Agritainment: Content Marketing in Disguise

If you haven’t already noticed, we love farms! Whether you’re growing vegetables, selling eggs, or turning your fruits into delicious, delicious wine, we love living in a state with so many agricultural offerings. But the more time we spend thinking about farms, the more we realize that farmers who have embraced “agritainment” are really just content marketers in disguise. 

I see you shaking your head, but hear me out!

Small family farms struggle to stay competitive in a market saturated with industrial-scale farms, and the most successful ones have pivoted to diversify their offerings. One might even say that these farms are engaging in a sort of inbound marketing. 

Let’s talk for a minute about Robbs Farm on Wassuc Road in Glastonbury. This is, hands down, my favorite place to get ice cream in the summer. (My waistline is very happy I moved away.) Essentially, Robbs is a goat farm, but people don’t stop by to spend money on goats. So not only does Robbs make its own ice cream — “Goat Tracks” is a particular favorite of mine — but they have a little league baseball diamond on the farm. 

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ANYTHING SO GENIUS?!

Yes, Robbs invites entire teams full of kids and their parents to the farm to play baseball, resulting in what I can only assume is a massive influx of sales after that final out! But the fun doesn’t end there. Aside from the pasture full of goats, Robbs has a ton of petting zoo livestock on-premises — including Lorenzo the llama, Chip the donkey, some pot-bellied pigs, and an emu named Frosty! (Beware: He will eat your ice cream.)

In the fall, Robbs steps it up even more. They have all the New England fall favorites — hayrides, corn mazes, old tractors to sit on, and the all-important apple fritter truck. (I’m also here to tell you that they have the best fritters around, so don’t settle for imitations). The place gets so packed that they have to relocate the goats to a slightly different pasture to enlarge the parking lot. 

So how is this related to content marketing, you ask?

Well, content marketing is all about giving your customers what they want and need. It’s about putting their needs first and making the sale second. The reality is, those little leaguers and their parents could show up to Robbs, take up all the parking, and leave without spending a dime — just like visitors to your blog — but they don’t because not only is Robbs building brand loyalty, they are confident enough in their product to know parents are going to stop in for a cone or two before they head home.  

Content marketing is about getting creative — bringing people to your digital (or even physical) door by offering them what they want and need. So the next time you’re wondering how to get more traffic to your site or more newsletter subscribers, ask yourself “What would Robbs Farm do?” #WWRFD