10 Tips for Farm Social Media

This guide is intended for those who have existing social media accounts for their farm operations but would like to make their content more effective. It is not a ‘how-to’ guide, but concepts to remember as you are managing your content. There are guides and information available on how to get started with building a page if you are at the beginner level (including the University of Arkansas How to Use Social Media for Your Farm Business workbook¹). Once you have content in place for an account, reference this article to boost your effectiveness. Features and sites change frequently, but the below guidelines have remained constant and should apply across all sites.

According to Pew Research,² over 70% of adults now use at least one social media site. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Google, and Pinterest are most commonly seen in agriculture, but new platforms are continually being used. Often these sites coordinate and integrate with one another. Whatever platform(s) you use, make it effective and something that works for you. Social media is a great way to connect with customers, build relationships and promote your farm. Social media is one marketing tool available, and while it is popular, the important thing is that you set goals for your operation and determine how social media can help promote your farm and activities.

Watch the Introduction to Farm Social Media video.

1. Be Active, Be Consistent

One of the most important factors for a successful social media presence is timely, consistent activity. If there is too little activity, not many people see your page or your posts. Too much activity and you run the risk of being seen similar to spam, and people may tune out your message. Most of the time, there is plenty of activity on a farm to post about.

Often, sites will allow you to draft a post and save it for later when you would like to make it public. This is a great way to create several posts at a time and spread them out so that you are timely and consistent. A step further would be scheduling the post when you would like for it to be public and have it automatically released through a timer. This way, you can be active even if you are out in the field or not in front of your computer. When you have a consistent pattern and time that you post, people start to notice and even anticipate your messages. It is great to have customers looking for your activity.

Watch the Be Active, Be Consistent video.

2. Use Effective Visuals

People love to see beautiful photographs and engaging videos. Baby animal pictures, educational videos, and cooking demonstrations are great attention-getters. It is hard to pay attention to text, especially if it is long or difficult to read. The National Center for Biotechnology Information in 2015 found that the average attention span was around 8.5 seconds.³ It’s difficult to convey a typed message in 9 seconds or less. On the flip side, researchers from MIT found the brain can process images in as little as 13 milliseconds.³

When making a post, try to incorporate something visual. Free stock photos can be effective if you do not have a constant stream of images from your farm. Capturing a customer’s attention will make them want to learn more. After they visit your site, fill them in on other details about your farm. Visuals allow visitors to quickly interpret what you are talking about. They can create an emotional response and engage a viewer’s senses. With lots of content available online, it’s important to be deliberate in how you reach your customers.

Watch the Use Effective Visuals video.

3. Engage with Your Customers and Community

In conjunction with Tip #1, part of your activity will be engaging with your customers and community. Make it a point to engage with producers and organizations within agriculture too. Restaurants, breweries, bakeries, and many other value-added producers are great people in your community to be in touch with. Grower associations, farm bureaus, departments of agriculture, extension, and other ag organizations can also be great advocates for you.

In general, the more followers and friends that interact with your page and posts, the more likely it is to be seen by others. Be creative in coming up with ways to connect with clientele. From a local standpoint, when you engage in the community, potential customers see your page and your activity. You appreciate comments, likes, and shares on your page, so doing the same to others and being a good online contributor benefits everyone. An online presence and word-of-mouth are probably the two most influential marketing tools available.

Watch the Engage with Your Customers and Community video.

4. The Goal is Farm Sales (Not Followers)

Social media is useful to help market and brand the farm. Using it effectively can greatly help you establish a customer base. List your page as a ‘business’ and separate it from your personal account. It is great to have lots of social media contacts, but you want to turn that into sales and revenue for the farm. It would be better to have fewer followers who visit your farm than hundreds of followers who never buy anything. Focus on content that directly and indirectly leads to sales. Encouraging them to visit your farm does not guarantee a sale, but chances are they will find something that interests them.

Make sure your page and posts make it clear how customers can purchase from you. If they find something they like, do not create barriers or difficulties in making a purchase. Make it clear what you have available, hours, location, and ways to buy from you. Occasionally you may point out these details as a reminder, especially for any new followers.

Watch the Goal is Farm Sales (Not Followers) video.

5. Develop Your Brand ‘Voice’

Your brand voice is the tone, personality, and entity that you present online. This voice embodies the personality that is unique and authentic to your brand. Define your why, and show that through your social media posts. Accounts that are consistently engaging, educational or funny are examples of having a brand voice.

People do not buy what you do; they buy why you do it. What drives you? What drives your values? What makes your farm unique? By knowing and showing your why you appeal to consumers and gain their trust. Your brand voice puts a personal touch on the business. An online personality can set you apart from others and help customers identify your brand.

Watch the Develop Your Brand ‘Voice’ video.

6. Be Professional

Treat social media the same way you treat other communication channels. Focus on providing clear information to your audience while giving them an opportunity to interact with your account. Below are some specific points to consider:

• Be timely. Respond to comments and messages in a timely manner.
• Stick to the facts. Ensure posts and replies are based on facts about your farm and not opinions.
• Promote positivity. Negative comments and conversations are oftentimes not productive. Craft a timely, measured response and have someone else read it. If a professional response does not resolve the issue, consider removing the comments or blocking the account.
• Give respect. Consumers are looking for the truth behind their food. It is important to respect them and their beliefs or questions. Keep responses intentional and professional, and they will likely appreciate your honesty.
• Grammar and formatting. Take time to carefully proofread your posts for grammar and formatting. Your posts are a reflection of the business. If they are disorganized or unprofessional, the online community may think your farm business is as well. Stay professional and consistent in your brand voice (Tip #5).

7. Use the Features of the Site

Every social media platform has unique tools that help engagement and can help brand the business. Below are some of the most common features⁴:

• Tagging (@) – Tagging other pages in a post expands your audience to reach followers of that page as well as your own. Tagging helps identify who or what is in a post. It can start a conversation with someone, provide information to viewers, and is an easy way to include others when you post.
• Hashtags (#) – Hashtags group together similar posts, which makes it easier for content to appear in a search. Oftentimes they are used in online ‘conversations’ or can be a fun way to engage customers. If you have a particular hashtag you develop, you can run contests or can see each time a customer used that tag.
• Analytics – Many platforms offer analytics (sometimes called insights) that give data on how well a post is performing. This allows you to see what works well and what does not. Paying attention to this can help hone in on what is most effective for your business.
• Stories – Stories are posts that last for 24 hours. If there is information you want to share, but it will only be relevant for a short time, a story may be a good way to do that. Generally, they are not saved anywhere on the page.
• Live Broadcast – Live broadcasts allow viewers to engage in real-time. They are great for showing current events, hosting sessions, and making important announcements. People can tune in, respond, and share as the event is happening. Videos can be saved and posted so they can be viewed later after the broadcast has ended.
• Automatic Responses – Automatic responses are an easy to respond to customers in a timely manner. You can provide them with relevant information and follow-up later if need be. It is a great tool if someone is not able to monitor the page for a while.
• Linking Across Sites – Many platforms allow you to coordinate and connect your posts. Connecting platforms can make your content more accessible to your audience. For example, sharing a link on your Facebook can direct viewers to your website or YouTube channel. Having a wide reach is an advantage but try to ensure you have one or two sites under control before jumping into several at one time.
• With social media, sometimes less is more. Choose sites and features that work for your farm, your products, and most importantly, your customers.

Watch the Use the Features of Your Site video.

8. Show What’s Happening at the Farm

Less than 2% of our population is directly involved in agriculture, but 87% of US agriculture products sold are produced on family farms and ranches.⁵ Although this disconnect is present, Americans are still interested in food production and have questions about how their food is produced.⁶ Be prepared to answer questions in the comments and be professional and educational with your responses. This could be a great way for someone to learn about agriculture and provide a first impression of your farm.

You can show the public whatever you choose in an image or video format. Keep in mind that posts with forty characters or less result in 86% more engagement than longer posts.⁷ If you have more to say, you can include a link to a blog or the farm website. Your followers may not have a background or understanding of agriculture, but with text, you can give a brief description. Better yet, encourage them to visit so they can understand things first-hand.

Post topics could include (a) activities such as feeding livestock or scouting for pests on vegetables, (b) milestones such as first harvest or years in operation, (c) a public event on the farm, and (d) marketing your products and services through effective visuals. If you are not sure what to post, ask your followers what they would like to see!

Watch the Show What’s Happening at the Farm video.

9. Assign the Account

Keep the voice of your page consistent by designating one person to manage the social media accounts. Assigning a social media manager can help make sure there is consistent and timely activity on the page (Tip #1). If you have multiple people posting on the account, have each person put their name and their position on the farm at the end of the text. Make sure each person knows the brand voice (Tip #5) and how to articulate your brand’s message. Decide, as a farm, what information you do and do not want to share and what you feel is an appropriate response time for messages and comments received. The 2020 Sprout Social Index found that 79% of consumers expect a response in the first 24 hours.⁸ If 24 hours is not achievable for your social media manager, you can set up an automatic reply as mentioned (Tip #7).

A good fit for a social media manager position is someone skilled at technology and spends time using computers and mobile devices. Do not assign social media management to someone who does not have experience or desire to work on the accounts. If you are uncertain of the purpose you want social media to play in your farm business, an assessment is available through the University of Arkansas in the How to Use Social Media for Your Farm Business workbook.¹ This quick assessment can aid in determining who in your business is best suited to manage the social media accounts.

10. Have Fun

Managing your social media accounts should not feel like a chore or a burden! There are lots of fun, interesting, and educational things to share. Lots of times your customers will enjoy the entertainment and have fun with it too.

If social media management is not for you, but you see the benefit of it, you could hire a social media manager or intern. Someone within the family that may be too young to handle other farm tasks can be a great help with recording events, coming up with ideas, and even being part of the posts (kids are usually a hit!). You have complete control of what is shown on your farm page. If you prefer, you can keep your page strictly business, but sharing family activities or fun events that are part of farm life is also OK! Your social media accounts should be a creative and fun outlet to promote your farm and agribusiness.

Watch the Have Fun video.

Additional Resources

Additional resources and program team member contact information are available on the Clemson Extension Agribusiness Program Team website.

References Cited

1. Manning L, Bramall S, Donoghue D, Donoghue A. How to use social media for your farm business. Fayetteville (AK): University of Arkansas; [accessed 2020 Jul] https://poultry-science.uark.edu/research-extension/small-farms.php
2. Gramlich J. 10 facts about Americans and Facebook. Pew Research Center; 2019 May [accessed 2020 Aug]. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/16/facts-about-americans-and-facebook/.
3. Csutoras B. Increase your views 94% with visual marketing. Linkedin, Linkedin Corporation; 2016 Jul [accessed 2021 Apr]. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/increase-your-views-94-visual-marketing-brent-csutoras/.
4. Freberg, K. Social media for strategic communication: creative strategies and research-based applications. Sage Publishing. 2019.
5. Fast Facts About Agriculture. American Farm Bureau Federation. Farm Bureau; 2018. https://www.fb.org/newsroom/fast-facts.
6. Burns C, Macdonald J. America’s diverse family farms: 2018 Edition. U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA; 2018 Dec [Retrieved 2020 Jul]. https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=90984.
7. Jarski V. The ideal word counts for social media posts [Infographic]. MarketingProfs; 2016 Apr [accessed 2021 Apr]. https://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2016/29671/the-ideal-word-counts-for-social-media-posts-infographic.
8. Barnhart B. Why you need to speed up your social media response time (and how). Sprout Social, Sprout Social, Inc; 2020 Jun [accessed 2020 Aug]. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-response-time/.