Meet Sam, a 36-year-old farm manager from upper south east, SA:
- Sam manages 2000 acres (mix of cropping and cross bred ewes)
- Medium rainfall (average 450-550 mm/year)
- He’s tertiary educated and has worked on a few farms since landing this job
- He’s a member of his local CFS
- He’s done an RCS grazing course and is involved with his local benchmarking group
- He’s a hard worker, manages day-to-day running of the farm – farming is his future
- Sam appreciates time off the farm and likes time with his mates
- He’s involved in the local footy club – his wife works at the local bakery and brings home free tucker (and they’re due for their first soon!)
What does Sam want as a farmer? He wants to…
How does Twitter help him solve his problems and reach his wants and goals?
Before we can generate leads from people like Sam on Twitter, we not only need to know what Sam wants, but we also need to understand why and how someone like Sam uses Twitter!
Knowing this will help you craft a Twitter strategy to gain Sam’s trust and introduce your business to Sam in a way that is relevant to his current and future needs.
When I talk to people like Sam about Twitter, they say they love it more than Facebook because:
- It’s their industry (not family and friends)
- It’s a relevant feed you can interact easily with
- It’s quick! Who doesn’t know a grower who doesn’t thrive on action?!
Twitter helps Sam:
- To access advice to get stuff done
- To make smarter decisions and to solve problems that he comes up against the day
- To make new quality connections
- To stay connected with his mates
- To be entertained
- To simply, farm better.
The thing you’ll notice with farmers and Twitter is they operate in tight-knit groups.
How do you join the conversation and convert efforts to a sale transaction if you are an ag brand?
For individuals who represent their business on Twitter as the owner or sale agent, relationship building becomes easy – show up daily, give value, join the conversation, share solutions and people will reach out you. For brands, you need active sale champions, supported by a strong content strategy and a way to funnel your customers from talk to sale.
Each business is different, but I do hope the below advice can offer you a starting point.
As a general rule I recommend generating 60-70% of tweets that offer up great content that builds trust and authority. The other 30-40% of tweets lead to direct call-to-actions for products/services. This is not always easy because it takes an investment in time and resources to develop content that will truly help your customer move closer to their goals and position your brand as the trusted choice.
If you are serious about taking your tweet activity above and generating leads, here are some ways to do it:
- Use brand listening tools so you can identify keywords and mentions to enter the conversation already happening in Sam’s mind
- Build strategic lists of prospects and develop the right relationships more easily (using Twitter lists is completely free!)
- Download your Twitter lists and serve engaged prospects a targeted ad with a call-to-action to your offer. This approach ensures your message hits the right person at the right time in their buying journey
To learn more, catch the webinar hosted by Beef Central and lead by Heidi Wright “Twitter for Agribusiness 2020”.
