Agricultural News
Beef Gets an Upgrade to Reach New Audiences in the Digital Age
Thu, 28 Jul 2016 20:34:08 CDT
Times are changing and the beef industry is no exception. As consumers change so must producers in how they market their product. Meredith Stevens of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) is working the frontlines to facilitate those changes needed, bringing beef into the digital landscape.
A few years ago, the Beef Checkoff was spending its promotion dollars almost entirely on traditional media in print and radio. Stevens says they started to see a shift in their target audience. She explained that the older Millennial parent demographic started to explode. Their buying power was much more significant, they started to have children of their own, and with that began providing food to their families. Research showed that beef was not always being introduced to their children, which she asserts could ultimately be translated into less beef purchases by these future consumers.
"What we learned about them, was their use of technology. And they are online all the time," Stevens said. "So we shifted based on producer feedback and decided very strongly that we've got to go digital. We have to be where the consumer is."
Now, Stevens says the Checkoff has swapped radio for streaming radio and print for social media properties like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. Search engines like Google, are the most effective methods to meet their priority goals as well, which Stevens narrowed down to reach and engagement with consumers. They are applying their resources to consistently keep beef at the top of internet searches as well as top of mind for consumers. They accomplish this by continuously measuring digital analytics and optimizing their platforms to navigate and cater to consumer interests.
"Consumers want to know everything, but they want to know, what they want to know," Stevens said. "So we need to have all the information accessible but allow them to kind of pick and choose for what they're looking for."
Stevens says among many other projects being planned, Beefitswhatsfordinner.com will actually be going through a consolidation in the near future to better meet consumer needs and provide more information on current hot topics such as recipes, nutritional benefits and how beef is raised.
Listen to Meredith Stevens talk more on how NCBA and the Beef Checkoff are working to engage consumers in the digital age by clicking the LISTEN BAR below.
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