Checking In On The Checkoff: Get Your Grill On

 

 

Summer remains the peak season for beef sales. On average, 30% of yearly beef dollar sales are captured between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Typically, the 4th of July Holiday has the highest weekly sales (in pounds and dollars) throughout the year. With the summer season accounting for more than $7.9 Billion in 2015, it is important the South Dakota Beef Industry Council (SDBIC) to gear our efforts to meet those consumer demands. What will you see from us this summer?

 

 

Consumer messaging continues to be vital in the promotion of our product. Millennials get their information differently than their parents. It’s all digital - from Google search to online videos. The good news is digital formats allow your checkoff to get to your target audience and approaches these consumers with messages appropriate to their tastes.

 

Consumers are the ones in the driver’s seat when it comes to beef demand. Studies show health and convenience are a top concern for today’s millennial consumer. They want assurance the product is safe, nutritious and wholesome - in turn providing them overall value for the price.

 

 

Social Media: Engagement is the key. During this grilling season SDBIC will utilize a variety of methods to engage our consumer where they live - online. Our online platforms provide the ability to address both producer and consumer concerns while guaranteeing a positive and trusted beef message. We will provide consumers cooking videos and demonstrations, education, and promotional tools through the SDBIC’s social media platforms – Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. You’ll find updates on the SDBIC website as well. There’s still a place for traditional media outlets in our strategy. You will hear some radio and see some print ads, but earned media will be the focus - stories within publications about the work we do.

 

Partnerships: We will partner with South Dakota State University Extension to deliver the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program across the state. If you’re not familiar, BQA is a program designed to raise consumer confidence by addressing “day-today” management practices. You can find more information on BQA at sdbeef.org.

 

We will also sponsor BBQ boot camps working with Amanda Blair, SDSU Extension Meat Science Specialist, as well as other beef influenced events across the state.

 

Youth outreach will continue in a variety of ways to ensure our future consumers and producers receive accurate beef information on topics that range from byproducts to nutrition and safety.

 

Our reach will continue to move beyond state lines as we partner with the Northeast region of the United States. This partnership allows us to access key influencers in a highly populated section of the country. Our work with them is an effort to create an atmosphere which provides a positive connection between the consumer and the beef producer. This allows us to address consumer concerns and misinformation, as well as educate, and provide insight on pasture to plate.