Stop wasting time on posts that don’t perform. Here’s what’s going wrong — and how to turn things around.
Introduction: The Frustration is Real
You’ve tried posting photos from the paddock, staff updates, maybe even a few product promos — but your posts barely get seen. Engagement is low. Sales aren’t budging. So… what’s the point?
You’re not alone. Many agribusinesses feel that social media doesn’t yield the desired results. But it’s not because social media doesn’t work for agribusiness – it’s often due to common pitfalls that can be addressed with the right strategy.
After working with agribusiness across all parts of Australia, we’ve realised there are a few common reasons your social media efforts might be falling short and wanted to provide some practical solutions to help you connect with your audience and achieve tangible results.
The 5 Most Common Reasons Your Social Media Isn’t Delivering
1. You’re Talking to Everyone … and Reaching No One
You’ve got followers from all walks of life – industry peers, the local footy club, maybe even your mum. But the people you actually want to reach – buyers, contractors, distributors, or future staff – aren’t engaging.
Imagine you’re a fencing supplier posting about an upcoming seasonal promotion. It gets 12 likes and zero enquiries. Why? Because most of your followers aren’t decision-makers – or they don’t understand what you’re selling or why it matters.
Without a clearly defined audience, your content lands flat. Your posts lack relevance, and you end up speaking into the void.
Fix: Start with a strategy that defines your ideal audience and builds trust. Identify who your customers are, what they care about, and tailor your content to address their specific needs and challenges.
At Wright Social, we help clients develop buyer personas tailored to the agribusiness sector. That might include:
- Contract buyers for bulk hay or feed
- Farm managers looking for tech or inputs
- Regional event coordinators
- Growers seeking quality seed
When you know who you’re talking to, your content becomes sharper, more relevant, and more effective. And when your message resonates? That’s when the phone starts ringing.
2. You’re Prioritising Presence Over Purpose
You’re posting regularly – maybe a photo of the new delivery truck, a drought update, or a staff birthday. But behind it all, there’s no clear reason why you’re posting.
Let’s say you’re a rural fencing contractor. You’ve shared 20 posts this quarter – great photos, great jobs. But none of them mention that you now install solar powered farm gate openers. Meanwhile, your competitor just landed a contract because they did.
Consistency is good – but random posting won’t move the needle if it’s not tied to a business outcome.
Fix: Set specific goals for your social media efforts and create content that supports these objectives.
Purpose-driven content is powerful. That means aligning your posts with goals like:
- Attracting new contract opportunities
- Educating clients about new services
- Reaching the next generation of employees
- Building brand loyalty in the community
We work with our clients to build content calendars that map directly to their business goals. Here’s an example of how we build social strategy into agribusiness operations.
3. Your Content Doesn’t Match How People Use Social Media
You’re putting effort into your posts – long captions explaining your methods, links to your website, or event recaps – but people scroll past them.
Think about how your own thumb moves when you check Facebook after work. You stop when you see something that makes sense to you, is entertaining, relatable, or triggers an emotion – not a static brochure on merchandise deals.
Yes people use social media to research products and check reviews but more often than not they are using social media passively, without intention. Meaning, iIf your content feels too much like a brochure, it won’t stick.
Fix: Create short-form, value-packed content that grabs attention and builds connection.
The most effective agribusiness accounts are using:
- Short-form video (like paddock-to-plate Reels)
- Time-lapse or behind-the-scenes snippets in Stories
- Text overlays and trending audio
- Light-hearted, authentic posts that still showcase expertise
One Wright Social client – an association of primary producers – started using short-form video to place growers front and centre of a consumer-focused campaign, and helped flip the community’s attitudes toward imperfect fruit.
If you’re not sure where to start, our post on short-form video strategy for agribusiness brands breaks it down.
4. You’re Not Playing to the Algorithms (or Analytics)
You post a few times a month, maybe more during sale peak periods. You add a few hashtags and hit ‘publish’. But beyond that? You’re not sure what’s working, or why.
Imagine you’re a stockfeed company putting out excellent product posts – but you always post them at 6am on Sunday, when your audience is off-grid. You don’t look at post reach, or follower growth. So even if something does work, you wouldn’t know.
Social media algorithms reward consistency, relevance, and interaction. Without understanding those levers (and what your audience is actually engaging with) you’re guessing.
Fix: Post consistently, use platform features properly (like hashtags and tagging), and review your analytics to understand what content performs best. Adjust your strategy based on these insights.
Even basic insights can dramatically improve performance. At Wright Social, we regularly review:
- Best times to post
- Top-performing content types
- Which posts lead to actual website clicks or enquiries
- Audience growth by region or job title
From there, we test and tweak. One client saw a 10x increase in social media engagement, after executing our strategy, as well as increases in traffic to key product landing pages, and a significant uplift to the information exchanged between the brand, agronomists, consultants, and growers.
You don’t need to become a data nerd. But you do need to look at what’s working, and keep doing more of it.
5. You’re Doing It All Yourself … and Burning Out
Social media started out as a “quick job”, but now it’s a source of stress. You’re already running payroll, managing livestock schedules, staffing issues, admin… and now you’re meant to edit videos too?
We see it all the time. A farm supplies business hires a marketing assistant straight out of uni. They post enthusiastically for 6 weeks – then ghost the feed for months because no one else has time to support them. The brand looks inactive, and potential customers lose interest.
Or worse – the founder’s doing it all. At 10pm. After a 14-hour day.
Fix: Consider partnering with professionals who understand agribusiness and can drive real results.
You don’t need to do it all.
Whether it’s full-service content support, leadership and development of your social media strategy, or just a quarterly reset to get you back on track – Wright Social exists so you don’t burn out. We’re not just “posting for likes” – we’re helping agribusinesses scale their message, reach the right people, and grow.
What ‘Fixing It’ Looks Like
At Wright Social, we specialise in helping agribusinesses connect with their audience through strategic social media marketing. Our approach includes:
- Strategy First: We begin by understanding your business goals and target audience to develop a tailored social media strategy.
- Content that Connects: Our team creates engaging content that resonates with your audience, from eye-catching visuals to compelling copy.
- Industry Expertise: With an understanding of the agribusiness sector, we know how to communicate your value effectively.
Conclusion: Social Media Can Work for Agribusiness
Social media is a powerful tool – when used with the right strategy. The good news? You don’t have to figure it out on your own.
Ready to see real results from your social media efforts? Book a FREE 30-minute Strategy Call with our team today and discover how we can help your agribusiness to move from “online” to dialled in outcome of “build trust, increase visibility and generate leads from your agri rural customer”.
Note: For more insights on building trust through social media, check out our article on 7 Key Questions Agribusinesses Are Asking Before Hiring a Social Media Agency in 2025.
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