The Rural Voice, 2019-04, Page 33text 100 times over.”
Berry agrees. “It has to have a
visual ... maybe a dynamic
individual, or a few photos, or short
clip of video,” she says.
Facebook Live has become very
popular. Content isn’t expected to be
highly produced. Ward referenced
Kristen Hampton who does a bit
called Product Test Tuesdays. Where
does she video it? In her car office. It
is very simple but authentic
because of her personality
and her approach.
It’s important to “find
your voice” said Ward.
When considering how to
present Foodland Ontario,
Ward knew they wanted the
voice to embody warmth,
community and fun. So they
include playful, mix in
“warm and familiar” and
wrap it with “intelligent and
connected”.
Tone is also important.
Again, referencing Foodland
Ontario, Ward say they
wanted to refer to Foodland
as “we” instead of “I”.
Formal words like “are not”
were replaced with
contractions. Enthusiastic
“we love” is good but
expressions like “totally
awesome” are over-the-top.
Also, responses were
prompted with questions
like “doesn’t that look
delicious” instead of asking for
interaction with statements like
“share with your friends.”
Within each social media platform
are options, such as Instagram stories
which Ward says tend to linger
longer than a static photo. In terms of
selling direct, Facebook Marketplace
is like Kijiji and allows sellers and
buyers to connect. You can also
create a VIP group to make exclusive
offers and control the output and
input.
When it comes to output, there are
easier ways of doing things. Ward
says she categorizes what she wants
to include by “building buckets.” For
Foodland, these buckets (or themes)
are breadth, farming, resource, depth,
culture and holidays.
“I deliberately curate my
information that way,” says Ward.
With these buckets in mind, she
then creates a content calendar.
Every month, she fills in the squares
to include a post about farmers, or
resources, or holiday feasts of
culturally diverse foods.
“I can do this in advance because I
know what works. It takes me about
half a day for all channels. Then I
can spend the rest of my time
reacting to real-time stuff,” Ward
explained.
Engagement is key, says Berry.
“Social media is not just a checkbox.
It has to be responsive,” she says.
How successful all the planning
and posting is can be checked with
analytic data, reminded Ward. This is
important for an effective approach.
Don’t forget to use your own
contacts, says Berry. “Our first great
resource is our community,” she
says. “It is okay to self-promote. It
maybe gives you a sick feeling in
your stomach but ask your friends
and family to like your page and
engage. If you have something cool,
tell people! If you have done great
work be proud of it and share it!”
When you share, use hashtags.
They can help direct the audience
and create a conversation. In terms of
marketing success, Ward said she
couldn’t “hang her hat” on them but
they can work and are just plain fun!
Other tips Ward and Berry offered
to maximize social media included:
• Influencers (social media
personalities) can promote product
by photographing themselves using
it. Just make sure their brand is one
you want to be affiliated with.
• Use scheduling tools and apps
like Hootsuite to serve as a
dashboard to automatically post your
information and track responses.
Other scheduling apps include Zapier
and If Then This That (IFTTT)
• Another question to ask is
“when”. Ward sees a spike in
Foodland Ontario posts after 9 p.m.
(44 per cent) and a smaller spike
after lunch (16 per cent). No one is
looking at it on Saturday mornings.
• Ward says remember to manage
your social platforms. It can take 10
minutes if you are efficient. Take a
look at direct messages and
notification in the morning and
afternoon and respond. “You will get
a lot of return for that.”
• Paid ads, or boosts on Facebook
are effective. Facebook has tutorials
on how to use boosts.
• Berry says blogs are becoming
the new media; the new person
people turn to for a credible voice
and a source of information
Upcoming trends that Ward
revealed are the use of chatbots.
Chatbots will create auto responses
to frequently asked questions.
Augmented reality ads, such as
allowing you to apply a shade of
lipstick to a picture of your face, will
become more popular. There will
also continue to be more crossover
between platforms.
Kaitlyn O’Neill, a marketing
coordinator with Roberts Farm
Equipment, who was taking the Grey
Ag Services course to get a broader
understanding of social media, said
the concept of a content calender will
be really helpful.
“I know I spend too much time
thinking up things every day. This
will really streamline it,” she says.
Her co-worker at Roberts,
Brittany Blakely, a precision farming
specialist, agreed. “I really needed a
greater knowledge of the tools to
target our intended audience in less
time. This will help.” ◊
April 2019 29
Social media is more than a checkbox. It
needs to be responsive says Victoria Berry,
Communications Manager for Grain
Farmers of Ontario.