As you know, Farm Equipment magazine is a niche media. A “small but mighty industry” is how I heard it put recently.

Our Farm Equipment serves a small universe by most media standards — with a mailed circulation of 12,450 and average monthly web users of over 67,000 this year. But we’ll agree to that description of the “mighty” buying- and practice-setting influence of our audience. 

Thirty years ago, there were 300 farm publications in the U.S. We subscribed to most of them to operate Farmer’s Digest, a publication Dad produced for 10 years before selling it in 1997. It was his job to excerpt and condense the “best of the best” content for our farm subscribers. Sadly, the next publisher shuttered the magazine’s doors in 2005 after 68 years.

The number of ag publications has dropped by about one-third in 3 decades. A lot of solid ag media choices remain, though all had to adapt or die. Like your business, Darwinism was, and still is, at play in our world, too.

In the machinery space, well, we’re pretty much the only independent source left after we acquired Implement & Tractor in 2015. Yet none of the naysayers could convince us that the universe was too small for a media company devoted entirely to the business of ag machinery. Maybe we’re slow learners, but we also added properties and now produce 4 niche brands in the machinery space — Farm Equipment, Rural Lifestyle Dealer, Precision Farming Dealer and Ag Equipment Intelligence. We also host two national “dealer-only” events, (the Dealership Minds Summit and the Precision Farming Dealer Summit), both which recently started their second decade via a novel “all-colors” model.

Still, the tried-and-true ag media is being challenged by marketers who apparently know better than us “content folks” on how to position ag equipment. I’ll say that very few of this next generation understand the nuances and challenges of the distribution side. Unfortunately, “out of sight and out of mind” also resulted in a loss of respect for dealer distribution.

Ignore the Dealer at Your Peril

One of our salesmen was fond of telling equipment manufacturers, “If you ignore the dealer, they’ll return the favor.” He was right, and some manufacturers learned their lessons the hard way. Some didn’t survive.

I too have had to answer this question: Why should a manufacturer advertise to a distribution channel?

Here’s a few things to chew on:

• To Position Your Equipment the Way It Was Intended. Manufacturers must ensure that their USPs remain in the mind space out there. Consider the stretched-too-thin dealer salesman who is responsible for recommending dozens of products in addition to their major’s combine, tractor and planter. How they can possess even a baseline knowledge about all brands and products makes my head spin. Why not make it easy for them, and for yourself?
• To Move the Used. Every dealer I’ve visited is saddled with off-brand units taken in on trade. Regardless of whose sign is out front, the units sitting there as ornaments to surround growing weeds mean tied-up cash for the dealer. For the manufacturer, it’s also a bunch of parts going unsold as units sit idle. A salesman with a base-level understanding of the product and the brand — and its sweet spot — is far more likely to swiftly move it to its next farm home.
• No Standing Still. Brands are always gaining or losing ground; they don’t stay the same. If a brand isn’t gaining positive ground in the eyes of the key players — like the dealer, where most of the commerce takes place — it’s going backwards. And it’s hard, costly and exhausting to claw your way back.
• New Blood. More than 30% of Farm Equipment’s qualified-by-direct-request audience is new to the database each year. That means nearly 4,000 influential decisionmakers didn’t see the efforts made from a season ago, not to mention a year ago. Assuming that a salesman saw your innovation at the 2013 Ag Connect Show is a stretch, to say the least.

Naturally, objections also involve the expense of marketing, a question on which a mentor of mine — by the name of Jim Rank — prepped me. “Compared to what?” he’d ask. 

Our media-mail distribution is not at all expensive vs. the sunk expense of travel, hotel, meals and the significant “opportunity cost” of salespeople returning from a week on the road with only a handful of 15-minute meetings to show for it. 

Even one of our industry’s gifted “stiff-armers” recently called “uncle” following this recent debate. He eventually yielded that, yes, canvassing the entire industry via a strategic marketing program beats out a “boots on the ground” approach when you factor all the stacked-up costs (including many “hidden costs” including labor hours). And those resources are churned at a more rapid pace by the endless number of farm shows taking place every year and the labor and materials to support them.

The late Jim Rank would also stress to manufacturers that they OWED it to their business, their owners, their employees and their suppliers to get out there and actively promote their specialized innovations. He was skilled at reminding folks what they’d long forgotten — that a better-built mousetrap does NOT result in the world beating a path to the door. Innovations are many, but they don’t get traction without awareness and promotion. (Promotion is still one of the 4 P’s, the last time I checked.)

The Most Important Reason of All

But the biggest reason to work with trade media — like us or the others doing things right — is to support the education and best practices of an entire industry. That endeavor includes, but is not limited to, just your own distribution. Most agree that a well-informed industry is good for all.

Earlier in my career at an industry trade association, I watched the frustration of the elected leadership over some of their peers who sat on their hands (and their wallets) as the industry dealt with critical regulatory, legislation, trade and lobbying challenges. It was a committed few that worked passionately on the industry’s behalf — and its future.

The industry lost a lot of operations in the decade I was there. Incidentally, a lot of those who didn’t make it tended to be in the camp of those who let the other leaders carry the water for them, and who didn’t feel a commitment to the larger industry they were part of.

As a business owner for the past 15 years, I better understand the notion of a responsibility to the greater good. We’re talking about the “what-if” question in which you consider a world where a valued entity no longer exists. Nature abhors a vacuum, so survival and replacement are not assured. Our business has responded by supporting that which we most value — myriad trade and industry associations, scholarships (and support of the faculty), advertising and marketing, and so on. And we want our suppliers to be healthy enough to be around for us tomorrow, too.

If you want to keep something around for tomorrow, Job 1 is to see that it remains viable for today. And yes, it absolutely must be “earned.” 

Every Ag Media Council Channel Study (conducted every 2 years) I’ve ever seen has concluded that the ag trade media —  and the dealer — are the trusted “1-2 punch” that affects change in farming. One sets the table for learning and knowledge of a better way, and the second closes things up and makes it happen in the field. History has shown both are needed in this business.

So IF Farm Equipment is delivering on the promise of industry knowledge (or its watchdog influence) and has earned a place on your desk or device, we hope you’ll give our team a chance to support you as well. We need each other to accomplish what’s needed.