Since I started this blog about two weeks ago, there has been an increasing amount of talk about Social Media within the Agricultural and Horticultural communities. It seems like more people are picking up on it every day, and there is an article in almost every trade magazine about how retailers should incorporate Social Media into their marketing strategy. It’s nice to see that people are starting to pick up on this new trend, whether or not businesses will increase their Social Media use has yet to be determined.
One thing I have seen lately in several magazines and articles that I STRONGLY disagree with is that some businesses should not waste their time with Social Media because it would be of no use to them. Most of the stuff out there right now is saying that Social Media is important for retailers and companies that are working with consumer facing brands, and that’s about it. How can anyone that truly understands the essence of Social Media actually suggest something like that? It’s because these people see Social Media as a tool simply to sell sell sell. While I agree it is a great tool for selling a product, I know that Social Media is so much more than that. It is a constant stream of real information about current market status. Analyzing Social Media allows companies to have access instantly to millions of consumer opinions within a matter of seconds.
Take the Horticultural industry for example. I saw an article the other day that suggested that Facebook was only a useful tool if you had a garden center and you wanted to offer promotions. I challenge this, and say Facebook is useful to every level in the industry, from breeders all the way to the consumer. Everyone knows (and if you don’t by now you should look it up) how the marketing channel works .In horticulture it wouldn’t make sense for breeders to be breeding plants that consumers won’t buy. Therefore consumers need to influence breeders in some way. What better way to do this than through Social Media? If you searched around for five minutes you could find hundreds of things that consumers are looking for in new plants. People are always talking about the plants they wish were out there (and the ones they wish that weren’t).
For growers a simple reason to use Social Media would be to showcase their product. Facebook is an easy platform to store pictures and create albums. That way when a retailer wants to know what a grower has in availability they don’t have to go through a catalog but rather pop open an app on an I-Pad and show the retailer all kinds of pictures of products being showcased in different ways. Then later if the retailer wants to see the list again they just go back to Facebook to look things over.
Lastly, the biggest reason Social Media is useable by everyone is it is fast to setup and use and it is FREE. You pay nothing to get your content into a form of media that gets millions of more visitors than any trade magazine. Sure you might have to have someone “waste” ten minutes setting up a Facebook account. However, I assure you no matter who you are or what your business is, that ten minutes is being well wasted.
I challenge you today if you have a business think of how you could use Social Media in some way. If you can’t think of anything send me an email and I guarantee I can come up with a way that Social Media can benefit your business. Also as usual feel free to comment or email (mday55@gmail.com) with any comments, suggestions, or questions. I hope to see a lot of you at the OFA Short Course this coming Sunday!
What did the potato say to the computer? “Nice Chips!” Ok I know that one was rough. Ha-ha
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