Agriculture Awareness ranks as a top priority for the Christian County Ag Advisory Council. Among the methods of reaching people, the use of social media rose to the top this year as a means of engaging both Ag and Non-Ag sectors of our population. A social media plan was developed and implemented by the Christian County Extension Agent for Agriculture. Social media has been identified as an important delivery method because you must engage people where they are. And most of the 98% of non-farmers are on social media every day.
Social media is unlike any other form of marketing. It is a platform in which you can create awareness, build a digital authentic connection, then engage and retain a community. Our plan focused on Facebook and Snap Chat. A Professional Facebook friends page was developed with 219 followers in June of 2016, and 494 followers in June 2018, a 15% increase in one year. Followers are an indication of awareness but reach and engagement are crucial to building and maintaining community on Facebook. In 2017, the page had a reach of 17,032 people and year to date Christian County Agriculture has reached 23,214 people. Engagement numbers are on target to increase 28% this year over last.
These numbers have resulted in new clientele utilizing the Cooperative Extension Service digitally, new clientele participating in programs, increased awareness about agriculture trending topics with opportunities to engage in discussions, served as a platform for commodity awareness campaigns, and served as reminders to extension users about programs and topics.