Agriculture and Social Media

Expanding Extension Programming

Andy Kleinschmidt OSU Extension Educator

Technology

• Agriculture has been blowing the doors of technology with amazing advances• Herbicide-resistant crops• Bt technology in corn• Advances in food safety• GPS technology, autosteer• Who is telling the positive story?

• Extension has always been doing some amazing work. How to market the positive aspects of ag biotechnology and Extension?

>>One answer is social media<<

What is social media?

• Everyone has a role in sharing news, observations, knowledge, research, innovation, ideas, etc etc etc

• Only minimal technical requirement, but large social requirement to make SM work

• We now have a huge capacity (ala Facebook and others) to express, share and converse

• It affects anybody that has a message to get out to anywhere in the world. Obviously, this includes Extension.

Why social media?

• The tea leaves are very strongly pointing towards Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Linkedin, Buzz, Wave, and real-time collaboration/real-time networking

• If you want to have a conversation, address a group, or share information you must be available

• Social media allows you to be available and part of the conversation

• Important: YOUR AUDIENCE IS NO LONGER THE CONSUMER OF INFORMATION BUT ALSO THE PRODUCER OF INFORMATION

• Improve SEO - I cannot stress this enough, and you'll see this mentioned a couple of times in the presentation

• Connect with clients and those NOT familiar with Extension

• Influence

Why social media?

Extension Can Be Great(er)!

Let me give you the TED example via Luckie & Company

TED went largely unnoticed for two decades until they began sharing their talks online, now 200+ million views.

Takeaway: use social media to share excellent resources, content is king (Extension has GREAT content), "find the line between offering value and giving away the store"

The hardest part is starting...

Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthamm/

Where to begin?

• I believe blogs are incredibly powerfulRepository of information; searchable and

built-in archiveNearly realtime (get info out of your inboxes)Does remarkably well for SEOGreat stats, measure of impactTwo way communication, allows for

commentingYou become accessible

Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/somewhatfrank/

I’ll discuss framing a complete strategy at the end of the presentation, but for now I’ll start with blogging:

1.Great SEO

2.No character limits

3.EASY

agvanwert.wordpress.com

Began May, 2008

Blogging Case Study Success

Step 1: write post about smartphones on the farm (March 2009)

Step 2: contacted by John Sutter of CNN (@jdsutter)

Step 3: CNN article called Twittering From Tractor-Smartphones Sprout on Farm

How did this work? Answer: SEO

Blogging Case Study Success

• My ‘Aha!’ moment with blogging came in October, 2009.

October, 2009

Issue 2 post success

• Extremely timely

• Controversial issue

• Unbiased

• SEO ‘Ohio Issue 2’ in google

Blogging Case Study Success

• Tweet turned into shirt

• Proceeds donated to Ohio 4-H (approx $200)

• Sales hosted on blog

• Cost = $0

• SEO; agriculture shirt

Blogging by email. Dead. Simple.

• From email inbox to blog in 2 minutes.

• Requires: blog AND mobile email

• Consider using Posterous

Great info is useless sitting in your inbox…

Marketing your colleague's work

1. Peggy Hall, author

2. Posts are pumped to my twitter and facebook

3. I do nothing, other than rip the initial RSS into a feed

Advertising/Marketing Your Blog 

How do you get the word out about your blog?• Twitter, Amplify, Facebook easily #1 for me (non-search

engine)• Many communities have online newspapers, make sure

your blog is connected.• Optimize, be sure to write for search engines • EXTREMELY rapid turnaround of information -- try to be

first to get the information out• Backlinking, link sharing• Forums - Sean Hannity Forum, ATV Forums, AgTalk• Blog directories - I've had good luck with Alltop• Stumble, Digg• Enough is never enough

 

•

Incredible variety!Notice:

1. Twitter/Facebook *gasp* work! Not toys2. forums important

3. Local too! (vwindependent.com)

Successful blogging tips

1. blog regularly, at least once a week

2. get your blog talking to your facebook, twitter, linkedin, amplify, or whatever SM strategy you are using

3. write for clients, but also write for search engines

4. be an authority5. be topical and timely6. evergreen

7.    backlinking is good8.    'push to post' via email9.    use schedulers for blog       posts 10.  niche, specialization  11.  make yourself accessible12.  be transparent and        conversational

Focus on Blog TITLE too...

Original post title- "How to Start a Blog"What's wrong with this title? It is pure vanilla; there is very little meat in this title that would make me want to click on the title and read more.

Better post title- "Building a Popular Blog: 4 Simple Steps You Must Do"Why is this better?

source: http://kleinschmidt.posterous.com/write-a-killer-title-with-this-short-formula

Focus on Blog Title (con't)

Here is a formula that you can use to write great headlines~

[create a sense of urgency] + [convey brevity] + [show specific value]

Put as much thought into your title as your content.

source: http://kleinschmidt.posterous.com/write-a-killer-title-with-this-short-formula

• using more than one channel/stream shortens engagement curve

• there are so many channels available 

• figure out your social media objectives and engage in as many platforms that make sense

Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/

Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/

Caveats

I spoke much about blogs, but let me say that the tea leaves are not pointing to blogs as the new media. Frankly, blogs have been around for years and some have moved on from long blog posts. "Attention Crash"

Average American visits 110 domains/month and 2,500 webpages in that same time. So, if you want to be one of those websites that are visited, you must be visible in the places where people are spending time and be visible to search engines. 

Time is finite, and so is your ability to share data. Use wisely -> short posts and visual (infographics)

TOS and Liability

• You should become aware of your university/business policies

• Realize that you may be on your own with regards to liability.

• Your employer is not agreeing to the TOS, but you as an individual are agreeing; this absolves your employer from liability of your actions

My Strategy

1. Blog is my hub

2. Spokes are:youtube Amplifyphotobucket QIKtwitter friendfeedfacebookLinkedin

3. …for now

Social Media Business Card

1.http://socializedcard.com/2.http://card.ly/ **3.http://twtbizcard.com/4.http://www.retaggr.com/5.https://magntize.com/ (what I use)

Source: Dailybloggr

Conclusions

Be EVERYWHERE

Consider adopting different stories for each SM tool.

Make sure EVERYTHING is discoverable with search engines = SEO, SEO, SEO (yeah, it’s important)

No bullhorn, no preaching. Be pro-active and host the conversation.

Remember, don't look at the technology. Look at the social mix.  Start with the strategy, then use the correct channels.

more conclusions

Eric Schmidt (Google CEO): Mobile Is The Future, And There’s No Such Thing As Communication Overload

BE PATIENT!!!!

May be a bit harsh, but if you are not using some of these tools, you are not staying relevant.

Your Social Media Plan

“Set up a twitter, facebook, youtube, blog and wait for the magic… Fail.” – Mani Karthik, SEO Specialist, Flip Media, Dubai

Final thought...

"If you're new to Twitter [blogging, Facebook, SM, etc] and it feels like no one hears you, stick around. It takes a while, but so worth it."

- Scott Stratten aka @unmarketing