Course Outline

Module 1: Foundations of Agribusiness Marketing & Knowing Your Customer

• Shifting mindsets: from producer to marketer

• The marketing mix (4 Ps) applied to agriculture

• Conducting simple market research: identifying customer segments, needs, and willingness to pay

• Analyzing competitors and finding your market niche

• Exercise: Profiling the ideal customer for your own farm or product

Module 2: Product, Brand & Value Proposition Development

• Developing your product offering: quality, consistency, packaging and presentation

• Crafting a compelling Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

• Basics of branding: creating a name, logo and story that connects with customers

• Communicating value for specialty, organic or ethically produced goods

• Workshop: Defining and refining the value proposition and brand story for a participant's product

Module 3: Pricing Strategies for Profit

• Understanding costs: fixed, variable and full cost of production

• Pricing methods: cost-plus, value-based and competitor-based pricing

• Strategies for tiered pricing (e.g., wholesale vs. retail, bulk discounts)

• Psychology of pricing and effective communication of price

• Practical Exercise: Calculating the break-even price and setting a target selling price for a sample product

Module 4: Sales Channels & Promotion

• Mapping the route to market: from farm-gate to export

• Pros and cons of different channels: local markets, aggregators, supermarkets, restaurants, online sales

• Building relationships with buyers and negotiating sales

• Low-cost, high-impact promotion: social media, word-of-mouth, sampling, farmer's markets

• Role-Play: Making a sales pitch to a potential retail buyer or distributor

Module 5: Creating Your Marketing Action Plan

• Integrating the 4 Ps into a coherent strategy

• Setting measurable marketing objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)

• Budgeting for marketing activities

• Developing a seasonal marketing calendar

• Final Exercise: Each participant drafts a one-page marketing action plan for their business to implement in the coming year, followed by peer feedback.