How Can Public Relations Help The Ag Sector?
Done right, public relations tells a story, speaks to a tailored audience and builds trust.
In the heart of the Canadian Prairies, we know the importance of agriculture – the world runs on it and we live in it. There are important stories that need to be told – to put a spotlight on this industry, share innovation, highlight industry leaders and educate the public.
Effective public relations not only shares important messages, but also helps change perceptions, creates interest with investors and bridges the gap between organizations and key stakeholders. Public relations is a tool for effective business in the agriculture sector.
How Do We Help The Ag Sector With Public Relations?
We start with research. Every aspect of agriculture – from the field to the manufacturing process and every step in between – is different. Research lets us delve deeper into your specific niche; your product, speciality, and experience. It determines what makes you you and why people care about it. We look at the current market and trends, target geographic locations and technology – we look for the stories.
We conduct research through interviews, data analysis, company analysis, competitor research and more.
We want to answer:
- Who are you?
- Who are you trying to reach?
- Who should you be reaching?
- What do you do?
- Why do you do what you do?
We’re thorough so we can take our insights and apply them to your messages.
Building a strategy comes next. Once the initial research is completed, we work with you to develop an actionable plan to reach your objectives using SMART goals. The plan can consist of:
- Determining key spokespersons
- Determining the target audience(s)
- Building key messages
- Developing an editorial calendar
Whether the strategy involves a simple media pitch or a large-scale media event or anything in between, a cohesive, comprehensive plan is key to reaching your stakeholders.
Putting everything in motion. Executing the communications strategy is our next step. Let’s put our plan into action. Our team will work on a myriad of details, including:
- Developing written materials that are clear, concise and compelling – a media release, FAQ sheet and backgrounder are just a few items we use to share your message.
- Gathering media kit materials – do you have photos or videos? Do we need to take some? Visuals are key in ensuring media pick up stories.
- Prepping your spokesperson (or people) with media training, which may include creating speaking notes and outlining key points.
- Developing questions that media outlets may ask and helping to determine answers so everything runs smoothly and your key messages are heard.
- Triage media questions before an interview – we’ll pick up the phone and direct questions to the right person on your team.
If it’s a large event, we even work on the project management side to ensure lighting, A/V, seating, catering and every other detail is handled. We help run the show, letting you focus on the messaging.
Our last step is to monitor and evaluate. We’ll monitor media outlets and track social mentions to get the whole picture on reach, impressions, message quality and tone. Was the news taken well? Did the right people see your story? That’s what we intend to find out.
Once tabulated, you’ll receive a report detailing how far your message went so you can see what your public relations strategy yielded.
But wait, it’s not over. While this process helps drive stakeholders down your sales funnel, think of the public relations process as more of a flywheel. Once we’ve monitored and evaluated a public relations strategy, we take what we’ve learned, build on it and start the process again so your story, your message, gets across clearly.
We’ve accumulated years of agricultural communications experience working with clients, including ADAMA Canada, Roquette, Manitoba Agriculture, Keystone Agricultural Producers, Manitoba Pork, Egg Producers of Manitoba, Peak of the Market and more. We got where we are by being curious, asking questions, doing research and designing target strategies that work.
Are you looking for help with your ag communications issues? Look no further and give us a call. Dooley PR & Marketing is here to help.
