Everybody talks about how as Angus Breeders, having a brand and marketing it are vital to create more awareness for your enterprise, and at Angus NZ we understand it can seem complex or overwhelming, both to the seasoned cattle producer and those that are new to the game.

As a result we are going to run a series of articles and later videos, designed to help bring marketing into focus, and give you tips on how to boost your overall brand presence. The aim of which is to:

• Show why Angus breeders should market their brand
• Help you create more awareness for your business

So what is marketing?

Marketing is the process of guiding consumers to engage with your products instead of your competitors. It is everything that the consumer encounters when interacting with your business. This involves everything from advertising and editorials to customer service and even word of mouth interactions.

Bearing this is mind it is important to be aware of all the channels your business is being seen through, including everything from an advertisement in the newspaper to your involvement in field days.

As well as promoting your business, marketing can also be used to gain a greater insight into who your target audience is and how best to reach them.

What advantages does it have to the breeder?

Marketing for the beef breeder adds value to their own product. When it comes down to it, nobody will be knocking the door down to buy your cattle if nobody knows who you are or what is so great about your business. It is up to you as the producer to let prospective buyers know why you are here and why they need you.

So where do you start?

Think about the following:

• Give yourself a set of goals; what do you want to achieve through this?
• Resources – are you going to create your content and maintain your digital presence or are you going to outsource?
• Content – yes you can share other peoples content and this does help people to establish what your brand is, but you will need to create or outsource the creation of captivating content to maintain a following
• Branding – what you put on your website should correspond to your socials and any other advertising. You want to create a brand recognisable as you
• Limited ‘Sell’ – the majority of your content should be ‘social’ and not self promotional. Most companies go for a 70:30 or 80:20 ratio of non self-promotion to self promotion.
• Quality control – Quantity is not better than quality
• Open your eyes and ears – Never stop learning or observing
• Ask – ask for advice from people who are learning to or running a successful marketing campaign

Moving forward
When you are starting the process of gathering information and moving forward to create an online presence it is important to consider three aspects: Searching, Socials and Emails. These three elements put potential buyers in three distinct levels of interaction with you.

Searching: The search stage is where people are putting feelers out and are just having a look, they might like what they see on your website or social platforms but they aren’t ready to commit to your brand specifically yet.

Socials: When people start engaging with you on social media, whether it be ‘likes’, ‘shares’ or even just following you, they are stating that they are interested in either you as a brand or the content you are sharing. They are now forming a familiar relationship with you and are more likely to put their trust in you and move to the next step.

Emails: If people subscribe to your e-newsletter or similar where they are receiving tailored, consistent information, it shows that they are actively staying connected. By constantly building your network it provides new people with the opportunity to keep rising through the ranks from ‘that’s interesting’ to ‘wow, I love seeing these guys in my newsfeed each week’. One email subscription can outweigh 30 Facebook likes any day due to the simple fact that while ‘likes’ are variable and dependent on content quality, subscription engagement has to be earned and can prove to be a long term investment.

Social media – Quick guide

Have you ever wondered what social media platform suits you the best? Below is a brief outline of the core ones that may help you decide.

Twitter: Gives you short bursts of information. It’s a great way to get sale stats and quick information like your ‘where and when’ for a sale out to a large audience of people. It promotes straight to the point information sharing and can be a powerful marketing tool if used well.

Instagram: A platform designed to share photos and videos. It is a good way to share your business with the world without the content writing aspect of Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook: A social network where users engage with each other and businesses. Facebook’s interactive chat component is great for businesses, as is the ability to share relevant news information easily with your following.

Youtube: A video sharing site that you can create and upload your own content too, as well as viewing other peoples work. Youtube is great for uploading your video and then sharing through other social media channels.

What is a (#) hashtag?

It makes any word or set of words that is preceded with a # symbol into a searchable item. This may seem confusing at first but can prove helpful to organise your content or to help create a following for yourself. You just click on the hashtag and see what everyone else in the world is saying about the same thing. Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest are all platforms that use the Hashtag system. You can use current hashtags or make your own.

It is important to know that even the smallest Angus breeder can make a difference in the brand reach for both themselves and for the breed as a whole.

If you have any questions or have content suggestions please contact the team at Pivot Design adele@pivotdesign.co.nz