University of Maryland Extension

mastering marketing

Don’t Eat a Third Hand Tomato; Come to the Farmers’ Market

Farmer selling produce (tomatoes, beans, cabbage) at a Farmers' Market
Mastering Marketing - Special Edition 2020 STOP! Before you take another bite, you might want to consider that your food choices have a much bigger impact than you could ever imagine. Nothing beats the flavor of field-ripened Maryland tomatoes harvested at the height of their ruby blush. These...

The Ripple Effect

Water ripple
Mastering Marketing - Special Edition July 2020 Marketing trends usually address a category of products that are gaining in popularity or address a niche group of consumer wants or needs. While marketing strategies address how to implement your marketing plan to your target customers. The marketing...

Adjusting Direct Marketing to Selling On-line, a 24-7 Opportunity

Online shopping box sitting on computer keybord
Masterning Marketing - Special Edition June 2020 A shift was already underway to ordering food online in America, prior to the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. online grocery sales grew 22% in 2019 and, propelled by high demand from nationwide COVID-19 lockdowns, stands to surge about 40%...

Pivot to Bundling Products to Increase Sales

Basket of Vegetables, Photo by Fran Linden, Freeimages.com
Mastering Marketing - June 2020 The new buzz word in marketing is “pivoting. A pivot in business usually occurs when a company makes a fundamental change to their business after determining (usually through market research) that their product isn't meeting the needs of their intended market. The...

Collaborative Marketing-A Process; Not an Event

Putting puzzle pieces together
Mastering Marketing - Special Edition May 2020 Many traditional and seasonal marketing channels have been closed or greatly modified by the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Producers and craft foods entrepreneurs have pivoted to online sales and on-site recommended safety protocols to...

You’re Going to Need a Different Marketing Plan

Picking up the puzzle pieces
Mastering Marketing - March 2020 According to online sources, "May you live in interesting times" is an English expression which purports to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. Everyone can agree that these are indeed “interesting times” and feels like every day brings more negativity...

Finding Customers-Changing Demographic and Market Research Skills

magnifying glass
Mastering Marketing - February 2020 Everyone likes to point to “Millennials” as the customer base we must now tailor our products, services, and delivery logistics to satisfy. No doubt, their purchasing preferences have heralded in a demand for more convenience in their shopping options (online...

Can SMART Ever Be Dumb??

SMART goals
Master Marketing - January 2020 December is often a “Slam” month for most direct marketers. Holiday sales, year-end inventories to conduct, annual profit projections, and the final push of multiple last quarter marketing initiatives that were often launched even before Halloween. The major goal is...

2019 USDA Direct Marketing Summit

USDA Direct Marketing Summit, Chicago, IL.
Master Marketing - October 2019 Earlier this month I attended the 2019 USDA Direct Marketing Summit held in Chicago, IL. I had the opportunity to display one of the 22 poster presentations featured at the summit. My poster featured the Maryland Rural Enterprise Development Center’s Website, its...

Sell the Sizzle

Steak
Mastering Marketing - September 2019 A new global survey of consumer sentiment about the people who put food on our tables indicates that there is a lack of understanding of how providing safe, affordable food arrives, according to a new study from Cargill Inc. A majority of the respondents in the...

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