By Ryan Tipps, ACN Board Member
In almost any segment of agriculture, you’re going to experience cycles, Carey Brown illustrated to her audience during an afternoon session at the spring ACN Regional Workshop. We get expansion, oversupply, contraction and rebuilding.
Carey Brown spoke at the ACN regional workshop at Alltech in Nicholasville, Kentucky in April.
And repeat.
The question most relevant to ag communicators is whether our editorial strategies are structured to handle these cycles effectively.
During difficult trends, it’s important to continue engaging with audiences and sharing important content; in essence, “protecting your credibility in downturns,” explained Brown, who works with the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association. “A lot of times, that is when you’re not seeing as much of it. It’s more important than ever in those times to be putting out the information so that producers have what they need.”
Audiences notice when coverage disappears or tone shifts or objectivity fades. It becomes easier during the tough times for an information outlet to sit out a news cycle or let someone else take the lead. But that’s damaging to editorial and marketing entities alike, Brown said, because that’s when the relationship with the readers and viewers are at their most fragile.
These “downcycles” are when budgets shrink, markets quiet and content becomes more reactive.
“Those bad years are when our credibility is built,” she added.
Her presentation, titled, Editorial & Marketing Strategies That Last, encouraged communicators to lean into three principles:
– Build your content for decision-making: Don’t just plan for the stretches of producer optimism but offer ways to actively help producers through struggles.
– Create evergreen franchises: Consider crafting content that remains consistent and compounds upon itself.
– Protect credibility in downturns. Being an authority during hardships can allow audiences to find innovative solutions to the difficulties they are going through.
“When you’re covering stories,” Brown said, “You might be focused on what’s happening right now — and that might be your markets, your price of inputs, those types of things. … It’s always thinking about more of your short-term.”
“But what can help [audiences] might involve looking at things annually, too, with crop plans, marketing strategies,” she continued. “How can you address that and help them to keep forward-thinking?”
News and information in the modern era emerge faster than ever, so Brown said it becomes essential to understand an audience’s mindset and evolution and keep perspective on both short- and long-term goals.
“For any of us putting ag industry information out, we’ve got fewer and fewer producers every year,” Brown noted. “So, how do we address that? How do we think about that going forward with our editorial content, our publications, and our sales? This shift is definitely going to continue to affect all of that.”
Learn more by watching Carey Brown’s webinar on the ACN YouTube channel.
– Tipps is managing editor for AgDaily and Action Hub.