Use Social Media To Get Your Message Out
March 8, 2012 
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are already well aware of the vast power, and the potential, of social media. It’s also clear that the produce industry is taking notice. If you’ve attended any winter meetings or trade shows the past couple months, you’ve probably seen that there have been multiple presentations on topics such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Along with our team of editors, I sat in on quite a few of these presentations, and there were two things I noticed pretty quickly: First, the meeting rooms have been filled to capacity with the young and the old, as well as experienced social media users and newcomers.
The second thing I noticed was that several of these presentations ended up turning into group discussions, with questions coming from all directions. “How can I keep track of all this?” “What’s the difference between a ‘tweet’ and a ‘post’?” “Am I allowed to show videos of my customers?” And, invariably, “Why do I need to bother with this?”
If there’s one thing that’s obvious, it’s that the amount of users within each of these social media options is virtually endless.
My younger sister is an active Facebook user, and she recently posted a message about her love of pistachios: “Pistachios are the best nuts; they’re the bees’ knees!”
Just imagine if she was following your farm on Facebook or Twitter, and posted a similar comment after visiting your operation. Her message would be shared among her many friends, who would hopefully agree with her and perhaps even post their own praise. It’s hard to find a more effective, fast-spreading, and (even better) free marketing technique. As an added benefit, you could be hitting a younger audience, the next generation of fruit and vegetable consumers. As my colleague David Eddy noted in a recent column, once kids learn how sweet and delicious fruit can be, they will in all likelihood become consumers for life.
What you may not realize, however, is that sites such as Facebook can be more than just tools for marketing purposes. They can also be life-savers for your business and your industry, especially during challenging times.
During the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market Expo in Grand Rapids, MI, this past December, Benjamin Chapman, a food safety Extension specialist at North Carolina State University, gave a talk on how to communicate a message about produce safety during a recall or any other health scare. Chapman’s talk was not limited to social media, but he did offer several helpful tips:
• First, be proactive, and engage in the discussion while a crisis is occurring. “A company that is not forthcoming with information sets itself up for loss of trust.”
• During a crisis (even one that does not directly affect or link back to you), talk about the science, discuss risks, and tell the interested public about what is known or unknown, and what is being done about it.
• Saying “I’m sorry” is not an admission of guilt. If a crisis of any sort is linked to your farm, announce right away that you’re planning to deal with it.
• Have a “dark” website ready to launch at any time that states your response and follow-up action to a recall. This will save you the trouble of scrambling at the last minute.
• If any bad news about your farm, or the crops you grow, is presented on a social media platform, use that same platform to deliver your response. As an example, Chapman pointed out a YouTube video in which two (now former) Domino’s Pizza employees showed themselves acting inappropriately in the workplace. The response from Domino’s was another YouTube video which outlined the sanitation practices emphasized at each store location.
• Finally, if there was media attention around a crisis event, the one-year anniversary will often garner further coverage. An organization must be able to demonstrate that they have learned something or changed their practices in response and assess internally whether the same risks to public health exist.
The bottom line is, whether you want to use social media for marketing purposes or as a business management tool, it’s critical to stay on top of all your options. You have a wide audience to connect with, and all you have to do is get started. If you’re unwilling to do so, or are perhaps intimidated, at the very least, hire someone who can do this for you. You’ll be glad you did.
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