Agri-Insights Issue 16

KEEP IT FRESH KEEP IT MOVING

BRING YOUR STORY TO LIFE

SHOW AND TELL WITH VIDEO

TIME FOR POSTGAME ANALYSIS

ISSUE 1 | 2017

Take your marketing to the

PLANNING TACTICS VISUALS & MORE VISTACOMM.COM

ISSUE 1 2017 AGRI-INSIGHTS

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IN THIS ISSUE Curiosity. You’ve got to wonder what Odell, the chocolate lab in the picture below, is thinking about that sunflower. What the heck is this? Can I eat it? Wow, there are so many! Do they bounce like my favorite ball? For sure Odell figured it out. After all, curiosity leads to discovery!

We’re all about discovery at VistaComm. Recently, we’ve been on a relentless mission to take our clients to the next level in their marketing efforts. It’s become part of our culture now, and we’ve learned a lot. In this issue of Agri-Insights, we pass our knowledge on to you. You’ll want to share it, too, with your business associates. On the following pages, there are tips and trends to make everyone’s marketing efforts easier and more effective.

Agri-Insights magazine is published by VistaComm, a marketing firm that helps agribusinesses communicate better and grow faster. With smart and successful clients coast to coast, the purpose of AgriInsights is to provide you with a collection of the most profitable and best business practices.

So what can you expect? How about a special editorial outline tool to organize your marketing strategies and tactics for the year? We’ve got it for you beginning on page 4. In addition, lots of great ideas for newsletter columns and stories will ease the anxiety of planning your next publication—read helpful features on Content Crisis and Active Content.

Topics have been selected from VistaComm’s extensive library of solutions and profit-based experiences.

Client names and testimonials are used only when permission is granted.

Articles on effective websites and dynamic photography, infographics and video will pique your interest, and inspire you to try new marketing tactics. And throughout this issue, you’ll find wonderful photography by our talented creative team.

They’re ready to help you elevate your marketing to the next level.

For more information, visit: www.VistaComm.com Please provide address change to: VistaComm 1401 North C Avenue Sioux Falls, SD 57104 844.453.9261

Are YOU curious yet? Well, don’t wait another minute—READ ON—and enjoy this issue of Agri-Insights!

Agri-Insights is published by VistaComm and its associates. All materials within are subject to copyrights owned by VistaComm. Any reproduction of all or part of any document found in Agri-Insights is expressly prohibited, unless VistaComm or the copyright owner of the material has expressly granted its prior written consent to so reproduce, retransmit or republish the material. All other rights reserved.

PHOTO: Katie Nold

©2017 VistaComm®• All Rights Reserved.

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About Odell: He moved recently from his north central South Dakota home and his field of sunflowers to Utah for training in the Labs for Liberty program. When Odell is ready, he’ll be gifted as a service dog to a deserving United States war veteran.

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CONTENTS

4

7

16 4 6

12

22 KNOW WHAT TO SAY,

WHEN. An editorial calendar to get you organized.

A MARKETING ADVENTURE IN 2017?

Helpful tips to get ready for the journey.

THE POWER OF 12 PHOTOGRAPHY.

A visually dynamic rural lifestyle montage.

YOU NEED A 14 MAYBE MAGAZINE …

… to tell your story and connect with your community.

KEEP ‘EM COMING BACK. A VIDEO, OR READ A 7 16 WATCH Active website content speaks BLOCK OF COPY? for itself.

ATTENTION SPAN = 10 H8 UMAN SECONDS!

NO CONTEST—put your information in motion.

PRUCE UP YOUR WEBSITE. 18 SAnd get ready for lots of web-savvy visitors.

FOR INFOGRAPHICS. 20 ATheVOTE brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text.

NOW YOUR CUSTOMERS’ 22 KPAIN POINTS.

They just might drive your 2017 marketing strategy.

Newsletter content that will grab your audience—quickly.

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PLANNING

By David Vanden Hull VistaComm Director of Sales and Inbound Marketing

THREE TOP REASONS YOU NEED AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR Marketing and communication in today’s world is more sophisticated and complicated than ever. With web-based ads, billboards, media advertisements, social media and so on, your customers are literally bombarded with messages throughout their day.

As a result, your business cannot afford to push out redundant, lackluster content because there are too many organizations competing for your customers’ attention. If customers lose interest in your message, they may stop paying attention to you entirely.

It’s clear: Content marketing is a powerful, progressive way to persuade and influence your target market, and it isn’t going away anytime soon.

Coming up with consistently fresh and compelling content can seem like a burden. However, with the right approach, you can generate meaningful, attention-worthy content. It all starts with one task—developing an editorial calendar.

WHAT IS AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR? An editorial calendar is a valuable resource that helps you visually organize all of your upcoming content in calendar form.

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It ensures that your content is getting written and released according to plan. Professional publishers have been using this practice for decades, so this is not exactly a revolutionary idea. However, in today’s age of e-newsletters, blogs and social media, more businesses are publishing content and have a need for this organizing tool.

WHY DO YOU NEED AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR? REASON #1 Makes creating new content consistently seem more manageable.

Does your organization write a blog? Publish a newsletter?

Send out updates via email? Post on social media? Send out press releases? With all the new channels that exist to reach your audience, it has become more and more difficult to stay on top of everything.

Content marketing can be an overwhelming undertaking if you’re not well organized. That’s why editorial calendars are 844.453.9261

VistaComm worked closely with us to guide us step by step through our website creation and launch. And it functions so well with unique interactivity, a message center, automatic emails and everything we need to run an important part of our business—electronically!”

BE SINES | Grain Buyer/Logistics Coordinator A Carbon Green BioEnergy | Lake Odessa, Mich.

such a valuable tool. They allow you to organize your upcoming content so the task of content management doesn’t seem so daunting.

REASON #2 Lets you strategically plan your content.

Just because your organization publishes lots of content on a regular basis doesn’t mean it’s working to grow your business. If you want to reach your goals, you must first realize that content marketing takes strategy. Pay close attention to your customers’ purchasing behavior (what they buy, when they buy it and why) and media preferences (print, digital, social, etc.). Use that information in your calendar to create and release fresh content at the most opportune times, ensuring that you are capitalizing on every opportunity to grow your business.

REASON #3 Helps you view your content in “big picture” format.

Editorial calendars give you a thousand-foot view of your content creation schedule. This allows you to define and control the way your organization creates and manages its content. That is particularly useful in assessing which channels/content get the best response—allowing you to constantly refine your content creation efforts so you can publish the best possible content through the most effective channels at just the right time.

By having your own editorial calendar, you will help ensure your marketing and communication efforts are well coordinated and that all departments are on the same page.

of businesses are using content marketing, but only 32% have a documented content strategy in place.

Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/09/b2b-content-marketing-research/

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COMMUNICATION CHANNELS THAT REQUIRE FRESH CONTENT Take these into consideration when creating your editorial calendar.

DIGITAL CHANNELS • Blog posts • Website content • Targeted email campaigns • Infographics • Video PRINT CHANNELS • Newsletters • Magazines • Direct mail campaigns • Press releases SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS • Facebook® • Twitter • Pinterest • LinkedIn™ • Google+

FOR MORE INFO Are you trying to coordinate your content and marketing efforts with your business goals? An editorial calendar helps you work smarter.

And VistaComm has just the resource tool to help you succeed.

Go to vistacomm.com/editorialcalendar for your complimentary Excel editorial calendar template.

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TACTICS Laurie Hoffman VistaComm Vice President of Client Services

READY FOR THE JOURNEY

Marketing can be an adventure. And just as you would for any trip you take, a checklist can be a helpful tool to make sure you’re prepared for the journey. The following 8 points are always at the top of my list. Hopefully, they’ll help you start formalizing your 2017 marketing ideas. Stay afloat and may the tides flow with you.

NAVIGATING 2017 TO DO: BRANDING – logo, taglines – looking good and ready to go?

WEBSITE – fresh, up-to-date, easy to use?

A NNUAL CALENDAR – seasons, annual meetings, workshops planned?

C OMMUNICATION PLAN – print and digital – messages ready to go?

E DITORIAL CALENDAR – newsletters, magazines, advertising scheduled?

SPECIAL PROMOTIONS – in the budget, plans in motion?

MAILING LIST – all names and addresses correct?

EXPERT SUPPORT – If needed, give VistaComm a call.

PHOTO: Eric Raasch

VistaComm brings professionalism and understanding of the marketplace. They help me make informed decisions about my message, how to position it and how best to spend my money.”

MAC EHRHARDT | Owner Albert Lea Seed House | Albert Lea, Minn.

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CONTENT

By David Vanden Hull VistaComm Director of Sales and Inbound Marketing

KEEP IT FRESH. KEEP IT MOVING. VISTACOMM.COM

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KEEP IT FRESH, KEEP IT MOVING. There’s no denying—content marketing is here to stay! A recent survey conducted by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs generated 5,000+ responses from marketers in 25 industries in 109 countries. Of these respondents, 48% said they have a content marketing strategy.

These marketers know their audience and what will get them to read online content—blogs, web pages, social messages, etc., all optimized for search engines using keywords that trigger the search. Their ultimate goal? To generate new business by creating content the reader actually wants to consume when he wants to consume it, as opposed to interrupting the consumer as ads, emails or cold-calling often do.

Smart marketers are attracting readers with interesting articles, helpful tools and relevant information. The result? Readers are “following” them online. Soon after, they become leads. And ultimately, they become new customers. This steady traffic makes fresh, active content on their websites not only good, but critical.

Active content speaks for itself. It’s new stuff—recently added, changed, fresh. And why is this so important to the success of your business? If you keep your audience coming back to your website for more educational and inspiring content, they can learn more about you and what you offer.

94%

LinkedIn

87%

Twitter

84%

Facebook

74%

YouTube

62%

Google+ SlideShare Instagram

37%

29%

25%

Pinterest

interesting:

94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content.

Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf

FOR MORE INFO

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Use the same VistaComm.com IDEAS resource presented in the CONTENT CRISIS article on page 10 of this magazine (vistacomm.com/content-crisis). And if you still find yourself stuck or in need of help, request a consultation from a VistaComm agri-marketing expert to get you started.

844.453.9261

Content has been one of the most important reasons we have traffic to our website. Our content works hard for us, thanks to VistaComm.”

RICHARD STINSON | Communications & Media Manager ProAg® | Amarillo, TX

Active website content is critical to your business because: IT HELPS DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE.

YOU WILL BE CONSIDERED AN EXPERT AUTHORITY.

Every time you post something new, it’s one more cue to search engines like Google that your site is active. In addition, the SHARE option grows your audience and traffic, too.

If they’re finding answers to their questions, they’ll think of you first.

They’ve come to know and trust you online. And when a sales opportunity arises, you’ve laid the groundwork for a great opening conversation.

fun facts:

40% of U.S. companies use blogs for marketing.

Companies that blog have 55% more website visitors.

IT HELPS YOU GENERATE MORE LEADS FOR YOUR BUSINESS. A reader finds your site through a great blog you’ve posted. You propose more help or expertise through a free offer.

They click, fill out a form, send it and receive a free gift. Now YOU have their contact information!

YOU CAN POST PRODUCT RELEASES AND EVENT INFORMATION. Once you’ve built up traffic to your site, post product announcements, valuable promotions and event information, too.

After all, this constitutes new information and it stands a far better chance of getting seen where the traffic is.

good to know:

Usage of visual infographics as a tactic is on the increase: 51% in 2014, to 67% in 2016.

YOUR CONTENT HAS A LONG-TERM EFFECT. You post a blog or a new piece of informational material one day and it lives—in fact, it builds, gathering more and more potential customers for you. What’s more, when you write something, you own it and can repurpose it in several ways for your own use.

who knew:

Americans are launching social apps an average of 17 times a day—or at least once every waking hour.

You know why you need to keep your website content current. Now, where do you turn to get the content? You can start with already-written information from your print or e-newsletter. Simply post these articles to your website’s blog or news section as new and relevant content.

Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf

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NEWSLETTERS

By Nancy Schmidt VistaComm Content Director

CONTENT CRISIS:

IDEAS FOR YOUR NEXT PUBLICATION

Of course we want to showcase our company in our newsletter. But if a newsletter is nothing more than a sales tactic, we haven’t done our job. We strive to tell real stories about where we live and the people who live here. It’s all about the people, and VistaComm helps us tell the stories that connect.”

KENT TAYLOR | President and CEO Farmers Ranchers Cooperative | Ainsworth, Neb.

It’s time to get rolling on another company newsletter and you’re in charge of gathering the content. Suddenly, everyone is hiding from you. Writing an article is just not their favorite thing. You need ideas to help them get going. But even before you start tracking everyone down for their message, consider these important guidelines for your project.

YOUR PUBLICATION SHOULD: • Grab your readers upfront with straightforward, concise messages. No need to tell them every little thing that happened in the last two months!

In this electronic day and age, you have a limited amount of time to capture someone’s attention. According to a recent study from Microsoft, researchers clocked the average human attention span at just eight seconds. Even goldfish top humans with an attention span of nine seconds!

• Be valuable to your business and the reader—something they want to keep around for a while because it’s full of helpful information.

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GOOD STORIES ARE

EVERYWHERE! VistaComm journalist Jane Wooldridge “Now, wait a minute,” said Jane, was on assignment in Sterling, Kansas, thinking she had stepped right into a to interview members and staff for chocolate milk joke! But lo and behold, Central Prairie Co-op’s sumMiller’s cows actually conmer newsletter. Her subject: Jane felt she sume about five pounds of Orville and Mary Jane chocolate per day. The candy Miller of Miller Dairy, Inc., in had walked right scraps come from a nearby Hutchinson, Kansas. (Orville into a chocolate chocolate factory, and are is president of Central fed as part of the total mixed milk joke!

Prairie’s board of directors.) ration (TMR).

After watching Mary Jane bottle feed a beautiful calf, Orville, Mary Jane and Jane ventured into the feed area.

Orville talked to Jane about nutrition, and casually mentioned they feed chocolate to their cows.

“It’s a form of energy—just like feeding corn,” said Orville. “And this ingredient is actually programmed right into the computer my nutritionist uses to formulate the dairy’s TMR. “Our cows eat 100 pounds of feed a day,” Miller

explained, “and the five pounds of chocolate is kind of like their dessert.”

Now there’s an interesting story. And it came up as matter of conversation … when least expected.

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Tips for Finding Captivating Stories:

Visit instead of interview.

Dig a little deeper.

Find the story behind the story.

• Never lose sight of who you’re talking to. What the general manager or CEO wants to see in your newsletter is often not what your readers want to read.

• Be interesting and include solid, worthwhile information, captivating stories and testimonials from customers and employees, community features and visuals—photos, charts, graphs and infographics.

Remember, your ultimate goal is to show the value of doing business with your organization. By engaging readers with timely and interesting content, you’ll take a major step in that direction.

FOR MORE INFO For helpful, solid story ideas to pass around to your department heads, go to VistaComm.com/content-crisis. This listing in 14 different categories is sure to make the job of planning your next newsletter a whole lot easier.

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HUMANS = 8 ATTENTION SPAN:

SECONDS GOLDFISH = 9 SECONDS

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PHOTO: Jane Wooldridge

PHOTO: Darcy Maulsby

PHOTO: Connie Smith

PHOTO: Katie Nold

PHOTO: Katie Nold

PHOTO: Justin Brenner

PHOTO: Darcy Maulsby

PHOTO: Aaron Scott

PHOTO: Dave Aeilts

65% Source: brainrules.net/vision

Always keep photos interesting and current—both in your print publications and on your website. Get a good DIGITAL CAMERA and keep it handy. Cell phones will not give you the quality you need.

Of course, action shots are always preferred over posed headshots. Consider a nice mix of indoor and outdoor shots. Always remember you’re after the GOOD story— in pictures, too.

6 TIPS FOR EYE-CATCHING PHOTOS

PHOTO: Jon Oppold

PHOTO: David Vanden Hull

PHOTO: Talisa Wager

If you hear a piece of information, you’ll remember 10% of it 3 days later. Add a picture—you’ll remember

1. Fill the frame 2. Remove distracting elements.

3. Always focus on the eyes.

4. Watch the weather.

5. S hoot around sunrise or sunset.

6. C hange your shooting angle.

MAGAZINES

By Candace Larson VistaComm Journalist

NEWSLETTER OR MAGAZINE:

WHICH IS THE PERFECT FIT FOR YOUR COMPANY? When it comes to print communication to members and patrons, a number of VistaComm clients prefer magazines over newsletters. So, for words of wisdom regarding planning a company magazine, we went to Candace Larson, VistaComm journalist, who writes several magazines each year for our clients.

“There’s so much that VistaComm does for us as we go through the process of creating our magazine. Their general knowledge and understanding of our industry is also a big help.”

DUWAYNE THOMPSON | General Manager CHS Northwest Grain | St. Hilaire, Minn.

WHERE DOES SOMEONE START IN PLANNING A MAGAZINE? An editorial calendar—there’s no getting around it. This is a major planning step that will keep you on track. Determine how many issues you want for the year. Each issue should be planned within a timeframe that best supports your business objectives for the month it’s mailed. (i.e. Spring issue = planting season; Fall issue = harvest)

HOW DOES SOMEONE GO ABOUT SETTING UP AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR?

be a seasonal theme—winter, spring, summer, fall. The important idea here is mapping a year-long strategy. Keep the editorial calendar in front of you and remember you’re watching for valuable content ideas to fill each issue.

SPEAKING OF CONTENT, WHAT ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR CHOOSING STORIES? Your magazine should offer readers three basic elements: • INFORMATION comes easy. It’s what you’re accustomed to providing in your newsletter, on your website and during customer meetings.

VistaComm has an easy-to-use EDITORIAL CALENDAR resource you can download at VistaComm.com/ editorial-calendar. You can enter your entire communication plan and have everything in one place.

• INSPIRATION is what a magazine was born to accomplish! With room for more profiles, tips, customer comments and photos, plus bigger headlines, you can help customers see your company in the best light.

SHOULD YOU SET A THEME FOR EACH MAGAZINE ISSUE?

• MOTIVATION flows from a smartly conceived, well-executed story that puts your reader in the picture, too.

Motivation leads to innovation, which can lead to sales and loyalty.

Typically, it’s MOST helpful to have a theme—and it’s probably going to

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HOW DO YOU FIND THE BEST PERSON TO TELL A STORY? Look at the topic/story ideas on your editorial calendar, then ask department heads who can best tell a particular story. They might suggest inside experts, outside experts, suppliers or—best of all from a magazine reader’s viewpoint—a customer with a personal point of view.

WHAT’S NEXT? With your editorial calendar fleshed out, it’s time to turn the project over to content writing specialists and designers. They’ll work to assure your information provides inspiration and motivation, while maintaining the depth and organization you want.

WHY CHOOSE A MAGAZINE FORMAT OVER A NEWSLETTER? Both are great forms of communication, but a magazine offers elbow room to expand on a topic and really showcase your organization. Plan long-term to take full advantage of all the possibilities.

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VIDEO

By Jane Wooldridge VistaComm Journalist

PUT YOUR STORY IN MOTION!

Remember when you first saw someone watching video on a smartphone? It was a novelty—like something straight out of the Jetsons. Now, less than 10 years later, we’re watching video on phones, tablets and even watches.

And it’s not just video entertainment. Be sure to read the Siouxland Ethanol case study on pages 18-19 to learn how video was such a powerful element in their website design. Clearly, it’s time to expand and enhance your agri-marketing plan to incorporate the use of video.

5 WAYS TO USE VIDEO IN AGRI-MARKETING COMMUNICATION

I found the folks at VistaComm great to work with in building americanethanolracing. com! Our NASCAR story can only be told appropriately through effective visual communication and VistaComm delivered— actually over-delivered.”

RYAN WELSH | Director of Sales & Marketing Growth Energy | Washington, DC

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1. Product or service demo. This works particularly well for products or services that might be hard to explain. Examples include variablerate application, VFD guidelines and crop disease or insect control.

A simple video can make the point faster than a long article about the topic.

2. Safety guidelines or demos. Video is the perfect way for your co-op to “show and tell” growers about important topics such as grain bin safety, anhydrous handling and safe equipment operation.

3. C ustomer testimonials. Record a customer talking about good results from your co-op’s products

or services. Examples include seed performance, variable-rate application results, energy contract value, tire service convenience, etc.

4. P romotions and incentives. Video is a great way to feature limited offers such as c-store specials, fuel contracts and tire deals. Post on your website or Facebook page, or share via email.

5. Events and community involvement.

Showcase your co-op’s involvement in the community by sharing videos of events such as scholarship presentations or school activity sponsorships. Video also works great for promoting field days, location events and trade shows.

For a step-by-step guide to creating your first video, go to VistaComm.com/agri-marketing and download our e-book, Powerful Content: 6 Best Practices in Agri-Marketing & Communication.

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Making marketing less painful since 1997

Tell your story. Engage your audience. Build your brand.

Brand Development and Strategy • • • •

Discovery and assessment sessions Brand development and design Strategic planning Corporate goal setting

Content • • • • • • •

Newsletters (print & digital) Magazines Visuals: photo journalism, infographics Web and blog content Video Corporate communications Ag newsroom services

Creative • • • • • • •

Logo/brand development Direct mail marketing Advertising Sales literature Annual reports Corporate communication materials Commemorative/special publications

Digital, Web & Mobile Solutions • • • • • •

vistacomm.com | 844.453.9261

Web design Website/conversion optimization Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Heat mapping Pay-Per-Click (PPC)/Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Social media management

WEBSITES

By Darcy Maulsby VistaComm Staff Journalist

MODERNIZE YOUR WEBSITE FOR

MAXIMUM IMPACT A Case Study

We’ve all seen business locations that desperately need a fresh coat of paint and spruced-up landscaping. You often try to avoid these places, right? Now, think about your website.

What impression does your digital storefront present? The management team and board of directors of Siouxland Ethanol in Jackson, Nebraska, recently took this question to heart with great results.

THE CHALLENGE Presenting a modern, professional image online is important to Siouxland Ethanol, whose leaders want to connect with a diverse audience ranging from potential investors to lawmakers.

“We decided our website was outdated and not user-friendly for our customers and viewers,” said Nick Bowdish, president and CEO. “That’s when we turned to VistaComm.”

THE SOLUTION For starters, the VistaComm team listened to the Siouxland Ethanol team’s concerns and goals for their new site. After an in-depth planning session, we proposed solutions tailored to Siouxland Ethanol’s unique needs, including website design, content writing services, photography and creative marketing solutions.

Next, content development for the site—both written and visual—began. As the journalist assigned to the project,

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I traveled to Siouxland Ethanol to interview key team members and gather information I later used to write content for the site.

Photography included portraits of the management team and board members, and a new angle, as well. At Siouxland Ethanol’s request, I boarded a chartered plane to shoot aerial photos of Siouxland Ethanol’s plant.

To complement the images, Siouxland Ethanol wanted a few short, professionally-produced videos to help tell Siouxland Ethanol’s story and personalize the information. You can see for yourself how much these videos added to the company’s site. Go to VistaComm.com/siouxland-ethanol.

THE RESULTS From all the content I provided, the VistaComm technology team provided solutions to create just the website Siouxland Ethanol desired: • Modern, uncluttered design • Streamlined navigation • Easy-to-read fonts • Eye-catching photography • Professional-quality video • Responsive on all devices • Simple to update—internally

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Author Darcy Maulsby

VistaComm was very knowledgeable and full of great ideas to revamp our website. They also considered our wants and needs for the site.”

NICK BOWDISH | President & CEO Siouxland Ethanol LLC | Jackson, Neb.

HOW DO FARMERS & RANCHERS USE THE INTERNET? • 90% of those under age 35 use a smartphone for visiting ag websites*

Today’s web-savvy customers rely on companies’ online presence to give them an idea of what these businesses have to offer. As technology evolves, every website needs to be revamped periodically to make it more effective.

An outdated website isn’t just a minor hitch. It can make your company look unprofessional or unreliable. If it’s difficult to use, it can annoy your visitors, or even encourage potential customers to call your competitor instead.

FOR MORE INFO

• 97% of young operators see digital increasing in importance in the next 3-4 years* • 59% of all age groups currently use smartphones* * Connectiv, Agri Media Council, Media Channel Study, 2016.

Visit VistaComm.com/Optimize to get your personal copy of our e-book: Website Know-How: Grow Your Agribusiness with a Hard-Working Website.

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VISUALS

By Jane Wooldridge VistaComm Journalist

4 EASY TIPS FOR USING INFOGRAPHICS Simply put, using an infographic is a visual means of taking data or information, organizing it, and then making it visually appealing— often using graphs, visual elements and charts. This way, your reader does not have to plow through a mountain of text to get to your point.

Think of it as “visual shorthand”—allowing you to communicate complex information in a visual format that’s easy to follow. Here are four easy ways to make infographics work for you: 1. DITCH THE PARAGRAPHS. Try to make each point with one picture or one sentence. If your idea is too complicated to break down, consider making a series of infographics on the different facets of your subject.

3. USE ICONS TO TELL THE STORY. In place of words, use simple images to get your point across—with one icon per point.

4. THINK VISUALLY.

2. MAKE IT MOVE. Walk your reader through a story and show how things are connected.

Challenge yourself to communicate with visuals, not words.

If you’re intrigued by the idea of using more infographics in your communication, but don’t have a designer on staff, consider enlisting the help of VistaComm. Our designers can help bring your story to life.

1. Resource: hubspot.com/marketing/visual.

2. Resource: neomam.com/interactive.

3. Resource: Mind Tools, 1998.

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VistaComm delivered to Skagit Farmers Supply a high quality newsletter that represents our members’ cooperative well and meets our needs of wanting to keep our farmers up-todate on their local cooperative.”

TOM BOLAND | General Manager Skagit Farmers Supply | Burlington, Wash.

The brain processes visual information 60,000 TIMES FASTER than the time it takes for the brain to decode text.1

Infographics are liked and shared on social media 3X more than any other type of content.1

Researchers found that COLORED VISUALS increase people’s willingness to read a piece of content by 80%.1

Content with relevant images gets 94% MORE VIEWS than content without relevant images.1

People following directions with text and illustrations do 323% BETTER than people following directions without illustrations.1

70% of all your sensory receptors are in your eyes.2

We can get the sense of a visual scene in 1/10 OF A SECOND.1

About 65% OF THE POPULATION are visual learners, and visual content can improve learning up to 400%.3

FOR MORE INFO VISTACOMM.COM

Learn more about infographics and other tools at VistaComm.com/agrimarketing and download our valuable e-book: Powerful Content: 6 Best Practices in Agri-Marketing & Communication.

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THINKING

By Burke Perry VistaComm Senior Journalist

TIME FOR POST-GAME ANALYSIS Do you know your customers’ pain points? “ Ease his pain.”

Character Ray Kinsella, Field of Dreams, 1989

In the movie classic Field of Dreams, Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella follows a voice no one else can hear with memorable results. Among the messages he receives: “Ease his pain.” Not a bad mantra for ag businesses after the 2016 production season and looking forward to 2017.

The company that does the best job of making life easier for their customers will likely gain more of them next year.

Word travels fast in the country.

Making that happen begins now, as U.S. farmers complete what could be one of the largest corn and soybean harvests in history. Ag retailers frequently offer this advice: Immediately following harvest is the best time to analyze how well decisions made this year worked out in order to be better prepared for the year ahead.

What information do YOU need in order to conduct a great post-harvest business review, and address your customers’ pain points while also improving your internal processes?

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844.453.9261

HERE ARE A FEW THOUGHTS:

GATHER INPUT: Once problems are identified, the best solutions may also come from your employees, who have to work around issues every day. A second prime feedback source would be your customers, who may have already found solutions to similar problems.

were consistently overlooked, misunderstood or intentionally ignored by your customers during harvest? How can you improve communication?

What channels did your customers use to access needed information?

MAXIMIZE YOUR MARKETING: Finally, determine how well you sold yourself. Ag marketing takes place year round, but is critically important at harvest. Did your share of harvest bushels grow compared to your competition? If more farmers took advantage of your facilities, did they also look into your marketing programs? Do you have marketing pieces that describe all you can offer to make customers lives easier?

MEET AND GREET: Schedule an event with your key customers to formally gather their impressions of how the harvest was handled. This is also a good opportunity to familiarize these stakeholders with your services, programs and staff that can address some of their pain points.

The temptation after harvest can be to relax. While it’s important to allow time for employees to catch their breath, it’s also critical not to wait too long to start the planning process. Trouble spots that seemed so obvious during the heat of battle can be forgotten as employees and supervisors move on to their next routine.

UP THE IMPACT: Communication before and during harvest also plays a huge role in ensuring a smooth process. What important messages

Take a proactive approach to ease your customers’ pain, and you’ll be rewarded with happier customers—and more of them—come next year.

VISTACOMM.COM

ISSUE 1 2017 AGRI-INSIGHTS

23

PHOTO: Burke Perry

ACTIVATE YOUR EARS: Your best source of intelligence on the customer experience you deliver is your employees. In many cases, they experience your customers’ pain directly … and explicitly. Conducting a department-bydepartment post-game analysis is critical to identifying both great ideas that worked and bottlenecks that need to be addressed.

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID

VISTACOMM

1401 North C Avenue Sioux Falls, SD 57104 www.VistaComm.com

THINK PRINT MARKETING IS DEAD?

THINK AGAIN!

If anyone tells you print newsletters are dead, don’t believe a word of it. Here’s the real story: Science is revealing that ink on paper creates a deeper impression in the human brain than something non-physical, like a digital message. A recent article in Target Marketing explains this phenomenon of “your brain on print.”

According to a study from the Center for Experimental Consumer Psychology at Bangor University in Wales, the physical nature of print elicits an emotional connection in people.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers found that content delivered in paper form is more stimulating than content delivered in virtual or digital form.

Apparently, our brains perceive printed items (like newsletters) as more genuine—and engaging.

Four in five farmers use ag magazines/ newspapers at least weekly*

These statistics are proof that—in agribusiness—newsletters and magazines are holding their own as a predominant means of communication.

And there you have it! Enjoy this issue of VistaComm’s Agri-Insights magazine.

VistaComm made the process of developing our Rocky Talk newsletter very easy—all the way from the name selection, masthead design, colors, content and everything in between.

Since implementation, we have received many positive comments about Rocky Talk. Our patrons have really appreciated the information we share through the newsletter, and our communication and connection with patrons has been invaluable!”

BRAD GJERMO | General Manager Rocky Mountain Supply | Belgrade, Mont.

*Source: hoards.com/file-15-2016-Ag-Media-Study.pdf