Farmzz Blog
How to Track Farm Performance on Farmzz: The 3 Numbers That Predict Whether Your Marketing Is Working
Patrice had been sending notifications on Farmzz for two months. Every Tuesday morning, like clockwork. His subscriber list was at 210 people. Sales at his stand in the Outaouais region felt good—but were they growing? Was the time he spent on notifications actually paying off? He had no idea. "It feels like it's working" was the best he could say when his wife asked if the $65/month was worth it.
Then he opened his Farmzz performance dashboard for the first time. Three numbers jumped out: his subscriber list had grown 34% in those two months. His notification open rate averaged 47%. And based on the weekly report data, he estimated his notifications were responsible for roughly $1,200/week in additional stand traffic. Suddenly "it feels like it's working" became "each notification generates about $600 in sales."
That shift—from guessing to knowing—changed how he ran his marketing. He doubled down on QR codes at the market because the data showed subscriber growth spiking on Saturdays. He started sending notifications on Thursday evening instead of Tuesday morning because the data showed higher open rates later in the week. Each decision was backed by a number, not a hunch.
What you'll learn
- The 3 key metrics that predict farm marketing success
- How to read your Farmzz performance dashboard
- What healthy benchmarks look like for each metric
- How to use weekly reports to spot trends
- Specific actions to improve each number
- How to estimate the real dollar value of your notifications
The 3 numbers that matter most
Your Farmzz dashboard tracks several data points, but three numbers tell you almost everything you need to know about whether your marketing is working. Think of them as vital signs for your farm's customer communication.
1. Subscriber growth rate — How fast is your audience growing?
2. Notification open rate — How many subscribers actually read your messages?
3. Subscriber-to-visit conversion — How many subscribers show up at your stand after a notification?
Each metric tells a different part of the story. Growth rate measures your reach. Open rate measures your relevance. Conversion measures your revenue impact. Together, they form a complete picture.
Metric 1: Subscriber growth rate
Your subscriber growth rate is the percentage increase in your subscriber list over a given period. If you started the month with 200 subscribers and ended with 240, your monthly growth rate is 20%.
This metric tells you whether your QR codes, word of mouth, and profile visibility are doing their job. A healthy growth rate means new people are discovering your farm and opting in for updates. A flat or declining list means you're not attracting new subscribers as fast as old ones are dropping off.
| Monthly growth rate | What it means | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Below 5% | Stagnant—your list isn't growing | Add QR codes to more locations, ask customers verbally |
| 5–15% | Healthy—steady organic growth | Maintain current strategy, optimize QR placement |
| 15–30% | Strong—word of mouth is working | Keep doing what you're doing, expand to new markets |
| Above 30% | Exceptional—rapid audience building | Focus on engagement to retain new subscribers |
How to improve subscriber growth:
- Place QR codes at every customer touchpoint (market table, packaging, receipts, signage)
- Ask satisfied customers verbally: "Want to get a text when we pick?"
- Post your Farmzz profile link on Facebook and Instagram
- Add your QR code to any printed materials (business cards, flyers)
- Import existing contacts you haven't added yet
Metric 2: Notification open rate
Your notification open rate is the percentage of subscribers who open your notification email. If you sent a notification to 300 subscribers and 135 opened it, your open rate is 45%.
This metric tells you whether your messages are relevant and well-timed. A high open rate means subscribers are interested in what you're sending and you're reaching them at the right moment. A low open rate means either your content isn't compelling, your timing is off, or you're sending too frequently (or not frequently enough).
| Open rate | What it means | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Below 20% | Low—subscribers are tuning out | Improve content, reduce frequency, segment your list |
| 20–35% | Average—room for improvement | Test different send times, add product photos |
| 35–50% | Good—subscribers find your messages useful | Maintain quality, experiment with targeting |
| Above 50% | Excellent—your audience is highly engaged | You're doing it right. Focus on growth. |
How to improve open rates:
- Include products with photos in every notification (boosts visual appeal)
- Send at optimal times (Tuesday/Thursday mornings or Thursday/Friday evenings tend to work best)
- Keep your catalog fresh so notifications feature current products
- Use subscriber categories to send targeted messages
- Don't oversend—1–3 notifications per week is the sweet spot for most farms
Metric 3: Subscriber-to-visit conversion
This is the metric that connects notifications to revenue. Of the subscribers who open your notification, how many actually show up at your stand or farm gate?
This metric is harder to measure precisely because Farmzz can't track physical foot traffic. But you can estimate it. After sending a notification, count your customers on the next market day or track your daily sales. Compare notification days to non-notification days. The difference is your notification-driven traffic.
A rough estimate: if your notification gets a 40% open rate to 300 subscribers, that's 120 people who read your message. If 25% of those readers visit your stand, that's 30 additional customers. At an average sale of $28 per visit, that's $840 driven by a single notification.
How to improve conversion:
- Include specific, time-sensitive calls to action ("First come first served, open tomorrow 7 AM")
- Feature your most in-demand products with current photos
- Create urgency with limited availability ("Only 50 baskets available")
- Include your location and hours in every notification
- Send notifications 12–24 hours before your market day
Reading your weekly performance report
Farmzz sends you a weekly performance report summarizing your key metrics. This report is your dashboard in digest form—a quick scan tells you how the previous week went.
What the weekly report includes:
- Subscriber count — total and change from last week
- New subscribers — how many people joined your list
- Notifications sent — how many you sent and to how many recipients
- Open rates — per notification and weekly average
- Unsubscribes — how many people left your list (and whether that's normal or concerning)
Healthy farms see more new subscribers than unsubscribes each week. If the reverse happens consistently, something needs to change—usually frequency (too many messages) or relevance (wrong content for the audience).
Using the day-by-day chart to spot trends
Your Farmzz dashboard includes a day-by-day chart showing subscriber activity and notification performance over time. This view is valuable for spotting patterns you'd miss looking at weekly totals alone.
Patterns to look for:
Subscriber spikes on market days. If you see jumps every Saturday, your QR codes are working. If Saturdays are flat, you need to improve your QR code visibility at the market.
Open rate trends over time. A gradually declining open rate suggests content fatigue—subscribers are losing interest. Refresh your approach: new product photos, more specific messaging, or try sending at a different time.
Unsubscribe spikes. If a bunch of people unsubscribe the day after a notification, examine that notification. Was it too long? Too frequent? Irrelevant to part of your audience? A spike after one notification is data. A spike after every notification is a problem.
Seasonal patterns. Engagement naturally peaks during high season (June–September) when produce is abundant and customers are actively shopping local. A dip in March doesn't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong—it may just mean there's less to buy.
Estimating the dollar value of your notifications
This is the question every farmer wants answered: "Is Farmzz actually making me money?"
Here's a simple formula to estimate the revenue impact of each notification:
Notification revenue = Subscribers × Open rate × Visit rate × Average sale
Let's say you have 300 subscribers, a 40% open rate, a 25% visit rate, and an average sale of $28:
300 × 0.40 × 0.25 × $28 = $840 per notification
If you send two notifications per week during a 20-week summer season, that's 40 notifications × $840 = $33,600 in notification-driven revenue over the season. Against a Farmzz cost of $65/month × 12 = $780/year, that's a 43:1 return on investment.
Even if your numbers are more conservative—200 subscribers, 30% open rate, 15% visit rate, $20 average sale—you'd still see $180 per notification, or $7,200 per season. The math works at almost every scale.
Use the Farmzz revenue calculator to plug in your own numbers and see your estimated ROI.
A weekly performance review in 5 minutes
The best-performing farms on Farmzz don't obsess over their dashboard. They check it once a week, look for one thing to improve, and move on. Here's a quick weekly routine:
Step 1 (1 minute): Open the weekly report email or your dashboard. Note your subscriber count and whether it went up or down.
Step 2 (1 minute): Check the open rate on your last 1–2 notifications. Is it above or below your average? If it's below, think about why—timing? content? products featured?
Step 3 (1 minute): Look at unsubscribes. One or two per send is normal. A spike means something about that notification didn't work. Don't panic—just note it.
Step 4 (2 minutes): Pick one thing to try differently next week. Maybe send at a different time. Maybe feature different products. Maybe try a different call to action. Just one change. Track the result.
That's five minutes. Over a 24-week season, that's 24 small improvements. Each one might only move the needle 1–2%, but compounded over a full season, those adjustments can double your notification effectiveness. The farms that grow fastest aren't the ones with the biggest budgets—they're the ones that pay attention to the data and make consistent small improvements.
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Frequently asked questions
How often should I check my performance dashboard?
Once a week is ideal for most farms. After each notification, glance at the open rate to see how it performed. Then do a deeper review of all metrics weekly—ideally on the same day each week so you can compare apples to apples. The weekly report Farmzz sends makes this easy to do without even logging in.
What's a good open rate for farm notifications?
35–50% is good. Above 50% is excellent. For context, the average email open rate across all industries is about 21%. Farm notifications typically perform much better because they're timely, relevant, and from a business the subscriber has a personal relationship with. If you're below 25%, focus on improving content quality and send timing.
Some subscribers unsubscribed. Should I be worried?
Not necessarily. A small number of unsubscribes after each notification is normal—typically 0.5–2% of recipients. People move, change diets, or simply lose interest. That's fine. What's concerning is an unsubscribe rate above 3–5% on a single notification, or a consistent upward trend in unsubscribes over time. That signals you're sending too often, sending irrelevant content, or both.
Can I see which specific subscribers opened my notification?
Farmzz shows aggregate metrics (how many opened, click-through rate) rather than individual subscriber tracking. This protects subscriber privacy while still giving you the data you need to make smart decisions about content, timing, and targeting.
How do I know if my QR codes are working?
Check your subscriber growth chart for spikes on market days. If you see a jump every Saturday (your market day), your QR codes are converting visitors into subscribers. If you've named your QR codes by location, you can also see which specific codes are generating the most sign-ups.
What should I do with the data from my dashboard?
Use it to make one small improvement each week. If your open rate dropped, try a different send time next week. If subscriber growth stalled, add a QR code to a new location. If one notification got a 55% open rate and the next got 28%, compare what was different (timing, products, message length) and learn from the winner. Small, data-driven adjustments compound into significant improvements over a season.