While everyone knows they can use Facebook to connect with old friends or share photos with family, I am not sure how many dairy breeders realize what a huge impact having a Facebook page can have on marketing your dairy cattle.
Recent research shows how influential Facebook has become in our daily lives. Here are seven reasons why your dairy farm needs to be engaged on Facebook:
- 77,000 Dairy Farmers On Facebook
Sure there are over 350 million global users on Facebook, with Canada having the highest percentage penetration in the world. However, what matters more is how many dairy farmers there are. According to Facebook, there are 77,000 dairy farmers on Facebook, with most 50,000 of them in the USA. - It’s Part of Our Daily Lives
According to Facebook statistics 50% of active users log in every day. Most cannot go without at least checking their Facebook page once or twice a day. - Average Facebook User Spends 55 Minutes Per Day
That’s nearly 1 hour per day, per user. That is longer than it takes most dairy farmers to read most monthly dairy magazines. That’s a lot of Facebook time. - Average Facebook User Has 130 Friends
Talk about a great way to get your message to a much larger audience. Facebook and social media have the power to go viral. Got a hot 2 yr. old you want people to know about, but don’t want to wait for the monthly magazine? Promote her on Facebook (great example is the work Gary Hazeleger did in marketing Mapel Wood Shottle Lili or the work Hodglynn Holsteins is doing) - Easiest Way to Keep Everyone Up to Date
Unlike a website where someone has to come to your site and see what is new, Facebook allows you to keep them up-to-date in their news stream. Once they “like” your page, all your posts and news items will be part of their daily stream. This means when you post about that great new 2yr old or the potential show-winning heifer, you don’t have to go and tell them about it, it will already be in their news stream. - Drive Traffic to Your Website
Over 25% of our daily traffic to our website comes directly from Facebook. As a new and fast- growing dairy cattle magazine this had been unbelievable in helping us to get The Bullvine name out there. (Check out The Bullvine on Facebook, while you are there, be sure to “Like” our page to be eligible for some great prizes coming soon) - It’s Cheap and Easy
Facebook does not require you to be some web design guru or computer wizard. It’s designed to be used by everyone. You can easily upload pictures, or better yet, a video (see Nothing Sells Like Video) and share it with your connections.
It’s not surprising that Facebook is so popular with dairy farmers, as dairy farmers have always been about community and Facebook is built around communities. Facebook provides you not only the opportunity to share the great things that are going on at your farm, but also learn about many great things going on in the dairy cattle industry. It also gives you the chance to connect with many dairy farmers from around the world and gain a better perspective on the industry.
To learn how to get your farm on Facebook download this free guide.
Totally agree with your suggestions. Our herd ELITE JERSEYS has had a Facebook page for about 8 months. We have had a great feedback and now have 173 “likes”. I have enjoyed researching our cow families, which is a feature of our page, it has been well worth the effort.