In partnership with the UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC), the Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement (CREE) created an online toolkit titled, How to Market in a Digital Era to educate and train the agriculture sector on how to develop a successful marketing plan for their agribusiness.
“Our team was hearing directly from agribusiness owners that they were struggling to create effective marketing plans to promote their businesses,” said Trent Blare, assistant professor in the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida. “So, we decided to come together to create resources for extension and the public that would help agribusiness owners to create a personalized and effective marketing plan.”
The team worked to create a marketing manual that provides entrepreneurs with information and tools to create a marketing plan for their personal businesses. In addition to the manual, online and in-person trainings were held across the state of Florida to train individuals on how to utilize the marketing manual. All materials in the toolkit are offered in English and Spanish to reach diverse audiences in the state of Florida.
“It is our hope that these materials and trainings have been helpful for our audiences, and have allowed them to excel in their businesses,” said Lauri Baker, associate professor of agricultural communication in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication (AEC) at the University of Florida and co-founder of CREE.
Learn more about the toolkit, please visit: https://ruralengagement.org/digital-marketing-toolkit/
In addition to the toolkit, the team has created a special webpage for Extension agents. On this webpage, agents can find all the necessary resources to host their own How to Market in a Digital Era trainings for their local audiences.
“We wanted to equip local Extension agents around the state of Florida to guide agribusiness owners in their local audiences to create powerful marketing plans,” said Fredy Ballen, agricultural economist working in the TREC at the University of Florida.
Learn more about the hosting your own How to Market in a Digital Era training, please visit: https://ruralengagement.org/how-to-market-in-a-digital-era-training-materials/