How to Effectively Market Your Products as a Poultry Farmer

Introduction

As you already know, poultry farming involves a great deal of work. It takes a great deal of commitment before you finally get to see your products. At this point, the battle is not yet over – you will need to find buyers who are interested in your products and this is where marketing takes prominence.

Identify your target market

Most poultry farmers I have spoken to are into both egg and broiler production. The eggs are usually sold all-year-round but broilers are typically sold on festive occasions. Perhaps, you may be interested in rearing broilers so what you need to ask yourself is, “who I am going to sell my birds to?” Potential customers for broilers include restaurants, hotels and chop bars.  If you are into egg production, your potential customers may include supermarkets, fast food joints and restaurants.

Determine the distribution channel to employ

Equally as important as determining your target market is how to reach them. Understanding how to reach your target customers will help you better prepare financially and strategically. That being said, there are two ways you can employ to reach your target customers: direct method and indirect method. For the direct method, you engage directly with your customers by meeting with them face-to-face or through digital methods. On the other hand, the indirect method involves the use of a middleman or distributor – broilers are typically sold on credit by farmers to market women who later sell them to the general public.

Direct distribution channel in detail

As I stated earlier, the direct distribution channel involves direct contact with customers. For instance, if you produce eggs, you can decide to buy a van and have your driver deliver them directly to your customers; this way, you have absolute control of the pricing and can generate the maximum amount of profits. If you rear broilers, you may decide to open a small cold store to sell the meat directly to your customers.

Image of a van by Pixabay PublicDomainPictures

Indirect distribution method in detail

To establish yourself as a direct distributor requires that you build customer trust and brand loyalty but these things sometimes take years to achieve. For this reason, many poultry farmers prefer to sell their products through established players in the market but this strategy seriously hampers their (the farmers) profit-earning potential because they are at a relatively weaker bargaining position as compared to their distributors.

Steps poultry farmers can take to reach a larger market

Alright, if you have read the post to this point then it means you are serious about reaching more customers. Below are four steps you can take to achieve this objective:

1. Take advantage of social media: You were probably referred to my website by Facebook, isn’t it?  In this current age we are living in, simply having a brick-and-mortar location and primarily relying on store traffic doesn’t cut it any longer. Take my startup as an example. If I had just rented some office and put some signboard on it, I would have been limited to my geographic location but because I operate online, I can serve the whole world. You need to utilize social media because it can help you reach thousands of customers daily. Start by opening a Facebook page and actively educate your audience about the health benefits of your products. Trust me, this is not going to be easy but in the long term, you would have built a solid customer base.
2. Attend networking events: I think we all heard of this statement, “it’s not what you know, but it’s who you know that matters.” Well, I pretty much agree with this statement. Let’s critically analyze this scenario, shall we? Let’s assume you are a very talented runner, who can run 100m in just 10 seconds and nobody knows of your ability, how do you make it to the national Olympic team? Sure you are a hardworking farmer and produce high-quality products but it wouldn’t hurt if you attended some poultry farmer association meetings and conferences from time to time.

Photo of a networking event by Christina Morillo from Pexels

• Do a door to door campaign: One thing that prevents many poultry farmers from reaching their full potential is their fear of talking to potential customers. Sure, rejection is painful but you know what is more painful, “not finding anyone to purchase your products.” Go out there, distribute fliers and talk to restaurant or chop bar owners in your area. Remember, the more people you talk to, the higher your chances of gaining a customer for your business.
• Sponsor a local event or a charitable cause: If you are a very observant person, you may have noticed that all of a sudden there has been a wave of companies donating sanitizers, personal protective equipment, and food items to help mitigate the disastrous consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. Did you, for once, ever believe that these companies were doing these things out of sheer kindness of heart or the love for humanity? Don’t deceive yourself. These companies are only doing these generous acts to boost their public image and further increase their appeal to customers because, after all, who doesn’t love a kind-hearted person? In your small corner you can also boost your appeal to customers; cook some food for your local youth football team, donate to your local church or mosque and give some money to orphanages. Trust me, these strategies will go further to boost your business in the long run.