Pork Harnesses the Power of Social Media

For companies today, social media are becoming more and more important. The pork industry’s consumers and competitors are already there, so the Pork Checkoff is expanding its presence on YouTube, Twitter and other social media to reach a wider audience and form new connections.

“With more people two and three generations removed from the farm, it’s more important than ever for farmers to tell their story and help people understand the basics of modern agriculture,” said Teresa Roof, public relations manager for the Pork Checkoff. “Social media outlets are a cost-effective way to get messages across.”

Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, platforms for interaction, conversations and relationships, aren’t just for teenagers. For example, the majority of Facebook’s 350 million users are beyond college age.

On the micro-blogging site Twitter, which has grown1,928 percent in the last year, 45- to 54-year-olds are the top demographic, with 25- to 34-year-olds close behind, according to comScore data.

At YouTube, the popular video-sharing Web site, more than 20 hours of video are uploaded every minute, offering millions of users hundreds of millions of clips to choose from to view. These trends show no signs of slowing down, Roof said.

“It’s important for us to join the conversations in the social media related to pork. If we’re not there to answer people’s questions, someone else will. Even better, it’s amazing how far our messages can reach through the social media.”

New Videos Show Farm-Food Connection
Recently, 11 new videos in the “Food Comes From Farms” series were added to the Pork Checkoff’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/PorkCheckoff. The short videos, which are designed for consumers, range from “Lives of Sows Exposed,” which shows how family farmers provide humane housing and care for mother pigs, to “Wanted: A Good Home for Pigs,” which throws open the barn doors to show viewers the spaces where pigs live.

Source: National Pork Board