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Using the Right Media to Effectively Launch Ag Products

The media mix recommended by Swanson Russell for any new ag product is dependent upon the product, its distribution, the target audience, the communications objectives and the media budget, as well as other competitive marketing factors. Here’s a sample launch we completed for one of our ag clients, a Nebraska-based seed company.

This company recently introduced a new alfalfa seed. The target audience for this product was determined to be 50+ acre alfalfa growers in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and Pennsylvania. The communications objectives were two-fold:

• To 20 percent of the target audience, communicate yield test results for our product’s performance compared to competitors.
• Generate response from prime prospects. These prime prospect names would be entered into a database for future promotional mailings.

One of our biggest limitations was the budget. The small budget was the primary factor driving our decision for such a low reach goal of 20 percent. The budget also necessitated a very targeted, cost-efficient, response-oriented media strategy.

The low budget and very targeted audience excluded some of the more horizontal media like television, radio and newspaper. These media would have delivered too many non-alfalfa growers at too high a price. Instead, we focused on media targeted directly to alfalfa growers, with little or no waste. Publications targeting alfalfa growers and dairy producers were determined to be the most targeted, cost-efficient media available to reach this market. In addition, direct mail advertising was recommended to focus on the largest alfalfa growers.

We used publication readership data from the Starch FARMS research study to determine which publications reached the largest number of 50+ acre alfalfa growers with the greatest degree of cost efficiency. In addition to magazine advertising, we recommended the use of a bound-in response card adjacent to the ad to generate responses from prime prospects for the alfalfa database.

We ran the magazine ads and bound-in response cards in the selected publications using a regional buy in the target states. The magazine ads, as well as the direct mail to larger growers, were timed to reach the target audience with sufficient frequency prior to the planting and growing season.

Swanson Russell is ready to help agri-marketers with their marketing communications needs. For more information regarding Swanson Russell’s services, send e-mail to agribusiness@swansonrussell.com