Marketing is a lot of things, but confusing doesn’t need to be one of them.
If you sell to farmers, you’re probably hearing more about leads, landing pages, CTAs, and SEO than ever before. But what do all those marketing terms mean?
We work with ag input companies every day; equipment dealers, manufacturers, seed dealers, fertilizer suppliers, and we know you’re not interested in theory. You want results, and you don’t have time to decode jargon.
Here’s a breakdown of the most common marketing terms, explained in language that makes sense for people who don’t work in marketing.
A lead is a potential customer. Someone who downloaded a soil health guide, filled out a contact form, or called asking about bulk pricing. They’re interested. They’re not sold yet. But they’re in the pipeline.
This is a focused web page built for one job: collect a lead. Think of it like a clean sell sheet that lives online. No menu. No clutter. Just one product, one message, and a form or button to take action.
A CTA tells your customer what to do next:
SEO is what helps your business show up when farmers Google:
This is paid advertising on Google or social platforms. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Think of it like a trade show booth. You pay for the right audience to see you, and then you wait for the walk-ups.
This is how many times your ad or post was seen. It doesn’t mean they clicked. It just means it appeared in front of them, like seeing your logo at a field day.
CTR tells you how many people actually clicked after seeing your ad or post. If 1,000 farmers saw it and 50 clicked, that’s a 5% CTR. It’s one of the best ways to measure if your messaging is working.
A conversion is when someone does what you wanted:
This is the path farmers take from hearing about your product to actually using it:
If you serve specific counties or regions, your business should show up when farmers near you search:
“Where can I buy foliar nitrogen in [my town]?”
Local SEO helps your Google Business listing show up on the map with accurate info, reviews, and directions.
A CRM helps you track all the contacts, conversations, and follow-ups with growers and dealers. No more sticky notes or guessing who you talked to. It’s a digital notebook with lead tracking.
This means someone visited your site and left right away. High bounce rates usually mean your site was slow, confusing, or didn’t answer what they were looking for. It’s like someone walking into your office and turning around.
Most farmers are on their phones. If your site doesn’t work well on mobile, you’re missing a huge chunk of your audience. It needs to load fast, look clean, and be easy to click—even with dirty gloves.
These are links from other websites pointing to yours. If a trusted ag blog, dealer site, or industry partner links to your page, it signals authority to Google—and helps boost your rankings.
Blog posts answer real farmer questions:
Email is still one of the best ways to stay in front of farmers. Short updates, trial data, or a seasonal reminder can turn a past customer into a current one.
This is how you track what’s working. Which pages got the most clicks? Which ads turned into leads? It’s like a yield map, but for your marketing.
This helps Google better understand your site. It tells search engines:
On social media, engagement is everything. Likes, shares, comments, saves; these tell the algorithm that people care. The more they engage, the more visibility you get. It’s not just about going viral, it’s about being relevant.
You need a partner who can explain the digital world in plain language and help you use it to grow your business. At Fastline Marketing Group, we help ag input companies get real results from SEO, social, email, and advertising.
You don’t have to learn the lingo. You just need someone who speaks ag and marketing.
Want help?
Let’s talk.