Transforming your farm business through Social Media!
How do you build a 60k+ social media following and pivot your farm business to selling everything direct to consumer?
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Eden from Lancashire Lamb Boxes to find out how they transformed their farm business using TikTok and selling direct to the consumer!
Background
Eden and her partner John don't come from a farming background but through a love of sheep they rent 550 acres of land with fell rights in Lancashire.
They farm 400 ewes and 80 head of cattle - all of which used to be sold through the traditional routes of auction markets and a local butcher.
That all changed with their decision to utilise social media.
TikTok Success
Eden started her TikTok account in January 2022 under the name of British shepherdess and by November that year had 5,500 follower which, through her own admission, she though was "really good".
In the next 8 months her account exploded to over 60k followers (as of June 2023) and they have shipped over 700 orders direct to the consumer since the start of 2023 alone.
I asked Eden what she attributes her success to and very modestly she replied "luck" but I disagree. Here is what I believe to be the 3 main components to their success:
- Eden - Eden herself has become the face of the brand and business. She is energetic, passionate and likeable on screen making it easy to build a relationship with the human behind the product
- TikTok Live - TikTok Lives are a feature of TikTok that allows creators to interact with users and followers in real-time. And Eden is a master at these allowing her to build genuine relationships with customers
- Consistency - whilst it might seem like an overnight success, consistency plays a key part in all of this. Eden and John post and go Live almost daily, reply to all questions/comments and are a regular face on the app
This success on social media has taken them from selling 95% of their produce through auction markets to selling 95% online, direct to the end consumer.
Selling Online
Lancashire Lamb boxes use two main online sales channels: the TikTok shop and their online web shop powered by Shopify. With drag and drop templates and all of the fancy code taken care of, these platforms provide a very cheap way to build a professional looking website and get going online.
Eden and John use a local butcher to process and store the lambs and produce they sell on their shop. Whilst they are still packaging orders themselves, the end goal is to be able to employ someone to help out with the logistics.
Key Takeaways
From a standing start, Eden & John have built a thriving business that is going from strength to strength. Their success has taken a huge amount of hard work but the benefits are easy to spot:
- Improved cashflow - money lands in the bank account before the order is shipped
- Better margins - selling direct cuts out any middle men leaving more margin for the seller
- More flexibility - sale times, and consequently cash coming into the business, aren't just restricted to market days
- More control - over the product, marketing, customer relationship and most importantly, price!
If you want to know more about selling direct to the consumer then check out this previous video:
How to follow:
Lancashire Lamb Boxes and their social platforms can be found here:
- www.lancashirelambboxes.co.uk
- TikTok: @lancashirelambboxes
- John's account: @john_lancashirelambboxes
Go and give them a follow!