A couple of weeks ago I did something I had never done before. I bought a purse sight unseen from an ad I was served on Facebook. I had been searching the internet for months looking for one – just the right size, color and it had to zip up – but I never quite found what I wanted. One evening while cooking dinner, following a recipe on my phone and sautéing veggies in a skillet, all while catching up on Facebook happenings, it magically appeared in my news feed! Within two minutes I clicked the purchase button and began to eagerly await its arrival. Facebook and Google had done what I couldn’t seem to do on my own – find the perfect purse!

Yes, I keep up with the news and I’m aware of the scuttlebutt surrounding Facebook thanks to Cambridge Analytica – and yes, I appreciate my privacy. But I find that I, like many Americans, am willing to give up some of that privacy for the convenience of things appearing in my social feeds or on websites I often visit – populated with products I might buy or wish to know more about.

It is not just about purchases; it is also about information. My husband is on a low carb diet and I am forever trying to find recipes that will satisfy hungry teenagers and still be low carb. I have seen more recipes, reviews and helpful tips thanks to the internet algorithms that understand my dilemma.

A first world convenience, I know, but one that is incredibly valuable to those of us in the meat industry.

But how do we use it to our advantage without going too far? I am a big fan of the Connect 5 model: strategize, plan, create, promote and measure.

Strategize: Begin with the end in mind. What is it you want to accomplish? By when?
Plan: Develop a plan. Set up your key goals. Determine who is most likely to buy what you are selling. How can you best reach them where they are? What will motivate them to spend a moment with your information and then click on it to learn more?
Create: Bring your plan to life by creating the content that will get the click.
Promote: Take that beautiful content and place it where your target customers are – this may be on Facebook or LinkedIn or a popular magazine site.
Measure: By keeping an eye on key performance indicators you can determine what is working, what needs tweaking and what is a waste of dollars/cents.

The company selling the purse got my money because they put what I wanted where I already was. I didn’t have to spend more time searching for options and was able to keep dinner on track at the same time!

How are you designing a digital marketing strategy that reaches key customers exactly where they are?

Facebook, impulse buying and what meat processors can learn

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