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Feedback on marketing high-tech agricultural product

jdm667

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This might be a longshot, but I figure it might be helpful to you.

If your product is good, and you're willing to take on all the risk, is there perhaps a change of business model that could potentially be more viable for your customers?

There is a beautiful article and podcast by Peter Diamandis where he goes deeper into how not only innovation in products and services, but in business models, can have the greatest impact in your own company. Here is the article and podcast.

As an example, one company that I've been studying is Enexor. They have created a system which can organic or plastic waste into renewable energy, and feed it to a microgrid.

But since this is new technology, and there are costs involved in installing a system, they have created an "Energy-as-a-Service" model.

Here is an excerpt from their website: "Enexor partners with you to reduce your energy and waste disposal costs with minimal capital outlay. Unlike the majority of other variable energy solutions such as solar and wind, we will install our systems at your facility, using our Energy-as-a-Service ("EaaS") partnership contract structure. Without the need for large capital expenditures, you only pay for the power and thermal energy generated."

How could this be appliable to you? Is there a way that you can reliably eat up the risk (without putting yourself in danger), where it would make it a no-brainer for your clients and you could perhaps make even more money in the longterm? Can the output of your product be quantifiable?

Maybe it can't, not every business model works for every product, but then again - maybe it can.
Interesting idea @Tiago - and it just gave me another one. What about Data as a Service for lead gen purposes (and possibly extra revenue), with the water monitor as the end game?

Use the NOAA drought database, together with information on crop market prices, water needs, water costs, etc. to figure out what crops would be profitable. For anything that is borderline profitable, you could "push it over the edge" with the water monitoring system.

There is a Data as a Service thread on the forum here:
 
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Tiago

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Interesting idea @Tiago - and it just gave me another one. What about Data as a Service for lead gen purposes (and possibly extra revenue), with the water monitor as the end game?

Use the NOAA drought database, together with information on crop market prices, water needs, water costs, etc. to figure out what crops would be profitable. For anything that is borderline profitable, you could "push it over the edge" with the water monitoring system.

There is a Data as a Service thread on the forum here:
Yeah, find a way to test it quick and see how the market responds. Glad that it sparked some new ideas.
 

mikemike

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Interesting idea @Tiago - and it just gave me another one. What about Data as a Service for lead gen purposes (and possibly extra revenue), with the water monitor as the end game?

Use the NOAA drought database, together with information on crop market prices, water needs, water costs, etc. to figure out what crops would be profitable. For anything that is borderline profitable, you could "push it over the edge" with the water monitoring system.

There is a Data as a Service thread on the forum here:
Interesting idea - the main issue is that water is exceedingly cheap for most growers. They get water allocations based on their water rights and regulations and cannot 'buy' more water than they're allocated. Thus, saving water costs isn't a driver of sales.
 

mikemike

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Just to share my latest marketing effort - looking to make some funny meme-like images to share on social media. Take a look.
 
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Parks

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Just wanted to give you my 2 cents on your ad that I've received like 6 times so far. Being in a neighboring industry I truly applaud the product itself.

View: https://i.imgur.com/jIXPebM.jpg


I think you need to find a different way to convey your product. The AD just doesn't jump to me and each time I've seen it I just feel like it is not advertising good. Wish I could say more but I don't know how to convey it better myself. Have you guys seen much success with advertising?
 

mikemike

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Just wanted to give you my 2 cents on your ad that I've received like 6 times so far. Being in a neighboring industry I truly applaud the product itself.

View: https://i.imgur.com/jIXPebM.jpg


I think you need to find a different way to convey your product. The AD just doesn't jump to me and each time I've seen it I just feel like it is not advertising good. Wish I could say more but I don't know how to convey it better myself. Have you guys seen much success with advertising?
Thanks for the feedback - I agree completely. Using Google ads it's hard to see what the final advertisement looks like (they automatically do many tweaks using my keywords/phrases).

Overall, we've had 'ok' success with the ads. I'm spending about $500/month on google ads (search and display), and we're getting at least a lead or two a month (which pays for the advertising). I plan to keep these running as long as they break even.

To be honest I need to spend a good chunk of time updating our ads, but currently busy with customer orders and other stuff. When my schedule permits I'll be back into Google ad tweaking.
 

runnaboi

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Awesome product! I am very involved in the ag industry, but not so much products from orchards. A few ideas off the top of my head:
  1. Educate. The content in the case study on the website is very interesting, but very boring to read. Get a professionally designed "white paper" highlighting the results.
  2. "Save the planet" messaging is powerful in this industry. Increasing yields by 15% while decreasing irrigation by 40% is massive for the cause of a healthier planet. The other issue the food industry is facing generally is the growing world population and the need to get more out of the farms without damaging the environment further.
  3. Just guessing here, but would another big benefit be better crop forecasting? This is very important for reduction of food waste.
  4. A long term marketing strategy that works very well in the long term is to market to universities. Try and get your name in front of university students as much as possible. Years back when I had a food product, I marketed to chef schools, and initially thought that it was a waste.... but suddenly students started graduating, ending up in high end restaurants and they didn't even think twice about ordering from us.
  5. Look for charities and non-profit groups whos goal is to promote better farming practices and see if you can some coverage from them.
Mixed thoughts and ideas, but hopefully it can spark some ideas for you. All the best!
 
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