“We don’t believe that the traditional methods of communication are going to disappear as some predict, but we do believe that combining social media with traditional media provides a great opportunity to reach a larger audience,” she says. Recruitment Tactics Dow AgroSciences is also trying to reach a larger audience through various social media tactics, specifically new recruits. In March 2010, Dow AgroSciences announced an expansion with plans to hire approximately 550 new employees.
“We’re trying to use social media to bolster our presence in the digital landscape and engage people.” —Linda Calvin, Dow AgroSciences
The company is currently using social media such as a Twitter account and a Facebook page to attract new talent. “We’ve really turned up our efforts in using social media for recruitment because it’s a very powerful tool,” says Linda Calvin, Dow AgroSciences global digital marketing manager, noting the initial response has been positive but it’s still too early to tell how successful those efforts will be. Dow AgroSciences has been using Facebook and Twitter for approximately a year, and earlier this year launched a few YouTube channels. The company has also been investigating blogs. “We’re trying to use social media to bolster our presence in the digital landscape and engage people,” says Calvin. Dow AgroSciences also recently experimented with advertising on Facebook, which looks at the likes and interests of people and allows you to display ads to those audiences, says Calvin. “It’s one of those things we’re dipping our toe in to understand the strengths and weaknesses,” she says. Calvin recommends testing various social media tactics to determine which fit best with your company’s goals. There are people in the agricultural industry using social media, she says, and getting on board is a good way to reach them. “It takes time and planning and understanding your target audience and message,” she says. “But banning social media just stifles the conversation.”
on how to deal with those situations, says Calvin. “If someone says this, how do we handle it? It’s not always going to be positive but this could be an opportunity to address a misunderstanding and change someone’s mind,” she says. Shaun Haney of Haney Farms feels social media is a tool that is being underutilized in the agriculture industry because companies are scared of these negative conversations. “Social media provides companies with the opportunity to have a direct conversation with various stakeholders whether that be consumers or people within the industry,” says the owner of Haney Farms in Picture Butte, Alberta, Canada. “And a lot of companies are fearful of that two-way conversation because they’re used to dictating what the message is through advertising campaigns and marketing.” Haney, who has a Facebook page and Twitter account for his small, family-run seed company, believes social media is about engagement, and companies should avoid having stagnant social media. “There are a lot of companies that have a Facebook page or a Twitter account but they have it just to have it,” he says. “They’re not necessarily using it even remotely close to what they could be.” On the flip side, Haney cautions companies about falling into the false trap of thinking social media is the only way to communicate. “These are various tools to communicate to different target markets,” he says. Teresa Falk
Dealing with the Negatives Dow AgroSciences realizes these conversations could include negative comments so the company has developed processes 74
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