This is taking teating, er, I mean tweeting to a whole new level. Not only are dairy farmers getting social but so are dairy cows. From our World Dairy Diary site:
Wondering what your cows are thinking? Well, a group of Candain Holsteins is telling the world through Twitter, exactly what they are mooing about. Called “The Teat Tweet“, the project comes from the University of Waterloo’s critical media lab. You can visit this website to follow all 12 Holsteins on Twitter.
“As far as we know they’re the only cows tweeting,” said former LaSalle and Windsor resident Marcel O’Gorman who is behind the University of Waterloo’s critical media lab project.
The tweeting cows are poking fun at the popular Twitter network and are meant to push people to think about where their food comes from and the high-tech nature of farming.
“Hey human, I just pumped out 9.3 kg for your pleasure. Show me some love,” says a recent tweet of dairy cow Attention Please referring to her milk output.
It’s obviously impossible for the hoofed animals to tweet without the aid of a computer but by approaching the robotic milker, the cows do trigger a tweet. The Holstein cows have radio frequency ID tags which tell the computer whether the cow is ready for milking and the computer records how much, how fast and even which teat pumped out milk the fastest.
Dairy Management Inc. is conducting a webinar on social media for dairy producers in a couple weeks.
Dairy producers who use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to stay connected with family and friends, and producers who want to learn about these tools, are encouraged to participate in a free 90-minute webinar on Thursday, April 15 to learn how these applications can be used to share positive dairy stories and communicate with consumers about modern dairy farming practices.
Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI), which manages the national dairy checkoff program, launched the myDairy Social Media program in 2009 to help dairy producers and dairy enthusiasts use social media proactively to share their dairy stories and counter negative or misleading information about the dairy industry. The myDairy program currently mobilizes over 1,000 dairy enthusiasts from across the country to engage in social media networks, building a strong, positive online dairy presence to help counter misinformation and maintain public confidence in dairy foods and the people who produce them. The myDairy program provides tips to navigate and use popular social media sites, along with key messages to incorporate into dairy stories, and opportunities to connect with other dairy enthusiasts and the general public.
“Consumers want to hear about the dairy industry first hand from dairy producers and social media provides an opportunity to communicate effectively with a large audience via one platform,” said David Pelzer, senior vice president of strategic communications at DMI.
To register for the webinar and/or to become a myDairy advocate and learn more about the program, email myDairy@rosedmi.com.
One producer who is out in front on this is Will Gilmer, Gilmer Dairy Farms. Here’s his latest MooTube Minute:
When I speak on the subject of social networking I first try to get my audience to think of how they interact socially with others when they’re together. A good example is at a conference cocktail party. You form little groups of people who discuss topics of common interest that may include business or personal issues. Right? From there I think it’s an easy step to understand that all these online social networking services do is allow us to do the same thing, only electronically, easily, freely and when/where we want to. Does that make sense?
So, there’s nothing magic about it although I think many agrimarketers either believe there is or hope there is. Many can’t get beyond the idea of social networking as just another way to push people to their web page and when that doesn’t happen they turn their nose up at the use of social networking to promote their business. But keeping my example above in mind how popular would you be if you walked up to several people at a cocktail party and started telling them to go to your website and buy your product? I think you’d find yourself alone in a hurry.
So how do you use social networking to benefit your business in a meaningful and worthwhile way? You use it to carry on a conversation with your fans/followers/friends/contacts. It’s called engagement and it’s a two way street. If you can interact and contribute in a meaningful way to the conversation then you can gain trust and that will lead to more business.
To better understand how people use social networks I would recommend you read “Understanding Users of Social Networks” from the Harvard Business School. Here’s an excerpt that might help explain why these online networks have grown so large.
“Online social networks are most useful when they address real failures in the operation of offline networks,” says Piskorski.
They can address some basic search failures: “It’s hard to know what my friends are up to, but online I can catch up with them quickly.” But they can also fix bigger search shortcomings, such as those related to establishing new relationships.
The article includes some interesting comparison information for Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. It may surprise many of you how significant MySpace still is. According to the article there are about 70 million MySpace users logging in each month compared to 90 million for Facebook and 20 million for Twitter. The researcher quoted in the article has a good blog post on this subject.
One of the things to keep in mind is the differences in demographics for the different social networking communities. Who do you want to reach? Is one more suited to your business or audience? The bottom line is that social networks are good vehicles to promote yourself and your business. But you need a strategy and I don’t think that strategy should be to use them just like you would a traditional media ad buy.
I have recently become a Facebook fan of a cool group, Farm2U. This page is made by farmers and ranchers and is written for consumers. With informative news articles, personal farm stories and positive messages, Farm2U is designed to bolster consumer confidence and trust in America’s food supply once again.
With 1,691 fans to date, Farm2U describes itself as, “A place to connect with farmers and ranchers and ask questions about why we do what we do to grow and raise food for you.”
Represented in this fan page are several folks within the agriculture industry including: a grain farmer, cattle rancher, dairy producer, hog farmer and even moms. What a great way to utilize social media in order to share the positive message about agriculture with consumers! Check it out!
So we’ve gone from wondering if social media was just a passing fad to a general acceptance of its existence and usefulness. At least most people who haven’t closed their minds to reality have. So, let’s just say your company or organization is in the acceptance mode. What’s the future hold? What do you do next? Many of you don’t have a blog, Twitter account or Facebook page but you’re about to. Aren’t you?
First of all I highly recommend working with someone who not only says they understand social media but is actively engaged with it. Do they have a Twitter account themselves? I’ve seen some “experts” out doing presentations and consultation with inactive social networking of their own. That should be considered a reason to go with someone else (Like oh, let me see. Me!). Okay. Enough of that.
As your online social media consultant, let me point you to a new article on eMarketer about the future. The first paragraph says a lot.
In the few short years that social media has been a marketing vehicle, it has already had an enormous effect on the way companies do business. In the coming years there will be even more changes, as social media marketing extends from the marketing department to nearly every aspect of a company’s business.
That’s right. It’s not just for marketing purposes although social media is a fantastic tool to be using to connect with and engage your customers and members now. Let’s look at one example of how a company is integrating social media into their marketing campaign now. This is from a USA Today story about the Olympics and social media/advertising. They picked four companies to highlight how they’re moving to more social media. Visa. About 40% of its Olympic marketing funds will go to digital, four times the past share, marketing chief Antonio Lucio says. It created a YouTube channel where its six Olympic spots can be seen before they air on TV. Folks can pick their favorite and enter to have their name appear in the ad.
Have you thought about how you’re going to integrate social media into your marketing campaign? Are you afraid of it? What’s your major concern? Is it the production of the content? If so, there are companies like ours you can turn to for help with everything from writing to audio and video production for the web. I dare say the costs will be significantly less than a major national advertising campaign using traditional media tools. In fact, if your company or organization doesn’t have a big budget this could be your opportunity to make a big impact without breaking the bank.
So, looking into the future I only see more and more applications and growth for social media. I think it’s all about creating information your customer wants and engaging with them where they are. That’s online and on their phone and includes farmers as well as consumers. New technology like the iPad and increased broadband capability will continue to drive a move towards communications that we’ve never seen before. Because what the technology is allowing us to do is communicate like we want to and that’s conversationally as opposed to being forced to see or listen to information on another person’s schedule. That’s why this is growing and not a fad.
I’m joining you today from Frankenmuth, MI, where I’m attending the 2010 Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference as a speaker. This afternoon, I spoke at the Partner’s Program on social media. I provided tips and tricks for sharing the agriculture story through elevator speeches, blogs and social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.
I spoke about the challenges I face on my family’s cattle operation, in trying to make the transition back home. I discussed ideas for interacting with consumers and sharing those challenges to give them a better idea of who we are and where we come from. I offered ideas for making habits to tell the positive story about the food production story with consumers.
Overall, it was a great session, and I really enjoyed working in the Partner’s Program. There is nothing better than great people, educational sessions and free ice cream and chocolate milk!
How many times have you gone to a conference and found yourself constantly having to pick up a new program because you lost the one you had?
Well, the International Poultry Expo has made things easy this year with an iPhone app. The IPE app is free and gives attendees access to all events and exhibitor information right on their iPhones. The app is available from Apple’s app store by searching for “IPE”. It’s a great way of using the latest technology in a very practical way and giving attendees a paper-free way to always know how to find exhibitors or where the next event is being held. Pretty cool! I expect we will be seeing that a lot more at conventions.
AGCO is providing a great example of how to integrate social media and networking into their communications strategy and to learn more about what they’re doing I spoke with Sue Otten, Director, Corporate Communications & Brand Communications Worldwide. In our conversation we talk about why the company has invested in very active social communications channels. Sue says that it’s a great way to “learn” from their customers and target a new demographic too.
As you can see in this image from their homepage they’ve put the spotlight on their Facebook page where you can see photos and video from their participation in AG CONNECT Expo. They’re working consistently to create online content relevant to their products and their customers.
One of the recommendations Sue makes is to not be afraid to get started with social media. She says that there are some great consultants out there who can help you too. I’ll use this opportunity to make a little plug for Todd Lohenry with e1evation, Inc. who has worked with AGCO.
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Social media and networking continues to be the hot topic in agricultural communications and every other industry too for that matter. How do you measure it is the question I get most often these days and I pretty much say, “Don’t.” Don’t? Yeah. Don’t. There are so many measuring points that I’m not sure where you start. How do you set a baseline and what are you comparing numbers too? The reality is that numbers aren’t what social media/networking is all about. It’s about engaging with your customers and members. And let’s face it, are you actually setting goals and expectations anyway? Just asking . . .
You’re wanting an example. How about Dell Computers? Here’s an excerpt from a post written by their Chief Blogger. Dell.com, Support.Dell.com and the Dell Community Forum all pre-dated our social media activity. Looking at our online success in all those places, the fundamentals were clear for us. The web was an ideal place for us to connect directly with customers. Social media brought that and something more—a way to listen, learn and engage with customers, with a clear emphasis on the engage part of the equation, It allows us to further those direct connections with customers while also sharing what we are all about, making technology work, work better and harder for you.
Let me give you a personal example of how this works that just happened to me. I posted a message on Twitter asking for a recommendation for a good ergonomic office chair. Almost immediately I got a reply on Twitter from Steelcase: @AgriBlogger Looking 4 chair recs? Consider Steelcase. Leap & Think R most ergo. Cobi & Amia R gr8 2. http://bit.ly/5zZQvX Hope ths helps!
I checked the link and although I haven’t made up my mind yet I appreciate the personal notice and link to something I might want to purchase. Is using Twitter worth it for Steelcase? I’m thinking so. BTW. I’ve already received other recommendations from friends, followers and contacts in Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn since my Twitter post updates all my profiles.
For the third year in a row the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has conducted an in-depth and statistically significant study on the usage of social media in fast-growing corporations. The study is titled, “Social Media in the 2009 Inc. 500: New Tools & New Trends.” I’m guessing agribusiness companies will follow this trend and it is a real trend since they now have good comparative data over several years. Here’s an excerpt from their report: Social networking continues to lead the way. The technology that continues to be the most familiar to the Inc. 500 is social networking with 75% of respondents in 2009 claiming to be “very familiar with it” (compared to 57% in 2008). Another noteworthy statistic around familiarity is Twitter’s amazing “share of mind” with sixty-two percent of executives reported being familiar with the new microblogging and social networking platform.
The adoption curves for different social media technologies are not all the same.
Interestingly, while social networking and blogging have enjoyed growth in actual adoption, the use of message boards, online video, wikis and podcasting has leveled off or declined. The addition of Twitter (considered by respondents to be both a microblogging site and a social networking site) in the latest study shows that an amazing 52% of the Inc. 500 companies are already using this tool for their business.
Regardless of the particular technology, social media matters and is here to stay.
Forty-three percent of the 2009 Inc. 500 reported social media was “very important” to their business/marketing strategy. And an incredible 91% of the Inc. 500 is using at least one social media tool in 2009 (up from 77% in 2008). In addition, as they ramp up their usage, the Inc. 500 companies are also seeking to protect themselves legally, with 36% having implemented a formal policy concerning blogging by their employees.
Let’s end the year with something new. FarmConnect.net. It’s a new social networking site created “by farmers for farmers.” The farmers are Mike and Laura Murphy who own a small family farm in South West Michigan and raise beef and lamb on pasture. The old saying goes, you should find a way to make your passion your work, and FarmConnect.net is just that. Mike previously taught E-Commerce at the Illinois Institute of Technology, so FarmConnect.net was the perfect way to combine his passions for farming and Web technology. FarmConnect.net allows you the option of signing up for your own blog, creating your own groups and discussion forums (either public, private, or hidden) to help spread the word about agriculture to your families, friends, and communities.
If you use Twitter, you will love FarmConnect.net, because it gives you so much more room to say what you want to say than that little box!
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting recently released its latest Internet Usage Study. Cindy spoke with Ted Haller at their convention and I thought I’d have a chat with him about it too since the organization sent our a release on it last week. You can download a pdf with some of the key findings of the study on their website (pdf). The survey explores producer activity and preferences in accessing the Internet for agricultural business information, as well as use of texting and social media. Specific to broadcaster interests, it also probes interest in e-newsletters and the preferred content of agribusiness-focused Web sites.
Among key findings noted by Haller in the new research:
the Internet is revealing “quintiles” of usage — a sign of what Haller calls “settling,” with indications of core usage in the low range of 20 percent and the high range of 50 percent, depending upon the specific online behavior/activity surveyed
those producers using the Internet are very active, for the most part, with e-mail, weather, markets, and futures the top draws
unlike other media, “what I do not do” is still a larger number than “what I do;” but the “I do’s” appear to be in normal quintiles and represent an attractive target
As you’ll hear Ted say in our conversation, traditional media options like radio will not go away. However, the use of the internet by farmers will only continue to grow and these numbers are proof of that. He also describes how useful the internet is now to companies with a limited budget and those who have a “big budget” and are now spreading it across more media options.
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PC World has an article out titled, “2009: Year of the Social Network.” In it the point is made that we saw social networks like Twitter and Facebook show that they aren’t just for techies but everyone who wants to be connected with others who share their interests. The growth in these networks has been phenomenal.
Perhaps most significant is that companies in various industries started to see how social networks can help boost business even in a recession.
That’s even true in agribusiness as we’ve seen the rise in the number of farmers and companies employing social media channels to communicate. I would describe a lot of it on the company side as experimental and in some cases perhaps just a token effort as if by having a Twitter account they “get it” and can now get back to “the way we’ve always done things.” It’s my opinion that when a company doesn’t think social media is worthwhile it’s because they don’t have a commitment to it and have internal skeptics who go out of their way to portray any effort at utilizing social media as a poor use of resources, often dredging up statistics that are in reality comparing apples to oranges.
But there are a growing number of companies (I include ad agencies here) who are finding social media mechanisms enhance their overall communication strategy. I think we’ll see a lot more do so in 2010 and by the end of next year we’ll have a lot more data to show how well these channels are working, even in agribusiness.
ZimmComm has had the honor and pleasure to consult with and help in the creation and production of social media for many agribusiness organizations. We’re ready to do so again in 2010. Keep us in mind if you need help or would like to include us on your communications team.
You know social media has become part of the ag communications world when you start seeing top ten lists like this one from Fastline (Part 1 and Part 2). I’m honored to have been selected for it and congratulate all the folks listed. There are many, many people now using social media like Twitter and all the other channels to tell their story and that includes farmers who want the public to better understand them and their business.
Social media has really taken the world of agriculture by storm in 2009. The ag community on Twitter has blossomed substantially and there were some standouts that Fastline has named our Top 10 Ag Twitter Users of 2009.
There are so many people in agriculture that have gotten involved with Twitter and social media in 2009, it would have been impossible for us to list them all. However, each of you plays an important role in telling agriculture’s story and we appreciate all that everyone does. Keep up the great work and keep working hard for ag.
If you like to eat – thank a farmer on Twitter today.
On Twitter, many agriculture advocates are taking part in tweeting the hashtag #thankafarmer, and are planning to tweet today from 10 am through 12 pm CST. Twitter users are beginning to express their gratitude with a #thankafarmer twibbon. Here you can see Chuck’s Twitter pic proudly displaying his twibbon.
The twitter efforts are just a small way to recognize and thank farmers for the abundant food they provide that is both safe and affordable. They are also completely committed to the land on which they farm and care very deeply about their communities, environment, land and animals, something that is often overlooked.
If you are a Twitter user and unable to tweet because of previous commitments, please sign yourself into Twuffer, a twitter service where you can time your tweets. This document contains links to different websites that are advocating for US Farmers and some tweets to get you started.
Since I was just on the subject of social media I thought you might enjoy this video that kind of puts it all into perspective for you unbelievers. You know who you are. You’re probably the same people wondering if farmers will ever use the internet or if it’s just a passing fad.
You’ll find lots of great examples in the video and on the blog.
Let’s meet one of the columnists for the United Soybean Board’s Expert Advice. She’s our good friend from AgChat, Michele Payn-Knoper. You can find her first Expert Advice column now on the United Soybean Board website. I spoke with Michele during her recent travels via Skype to learn more about how she got involved in the project and what she will be “teaching” soybean growers. Michele founded Cause Matters Corp., a company designed to give a voice to the people who feed the world using social media. Here’s an excerpt from her first column: Farming the Online Community: Your Guide to Social Media
Facebook. YouTube. Twitter. LinkedIn. Digg. Farmers. Wait – how do farmers fit with all of these new-fangled tools? Welcome to 2009 and the age of social media. Studies show that four out of five online Americans are active in some form of social content at least once a month. Believe it or not, you’ve been a part of the Web 2.0 social media revolution if you’ve been on e-bay, blogs, photo sharing websites or forums interacting with others. Now it’s time for you to tap into social media to impact your bottom line though access to soybean and other market intelligence, technical expertise, discussions with other farmers and consumer thought patterns about farming.
You can listen to my interview with Michele below.
Nicholson Kovac has once again documented what agrimarketers know intuitively. This time it’s about veterinarians. The agency just released its Veterinarian New Media Usage Study. It has some interesting findings that should help make marketing decisions using new media easier to justify.
The Veterinarian New Media Usage Study provides comprehensive insight on the use of new and social media among veterinarians – including Internet usage, social networking and mobile phone activities − for business and social purposes.
“This eye-opening research shows that veterinarians are using a number of new tools to communicate with their customers and staff. Many of them send text messages to practice or clinic staff and other veterinarians,” said Sheree Johnson, Nicholson Kovac’s senior vice president, director of media services. “We also found it interesting that text messaging may serve as a customer service tool – a growing number of veterinarians, especially those who work with large animals, are also sending texts to their customers, possibly about the status of their animals.”
The afternoon panel discussion at the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference included David Cleavinger, a fifth-generation Texas farmer/rancher. He talked about how producers can use a combination of social media and personal connections to bring greater understanding of the importance of agriculture in their lives. This is part two in the Paulsen Marketing video interview series. They are also the sponsor of the NAMA Blog.
Commodity Classic took place in Anaheim, CA. You'll find all of Chuck, Cindy and Joanna's photos here.
Happy Ag Week
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
In this week's program I interview Linda Tank, CHS, Inc., who is Chair of the Agriculture Council of America, the group coordinating National Ag Day. Learn more about their activities, especially this week in Washington, DC.
This is taking teating, er, I mean tweeting to a whole new level. Not only are dairy farmers getting social but so are dairy cows. From our World Dairy Diary site:
I have recently become a Facebook fan of a cool group, 
I’m joining you today from Frankenmuth, MI, where I’m attending the 
Well, the International Poultry Expo has made things easy this year with an iPhone app. The IPE app is free and gives attendees access to all events and exhibitor information right on their iPhones. The app is available from Apple’s app store by searching for “IPE”. It’s a great way of using the latest technology in a very practical way and giving attendees a paper-free way to always know how to find exhibitors or where the next event is being held. Pretty cool! I expect we will be seeing that a lot more at conventions.
For the third year in a row the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has conducted an in-depth and statistically significant study on the usage of social media in fast-growing corporations. The study is titled, 
Let’s end the year with something new. 
The survey explores producer activity and preferences in accessing the Internet for agricultural business information, as well as use of texting and social media. Specific to broadcaster interests, it also probes interest in e-newsletters and the preferred content of agribusiness-focused Web sites. 
You know social media has become part of the ag communications world when you start seeing top ten lists like this one from Fastline (
On Twitter, many agriculture advocates are taking part in tweeting the hashtag #thankafarmer, and are planning to tweet today from 10 am through 12 pm CST. Twitter users are beginning to express 
their gratitude with a 
Let’s meet one of the columnists for the United Soybean Board’s 
Nicholson Kovac has 
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
