The agritourism marketing and branding workshop series was designed to assist producers with the skills needed to reach customers in their target market. The program trained 92 people in marketing and branding.
Outcomes of the project were the following; clientele beginning to use new media strategies such as social media marketing and virtual tourism to reach new visitors; the participants learned how to use community development and rural tourism strategies to improve their product, create community buy-in, and better market their farms and products; a virtual workshop has been created; a local foods bus tour was created and is now being used as a viable tourism product in rural Mississippi; virtual tours are being used on social media; participants have joined regional culinary marketing ventures; some farmers are planning to diversify their operations.
Extension agents are currently interviewing producers about their operations so that these farms can be included in statewide marketing efforts such as apps and marketing and promotion in visitors centers across the state. Currently the process is underway to create a new cohesive branding campaign. Publications and guides were created and are available online for producers to use in creating new marketing strategies.