Marketplace di Facebook: Strategi Komunikasi Pemasaran Hasil Pertanian pada Masyarakat Saribudolok Kabupaten Simalungun

Abstract

This research is titled Marketplace on Facebook: Marketing Communication Strategies for Agricultural Products in the Saribudolok Community, Simalungun Regency. It is a qualitative descriptive study aimed at understanding the marketing communication strategies of the Saribudolok Village community in promoting agricultural products on Facebook Marketplace and identifying factors that need improvement in promoting these products on the platform. The theories applied include Communication, Marketing Communication, Advertising, New Media, Facebook, and Marketplace. The informants in this study are divided into two groups are main informants and key informants. Main informants consist of members of the Saribudolok Village community, totaling four informants. Key informants consist of communication experts from the Department of Communication Sciences, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of North Sumatra, totaling one informant. A purposive sampling technique was employed for data collection through interviews, and data validity was ensured through data authentication. The findings indicate that the main informants do not have significantly different marketing strategies, but the use of Facebook Marketplace is highly effective in expanding market reach and increasing overall income. Some differences in strategies were observed, including the utilization of agricultural buying and selling groups other than Facebook Marketplace by some informants. The research also revealed several challenges in marketing products on Facebook Marketplace and in the buying and selling process, such as price uncertainty and inconsistency with conventional market prices, leading to buyer distrust. To address these challenges, key informants recommend that traders understand and master the platform and employ unique branding in their advertisements.