Kansas Farmers Say Marketing Greatest Challenge

Extension agents and marketing agencies, listen up. Kansas agritourism operators’ greatest barrier is promoting their business to targeted audiences, according to Kansas State University research. 

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Communications in Nov. 2024, found developing promotional materials ranked second, and access to capital infrastructure ranked third. Working with family members was the least of agritourism operators’ concerns out of a list of 17 challenges.

When agritourism operators did promote their business and develop marketing materials, the majority said in-person, word-of-mouth was most valuable, followed by Facebook. This was compared to a list of more than 20 communications mediums. Some of the communication methods agritourism operators listed “not at all important” included TikTok, radio, and Google ads.

Kansas farmers are not alone. Oklahoma State University researchers reported New York farmers had large time and financial barriers to using digital marketing to promote their direct-to-consumer businesses. 

Most of the interviewed farmers said they had both social media and websites. However, they felt they were unable to use them to their full potential. While some expressed interest in Extension training, there were concerns about not knowing when trainings were offered. Many of the interviewed farmers said they would prefer to hire a social media manager over attending trainings.

Researchers at Texas A&M University also found similar results amongst Oklahoma beef producers. While many stepped up their social media outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers found most beef farmers “posted on social media with no planned strategy.”