together to produce the Farm Tourism Guide (PDF, 371KB)

The goal of this resource is to provide farmers with high-level information to assist in:

• Determining the different levels of participation in farm diversification
• Understanding the regulatory landscape
• Exploring the opportunities and benefits of farm diversification
• Navigating additional support and resources available online

Farm tourism can enhance economic viability and resiliency through expanding marketing/ advertising reach, attracting new customers, engaging with community (and growing loyal customers), increasing farm sales, and providing supplementary income, particularly in the off season.

The ministry’s Farm Diversification Through Agri-Tourism Manual (PDF, 3.8MB) provides step-by-step guidance for farmers interested in engaging further into agri-tourism. It presents a number of tools and strategies to design and create memorable farm-based experiences that can attract and satisfy visitors with a high-quality experience.

Please note that the regulatory landscape has changed since the manual was published in 2017. If you have any questions regarding the existing agri-tourism regulation, please contact AgriServiceBC@goc.bc.ca.

Direct marketing

Direct marketing is popular with small and medium sized farms that are able to capture the full value of their product by selling to the end customer. Direct marketing can also include farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSA) schemes, on-line, phone or road side sales, as well as selling wholesale.

The Lower Mainland Horticultural Improvement Association's ((LMHIA) annual Growers' Short Course offers seminars on agricultural marketing. Watch these video recordings of the 2017 seminar speakers.

Watch more videos about successful farm business management

Watch more videos about starting a farm

Marketing programs and services

B.C. agriculture, food and seafood products are sold in domestic and international markets. Learn about services to inform and prepare farmers, fishers and food processors to take advantage of existing and emerging market opportunities, from local farmers markets to the growing markets of Asia, Europe and other parts of the world.