How to Market to Farmers & Rural Customers

To market a business to farmers, work out who you want to reach, give them a clear reason to choose you, and make it easy to find and contact your business. Choose channels that reach those customers, build relationships with the people they trust, and follow up enquiries through to the sale.

Whether you sell machinery, irrigation, stock feed, fencing or finance, the starting point is the same: understand the customer before choosing the advertising.

This guide takes you through nine practical steps, from defining your market to tracking which activity brings in business.

If you prefer specialist help, explore our agricultural and rural marketing services.

The short version: nine steps to market to farmers

Define your customer: farm type, size, region and decision-maker.
Give them a reason to choose you: explain how your offer helps their business.
Set a goal and budget: work backwards from customer value and what you want to achieve.
Get the basics right: your website, Google listing and reviews.
Choose your channels: start with a manageable mix that reaches your customers.
Build trust: through customers, advisers, dealers and useful evidence.
Plan your field days: decide what you want from the event and how you’ll follow up.
Time your activity: stay visible and increase activity around relevant buying windows.
Follow up and measure: keep track of enquiries, quotes and sales.

Why is marketing to farmers different?

Your customers might be spread across several districts, buy through a dealer, and discuss a purchase with their partner or adviser before contacting you. Their need for your product might depend on rainfall, commodity prices or where they are in the farming year.

Those details change how you market.

A small targeting radius around your shop could miss customers you regularly deliver to. A campaign launched during harvest might arrive when your audience is too busy to give it much attention. An ad that generates interest can still lead nowhere if the buyer can’t find your service area or get a call back.

Start with how your customers work and buy. That gives you a much better basis for deciding where to advertise, what to say and when to spend.

Step 1: Who exactly is your customer?

“Farmers” is too broad to be a useful audience description. A cotton grower, a dairy farmer and a cattle station manager have different needs, budgets and buying seasons.

Look at your best existing customers and answer these questions:

What do they farm? Beef, sheep, grain, cotton, cane, dairy or horticulture?
What scale are they operating at? A hobby block, a family farm or a corporate operation?
Where are they? Which towns, shires or regions can you realistically supply and service?
What problem are you solving? Water, labour, breakdowns, compliance or cost?
What triggers the purchase? A dry spell, a machine failing, a new property or planned expansion?
Who makes the decision? The owner, a manager, a partner or someone else?

Put the answers into one sentence:

We sell [product or service] to [type of customer] in [region] who need [problem solved]. The decision is usually made by [person or people].

For example:

We sell stock feed supplements to sheep producers in western New South Wales who need to hold condition through dry spells. The owner usually decides with advice from their stock agent.

That gives you an audience, a problem, a service area and someone to speak to. If you serve several markets, write a separate sentence for each.

Step 2: Why should a farmer buy from you instead of the next bloke?

A customer who already has a supplier needs a reason to consider you. That reason should be something they can understand and you can deliver.

“Quality products and great service” gives them very little to compare. Be specific about what your product or service does for their operation.

General claim	A more useful message, if you can deliver it
“Quality machinery at competitive prices”	“Parts in stock in town, so you’re not waiting a week mid-harvest”
“Experienced irrigation specialists”	“We’ll design it, install it and be back within 24 hours if it breaks”
“Full range of livestock products”	“Delivered to your gate across the district, every fortnight”

Your advantage might be less downtime, easier delivery, reliable servicing or advice that helps the customer choose the right product.

Use the four Ps of marketing to check the whole offer:

Product: What problem does it solve?
Price: How does the cost compare with the value it provides?
Place: Can customers get it, use it and have it serviced where they are?
Promotion: How will they hear about it, and what evidence will help them choose?

For a rural supplier, delivery and servicing can be a substantial part of the offer. If those are your strengths, make them clear in your advertising and on your website.

Step 3: Set a goal and a budget you can stick to

Decide what you want the marketing to achieve before you decide how much to spend.

“More business” is hard to plan around. A goal such as winning ten new customers in a particular region gives you something to work towards and measure.

Work backwards:

What does a typical customer spend, including repeat purchases?
How much gross profit does that business generate?
What could you spend to acquire a customer while leaving enough to cover other costs?
How many enquiries or quotes usually turn into a sale?

For a simple example, suppose a customer spends $6,000 a year and stays for five years. That’s $30,000 in sales. At a 25% gross margin, it represents $7,500 in gross profit before other operating costs.

That helps you assess a proposed acquisition cost. It doesn’t mean you can spend $7,500 to win the customer: you still need to allow for overheads, cash flow and uncertainty about future purchases.

Budget for the full activity, including advertising, creative, website work, event costs and follow-up time. Give it enough time to reflect your sales cycle, but check early whether it’s reaching the right people and generating suitable enquiries.

Step 4: Get the basics right before you spend on ads

When someone hears about you, they need an easy way to check your offer and get in touch.

Start with three things.

A website that answers their questions

Your website should make it clear:

What you sell and who it’s for.
Where you deliver, install or service.
How to contact you, with a phone number that can be tapped on a mobile.
What customers need to know about specifications, availability and lead times.
What your work looks like, using real photos of your products, team and completed jobs.

If you can’t give a fixed price, explain what affects it and what information you need to prepare a quote.

If you’re building a page for a specific campaign, our guide to landing pages for rural and agricultural customers covers the offer, proof and enquiry process.

Check the site on your own phone. Can you find the right product, understand the service area and make an enquiry without hunting around?

For more on helping buyers find those pages, see our guide to SEO for agricultural businesses.

A current Google Business Profile

Keep your Google listing up to date with your hours, contact details, relevant services and photos.

Make sure those details match your website. If someone searches your business name after a recommendation, it should be easy to confirm they’ve found the right business.

Reviews from real customers

Ask happy customers for a review and send them a direct link.

Where possible, also get permission to share a short testimonial about the work you did. A specific account of a problem solved gives a prospective customer more to assess than a general statement about good service.

Step 5: Which marketing channels should you use?

Choose channels based on your customers, service area and the purchase you’re trying to influence.

Your own customers’ habits should guide the decision. Ask a few of your best customers what they read, listen to and use when they’re looking for a supplier.

Channel	What it’s useful for	What to watch
Google Search ads	Reaching people searching for your product or service	Use relevant search terms and a service area you can actually cover
Facebook and Instagram	Building familiarity, showing your work and promoting offers or events	Make the audience and message specific; engagement alone doesn’t tell you whether it brings business
YouTube and video	Demonstrating equipment, explaining a process or answering product questions	The footage needs to show something useful; clear phone footage can be enough
Rural press and websites	Reaching readers in a particular region or farming sector	Check who reads the publication and where they are
Regional radio	Building familiarity across a station’s coverage area	Check audience fit, coverage and the cost of sufficient repetition
TV and streaming	Reaching a larger audience with a visual message	Production and media costs need to fit your budget and market
Outdoor	Being visible on routes your customers regularly use	Location matters, and the message needs to be readable quickly
Email and SMS	Keeping customers informed about stock, servicing and seasonal offers	Use a suitable, permission-based list and send useful messages
Direct mail	Putting a catalogue or detailed offer in front of selected customers	The mailing list and relevance of the offer matter

Start with a mix you can manage. For many businesses, that could be:

Search activity to reach people already looking.
One channel to build familiarity across the market.
Regular communication with existing customers.

You don’t have to pay for all three immediately. A smaller budget might go towards improving your website, maintaining your Google listing and testing one advertising channel first.

For more detail on search campaigns, see our guide to targeting rural and regional audiences with Google Ads.

For display, connected TV and streaming audio, see how programmatic advertising can reach rural audiences.

Step 6: Use the people farmers already trust

Think beyond the person who pays the invoice. Advisers, dealers, stock agents, neighbours and family members can all be involved in a purchase.

GRDC’s 2024 grower survey found that 96% of Australian grain growers sourced advice from a paid or retail adviser or agronomist. If you sell into that market, relationships with advisers deserve a place in your plan.

Source: GRDC, 2024 GRDC Grower Survey Report.

Who influences purchases in your own market?

Get to know relevant advisers and dealers. Explain who your offer suits and give them useful specifications, trial results or a demonstration.
Make referrals easy. Give people a clear contact person and respond promptly.
Ask satisfied customers for introductions and permission to share their experience.
Show evidence of the outcome: equipment working, a completed installation or a customer explaining what improved.

Advertising can introduce your business. Those relationships and examples help someone assess whether you’re a good choice.

Step 7: Are field days worth it for your business?

A field day can give customers the chance to see your product, ask questions and compare options in person.

Before booking a site, consider:

Does the event attract the customers you want?
Can you demonstrate something worth seeing?
What will the site, travel, staffing and time away cost?
What outcome would justify that cost?

Set a goal, whether that’s qualified enquiries, booked demonstrations, dealer meetings or sales.

Before the event

Tell customers and prospects where to find you. Book meetings where possible and prepare a demonstration.

Decide how you’ll capture enquiries and who will follow them up.

During the event

Make it easy to see what you do. Have enough people available to hold useful conversations.

Record the visitor’s contact details, what they’re interested in, their timing and the next step you agreed on. A name and phone number without that context makes follow-up harder.

After the event

Contact people promptly and do what you promised. Send the quote, book the visit or provide the specification sheet.

Keep track of later enquiries and sales from those conversations. Assess the event after a period that suits your sales cycle, rather than only counting orders placed on the day.

Our guide to promoting an agribusiness at field days and agricultural shows sets out what to prepare before, during and after the event.

Step 8: When should you market to farmers?

Map your activity around when customers are likely to need your offer, research it and make a decision.

Those can be different points in the year. A customer might discuss irrigation options months before they want the system installed.

Use two layers:

Maintain a manageable presence throughout the year. Keep your website and listing current, share useful updates and stay in touch with customers.
Increase activity ahead of relevant buying windows. Allow time for research, quotes, decisions, delivery and installation.

The right timing depends on the product, region and farming sector. Seeding, calving, harvest, rainfall and commodity prices may all affect the plan.

Also consider how busy customers will be. If they’re unlikely to have time for a detailed conversation, adjust the message or arrange follow-up for a more suitable period.

Our guide to how seasonal farming cycles should influence your marketing calendar covers this in more detail.

Step 9: Follow up every enquiry and track what works

Make sure someone owns each enquiry from the first contact through to a clear outcome.

A spreadsheet is enough to start. Record:

The customer’s name and contact details.
What they need and where they are.
How they found you.
Whether you’ve sent a quote.
The next action and when it’s due.
Whether the enquiry became a sale.

Respond promptly. If you can’t get through, leave a message or send a text with a clear way to contact you.

Agree on the next step instead of leaving a quote open indefinitely. If the purchase is months away, record when to reconnect.

Ask “How did you hear about us?” and, where useful, “What prompted you to get in touch?” A customer might have seen an ad, spoken to a neighbour and then searched your name. Their answer is useful, but may only describe part of that journey.

Review enquiries, quotes, sales and customer quality alongside your advertising reports. Clicks and likes can help explain activity; they don’t tell you whether it earned its cost.

If most of your enquiries come through Facebook, see how to generate leads from farmers beyond social media and build a broader pipeline.

Common mistakes to avoid

Targeting around your shop rather than your customers. Use the areas you can realistically supply and service.
Making vague claims. Explain what customers get and give them evidence.
Spreading the budget too thinly. Start with activity you can run properly.
Judging success too early or on the wrong numbers. Allow for your buying cycle and look through to enquiries and sales.
Letting follow-up slide. Assign a next action to every suitable enquiry.

Put your plan into action

Start by defining one customer group and the problem you solve for them. Check your offer and website, choose a manageable channel mix, and decide how you’ll follow up and measure enquiries.

You can build from there as you learn what brings in the right customers.

If you need help putting that plan together or running the campaigns, we work with businesses that sell to farmers and rural customers. We start with your market, service area and buying cycle, then recommend activity that fits your goals and budget.

Talk to us about agriculture and rural marketing →