Success StoryUtilizing Social Media to Expand Reach and Distribution of Educational Material



Utilizing Social Media to Expand Reach and Distribution of Educational Material

Author: Joanna Coles

Planning Unit: Warren County CES

Major Program: Community Vitality and Leadership - ANR

Plan of Work: Ag Awareness, Marketing & Leadership 2025

Outcome: Intermediate Outcome

Social media represents a massive potential for outreach for the Cooperative Extension Service. Warren County Agriculture focuses on timely agricultural and horticulture educational information, event promotion, agriculture awareness campaigns, and recognition of local farmers.  

 Since January 2024, Warren County Agriculture’s Facebook page has reached 275369 accounts and engaged 2664 people with 3.4K followers.  Social media blue book values each post on the page at almost $10.14/post.  Based on the 418 posts made this year, that is a $4238.52 marketing value to our local extension program.  In addition to marketing value, the Facebook page has served as an outreach to non-extension users.  The agents receive many questions from non-extension users through the Facebook messenger feature, and some have attended events promoted on the page.

 Warren County Agriculture has focused more on Instagram to promote events, helpful tips, and educational content. We have reached over 10752 people and engaged with over 482 followers. The social media blue book values each post at $78. Based on the 190 posts made since July, that is a $14820 marketing value to our extension program.  

 Maximizing the reach of the educational content we create is essential for reaching diverse audiences and being relevant in the social and academic space.  YouTube offers a platform to reach a wider audience while increasing awareness of the Cooperative Extension Service by providing weekly educational videos produced in our office.  Warren County, Agriculture YouTube Channel has 1887 subscribers. The global reach of Warren County Agriculture includes views from 25 other countries besides the United States.  In the last 90 days, the channel views reached Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, and Bangladesh.

 In 2024, the channel had over 121,500 views and added 115 educational videos. Social Media Bluebook values each video at an industry average of $4.42, and with 955 educational videos, the channel has a value of over $4221.  The Warren County Extension Office receives many follow-up calls and emails about the content on the YouTube Channel. Some clients noted finding solutions to control invasive wintercreeper, identifying peony blotch, and effective weed control options.

The horticulture and agriculture agents are the main content contributors to the site, and the Warren County staff assistants help with graphic development and analytics calculations. 

 Social media is a powerful tool for the Cooperative Extension Service and our business partners. We can use social media to expand our reach and deliver more academic content by improving our content creation and distribution of educational material.

 

 






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