Situation
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) wanted to integrate social media into their integrated marketing campaign to publicize the annual World Pork Expo. NPPC had dabbled in social media to distribute industry news, but they had never used social media to promote World Pork Expo or interact with pork producers. NPPC questioned how to implement social media into their overall public relations strategy. They also wondered if their target audience had a presence in the space. Will pork producers embrace social media? Can NPPC have a conversation with producers via social media platforms?
Solution
Trilix created a new Facebook fan page and Twitter account for NPPC’s World Pork Expo to be used in addition to the social media accounts managed by the national NPPC office in Washington D.C. The World Pork Expo accounts were used to distribute pre-show information, answer attendees’ questions, and promote educational seminars and entertainment events. Trilix posed questions on the Facebook fan page wall to encourage interaction, posted photos and videos to solicit comments and included links to World Pork Expo stories on Ag media websites. They also ran a prize package giveaway to recruit and retain Facebook fans.
Trilix integrated social media into NPPC’s marketing campaign by including links to the Facebook fan page and Twitter account on all of World Pork Expo’s print advertisements and web banners, print collateral, e-mail alerts and official website. Pre-show print and web articles encouraged readers to visit the social media sites to receive the latest news about World Pork Expo.
Results
NPPC’s World Pork Expo social media campaign was a success! The Facebook fan page reached 1,000 fans from 19 different countries in six months. In the weeks leading up to World Pork Expo, the Facebook page gained 200 fans in just seven days!
The Twitter account attracted more than 260 engaged followers and was added to 16 Ag-related lists. Trilix announced the official World Pork Expo hashtag in pre-event communications, included it in all the tweets sent from World Pork Expo’s account and posted it in the Media Center to encourage journalists to adopt it. Using the tracking website What the Hashtag?!, Trilix determined the official event hashtag was used 557 times by 80 unique contributors during the three day event!
The World Pork Expo social media campaign was effective because it was used in conjunction with traditional marketing channels. The social media created a platform for NPPC to have a conversation with their target audience, and they had the entire Twittersphere buzzing about the pork industry during World Pork Expo!