It is critical to analyze and implement an online marketing strategy to build brand awareness leading up to the sale. Yes, that means social media and website updates.
Quite frankly, if online promotion isn’t part of a ranch’s marketing strategy, potential buyers and sales are left on the table. And in an industry with already tight margins, no stone should remain unturned. Survey data from Forbes showed that 72 percent of Americans use some sort of social media daily—that’s quite a big chunk of the population scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and several other platforms every day. It’s a fair assumption that quite a few farmers and ranchers fall into that figure as well. Hypothetically, if you learned that 72 percent of bull buyers read the Red Angus Magazine, wouldn’t that entice you to advertise every month?
The key to an online marketing strategy is the promotion of an entire brand, not just one single event. Take for example Chevrolet’s annual employee pricing sale that takes place in December. While its marketing department heavily promotes that specific sale leading up to and during it, the brand doesn’t disappear or stop its marketing efforts once the sale is over. Chevy has a consistent marketing strategy to keep its line of trucks and cars in front of potential buyers year-round.
In fact, that kind of strategy is so successful that the communications department at the Red Angus Association of America (RAAA) has adopted it as its own over the past several years, striving to keep Red Angus in the media spotlight on a consistent basis to ensure name and brand recognition 24/7 year-round.
If it works for Chevy and the RAAA, it will work for individual ranches too, and you don’t have to have a huge advertising budget to make it happen. Brand awareness can be developed on social media with a little bit of creativity and time.
Unsurprisingly, whenever the subject of social media comes up in a room of ranchers, there are almost certainly two reactions. Facebook and/or Instagram are ridiculous; that’s no place for ranch promotion. Or, social media is so big and intimidating; where should I even start?
The first thought is 50 percent accurate—social media can be a huge mess on any given day. However, there is absolutely still room for promoting a ranch online. Just by having a Facebook or Instagram profile for their business, producers can carve out a spot to promote their ranch and share their practices, activities and, when the time is right, a finished sale catalog for buyers to peruse.
Conversely, there are some who genuinely wish to dip their toes into online promotion yet feel overwhelmed, which is understandable. To get started and ease some of the anxiety, create a Facebook page for the ranch and focus on posting three to four times per week to get the feel for it—don’t worry about Instagram, YouTube or the rest of the gamut until you feel that you’ve got the Facebook page under control.
Another common misperception is that content must be “viral” for it to be valuable—that couldn’t be further from the truth. Pictures of summer/fall ranch work, branding, chopping silage, calving season, etc., are all great examples of content and photos that can be shared outside of sale season to pique interest in an operation. Another way to approach the “what to post” conundrum is to think about what kind of content you find appealing, and then try to mimic or create similar content to share.
Another common objection to utilizing social media is the lack of time needed to take photos, write captions and post consistently. Again, this is understandable but can be worked around with a little bit of strategic planning. Are you spending all day moving cows across pastures? Get out that phone and take lots of photos of the crew, cattle and horses from several different angles. Those photos can be used anytime there is a lack of “something interesting” on the ranch. The same rules apply for hauling hay, working with kids on the ranch, riding around in the feed truck, etc.
Fill up your phone with photos, and then choose one if you’re feeling uninspired or short on time. Facebook also has a great scheduling tool that allows multiple posts to be scheduled days or weeks in advance.
These tactics are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to social media, but nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished immediately. Taking small steps, consistently, to build ranch and brand awareness online will ultimately lead to a broader audience and more potential buyers. And who knows, you might even like it!
For more answers to the burning questions about the world of social media and digital promotion, contact brandi@redangus.org to set up a consultation with Red Angus Creative and get started with your own spotlight strategy. — Brandi Buzzard Frobose, RAAA editor and director of communications
