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Wielding the power of social media
Social media tools offer immense power to those who wield them effectively, says a group of speakers who addressed public attitudes at the 2012 Banff Pork Seminar.
Just as technically-savvy vegans who want to put an end to animal agriculture use social media to further their campaigns, so can people in the animal agriculture industry employ the mass communication power available through social media, especially the Big Four: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, says Edmonton-based Jeff Schneider, founder of Marketing Ninjas.
Schneider joined University of Alberta animal behaviourist Clover Bench and Lorna Baird, executive director of Alberta Farm Animal Care in a workshop geared to demonstrate the effectiveness of telling the story of swine online.
A few pairs of thumbs were busy texting messages into smart phones even as Schneider spoke about the speed at which social media can be used to get a message out.
He advised people who are using or considering social media to concentrate their efforts on the Big Four, because those are the sites that are most followed, most often, by the largest number of people.
Unlike traditional advertising media, which he termed as invasive, people actively seek information on sites like Facebook and YouTube.
There is no wider audience than the huge number of people who spend at least a few minutes every day on social networking sites, especially Facebook, said Schneider.
"If Facebook were a country, it would be the world's third largest."
Social networking has radically changed the way people make purchasing decisions, he said. It has become more and more common for people looking for the best buys to put the question out online and to seek advice of fellow users. Almost 90 per cent of all people research brands online, said Schneider.
"If you're not doing social media, you're non-existing – people don't talk about you," he said.
So, for anyone who has a story to tell about how important it is to you to ensure that the animals in their care are well treated, those media are the fastest way to reach the most people, he said.
Schneider suggested to the people attending the session that they use a Google search to find out what people are saying about their industry and who is talking about the way animals are treated.
As a test, a Google search of the key words Alberta, cruelty and pigs in late January turned up the following sites at the top of the page: Alberta SPCA, AFAC comment on cruelty-to-animals legislation and a Wikipedia article on how Telus uses a pot-bellied pig to market its company.
The same search on YouTube brought up clips that are far more disturbing, including a video ostensibly from a Pennsylvania pig farm emphasizing rough handling of piglets, sows and hogs as well as another showing heavy equipment scooping up the scorched bodies of hundreds of animals killed when a barn burned down on an Alberta Hutterite colony.
Good or bad, stories that attract attention will "go viral," a phenomena that occurs when people share them with their social networks.
Therefore, the most effective way to project a positive image of the industry is to create stories that will go viral on a social networking site, said Schneider.
Once Schneider had the audience well warmed up, Baird and Bench moved the process forward with an exercise in how people view the industry as it is currently portrayed in social media, including links provided by Facebook and videos posted on YouTube.
The exercise demonstrated for participants how a story can colour an entire industry.
Nobody ever got sick from Hallmark Meat hamburger, said Bench. However, a video showing mistreatment of sick and downer animals at the slaughterhouse generated the largest food recall in United States history and put the company out of business, she said.
The message people need to see online is that livestock production is safe, environmentally sustainable and highly regulated and that those few instances in which there are problems are not indicative of what goes on at the majority of farms and in the majority of processing facilities, said Bench.
"Bridge to your key messages," she said after having the participants split into groups to discuss the public impact of clips created to generate strong emotions from viewers.
"Don't deny, defend or cover up. Acknowledge and express appropriate empathy. They saw something that upset them, they were told to be upset."
The correct reaction is to let people know that "we don't think that's right, either," said Bench.
The industry then has to show people the majority of people involved in the industry are careful with their animals and their commitment to constant improvements in the way animals are housed and handled, she said.
She left participants with a homework assignment: Do good things and use social networking tools to tell people about it.
"Keep this discussion going. Dialogue is the key to progress," she said. •
— By Brenda Kossowan
cutline : Jeff Schneider is in front, surrounded by (left to right) Lorna Baird from AFAC, Deputy provincial veterinarian Darrell Dalton and Clover Bench, animal behaviourist at the University of Alberta.