On 18 September 2025, we hosted our webinar Cultivating Success: Reaching Farmers with Social Media. Alongside Jo Booth and our own team members, we shared practical insights on how agricultural businesses can use social media more effectively. The discussion focused on how to build trust, engage farmers, and create strategies that support business growth.

Watch the full webinar below

Key Takeaways

Know Your “Why”

Social media without purpose is wasted effort. Before posting, we need to be clear about what we want to achieve. Is it about building a community, showcasing our brand values, or supporting sales? Defining the “why” ensures every post adds value.

Organic Builds Trust

Organic social is not free advertising. Its real power is in building visibility and credibility. While direct lead generation is better suited to paid campaigns, organic activity strengthens trust and keeps the brand front of mind, making paid activity more effective.

Avoid Constant Links

Every time we post a link, especially on Facebook, organic reach drops. Instead of pushing people away from the platform, we should focus on creating content that educates, entertains and starts conversations. Once the audience is engaged, they will naturally take the next step.

Engagement Over Vanity Metrics

Follower numbers may look impressive, but they do not show real impact. What matters is engagement. Comments, shares and video retention are the signs that content is resonating and creating stronger brand recall.

Authenticity Wins With Farmers

Farmers value honesty and authenticity. Behind-the-scenes stories, practical advice and real farmer testimonials resonate more than polished product promotions. By showing genuine experiences, we can build stronger relationships and greater trust.

AI Is a Tool, Not a Replacement

AI can help us streamline social media, but it should never replace human creativity. By documenting brand voice and feeding it into AI tools, we can generate content that is consistent and authentic — but it must always be refined by people to connect with the audience in the right way.

Influencers and Advocates Matter

Peer-to-peer recommendations are powerful in agriculture. Whether it is through farmer influencers, micro-influencers, or long-term advocates, authentic voices build more credibility than direct product pushes. A simple farmer testimonial can sometimes outperform a polished campaign.

Let Analytics Guide Us

Guesswork is not enough. We need to use analytics to understand what is working, test different formats and refine our approach. Sometimes the simplest content — like a still image and a farmer’s quote — can be the most effective.

Paid vs Boosted Posts

Boosted posts are useful for increasing reach on content that already performs well. But for bigger goals such as lead generation or e-commerce sales, structured paid campaigns give us better targeting, stronger optimisation and clearer results.

Negative Engagement Is an Opportunity

Negative comments are often feared, but they can become opportunities. Handling criticism constructively shows that we are transparent, open and willing to engage. Sometimes the strongest advocates come from turning a negative experience into a positive one.