2010 [AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010

April 20,

American Angus
Association

CPKC Consulting
Sean Callahan
Katie Pierce
Laura Kearney
Micheal Clements

[TABLE OF CONTENTS]
2] THE BRAND
3] YOUR BRAND’S SOCIAL MEDIA FOOTPRINT
4] YOUR COMPETITOR’S FOOTPRINT
7] THE SOCIAL MEDIA GOAL
8] IDENTIFY INFLUENCERS
9] CONTENT STRATEGY
10] ENGAGEMENT AND MEASUREMENT STRATEGY

[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN]

A plan of action to increase membership and develop improved interaction among current members,
using social media.
 April 20,
[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010 | 2

THE BRAND

Target audience
Aged 21-35/40; those in agriculture, and rural people who want to know more. Most members
are conservative.
Current Best Practices
The American Angus Association’s for-profit entity Angus Productions Inc. (API) has worked the
last 30 years to provide both the Angus message and the means of communication to members and
their customers. Through publications like the cornerstone Angus Journal and the commercial-focused
Angus Beef Bulletin, as well as its web and other design and publishing services, API works to provide
essential Angus news and information along with an unrivaled advertising platform and impeccable
customer service.
API’s Editorial Department continues to provide the latest industry news, marketing and
management information. Feature stories in the Angus Journal and AngusBeef Bulletin highlight
members and customers, their concerns, problems, solutions and the issues they face. The department
also worked throughout the year to bring that mind-set to the web.
The Association’s YouTube account (http://www.youtube.com/user/apicreativemedia) uses a
number of videos, ranging from personal stories to previous cattle shows, to help viewers understand
the benefits of raising Angus cattle. The videos have been viewed more than 170,000 times, and appear
to be an effective means of reaching the target audience.
 April 20,
[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010 | 3

YOUR BRAND’S SOCIAL MEDIA FOOTPRINT

How Sociable http://www.howsociable.com/american%20angus%20association
How Sociable calculated that “American Angus Association” received a visibility score of 20. Here’s the
overall breakdown, with scores for individual social media sites:

Social Mention http://socialmention.com/search?q=american+angus+association&t=blogs&btnG=Search

Search conducted February 8, 2010:
Type Strength Passion Sentiment Reach Unique Authors Last mention
Blogs 4% 12% 1:1 12% 36 2/8/10
Twitter - 28% - 4% 10 2/5/10
Bookmarks - - - 17% - -
Comments* - 25% 10:1 3% 6 2/7/10
News** 4% - 1:0 - - 2/8/10
Networks (Facebook) - - 6:1 - - -
*Sources of comments: Boardreader, Samepoint, Backtype, Cocomment **Sources of news: Yahoo, Bing, Google News

Forums
Cattle Today http://www.cattletoday.com/forum/index.php

This forum discusses many aspects of cattle including health and nutrition, breeding/calving issues,
cattle sales, cattle showing, etc. There are 709,098 total posts, 61,058 total topics, and 6,450 members.
Farmers for the Future http://farmersforthefuture.ning.com/forum/topic/search?q=angus

Farmers for the Future is a network for young and beginning farmers. The website has 2,792 members.
The forum shows 38 results for Angus.
 April 20,
[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010 | 4

Blogs
Jim Church’s Cattle Blog http://www.idahocounty.org/extension-office-home/jim-churchs-cattle-blog.html
This blog provides education for commercial livestock producers. It includes discussion on cross
breeding, The Angus Associations $ Energy Value, and Curly Calf Syndrome identified in Angus cattle.
YouTube
Angus Cattle returned 726 results; most from breeders selling/showing their cattle. Angus Genetics
turned up 58 results and Angus Beef had 493 results, mostly grilling and cooking tips.

YOUR COMPETITOR’S FOOTPRINT

Beef Competition
The leading breeds of cattle in terms of beef production are Angus, Hereford, Charolais, and
Simmental. Each breed has at least one association promoting it in the U.S., and each has a social media
presence to some extent.

Twitter
Tweetvolume results:

13%

Hereford
46%
Charolais
41%
Simmental

In terms of content, roughly 10% seem to comment on the qualities of the breeds, such as pros
and cons:
 April 20,
[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010 | 5

About 40% mention events related to raising, showing, or selling cattle:

The rest are general comments related to the cattle, such as “Here’s a picture of or new
Simmental calf” or “Dani won’t shut up about stupid Simmental cattle.”

Facebook
The American Simmental Association has an official page (as does their junior association),
where they post videos and notices related to events they hold. The American International Charolais
Association, like the Angus Association, doesn’t appear to use Facebook, but several of their junior
associations do, as is the case with The American Hereford Association.
As for general groups/pages created by individuals, the content consists mostly of cattle growers
posting pictures of their animals, or talking about events on the farm (“We just had our first set of
triplets!”). There are a total of 84 groups and 17 pages for Charolais, 35/2 for Hereford, and 12/3 for
Simmental. Only a couple of the groups take an opinionated stance on the breeds. Examples:

YouTube
A search for Hereford returns 341 results, Charolais returns 571, and Simmental returns 302.
Content ranges from general videos of cattle grazing or drinking water to cattle shows where individual
animals are judged. The American Hereford Association also posts videos such as their “year in review”
video from their annual meeting.
 April 20,
[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010 | 6

Pork Producers
Twitter search, Pork producers wondering about their industry after a blog post that no longer exist.
Some tweets about swine flu label hurting the industry.
Twitter volumes with keywords
 Pork Producers- 798  Chicken Farmers- 1,940
 Pork association- 495  Swine Growers- 15,200
 Swine Producers- 622  Chicken growers- 256
 Chicken Producers of America- 26  Chicken farms- 2,200
 PETA- 670,000  Swine farms- 839
 Pork Farmers- 2,290  Pigs- 66,700
 Swine Flu- 558,000  Poultry producers- 839
 Swine farmers- 137,000  Poultry association- 147

The key word “pigs” may be somewhat out of context for this project; however, PETA can be considered
a key competitor because of their harsh stance against animal treatment including Angus cattle.
Competitor’s YouTube Channels
Pork Checkoff National Pork Board
Channel Views: 8,395 Channel Views: 1,149
Total Upload Views: 43,138 Total Upload Views: 1,348
Joined: May 02, 2008 Joined: April 27, 2009
Last Sign In: 3 weeks ago Last Sign In: 2 months ago
Subscribers: 55 Subscribers: 3

Tyson Community
Channel Views: 1,348
Total Upload Views: 12,566
Joined: August 04, 2008
Last Sign In: 1 week ago
Subscribers: 21

Facebook Competition
Nebraska Pork Producers (fan page) California Poultry Federation (group)
 Type: Consumer Product  Type: Organizations
 Fans: 66  Members:112

California Pork Producers Association (fan page) NO on CA Prop. 2- Californians for SAFE Food
 Type: Non-profit  Type: Common Interest
 Fans: 358  Members: 1,199
 April 20,
[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010 | 7

THE SOCIAL MEDIA GOAL

Discussion with Crystal Young
Goals
 Improve communication with members, drive traffic to Angus.org, and possibly Twitter.
Ideal Portrayal
 Want members to know they are being advanced by the association. They also want to dispel
rumors about agriculture.
Message
 We are the #1 beef association in the US. We provide great marketing and support for our
members. We help to keep members in business.
 The message should aim to recruit new members and inform those who are in agriculture as
well as rural people who want to learn more about agriculture.
 Focus on agriculture and emphasize the support Angus has for farmers. Angus helps keep
farmers in business and helps members market their animals. PETA has tried to paint Angus
Association in a poor light; the message should showcase agriculture in a positive way.
 Promotion of online tools and engagement in conversation between members. The message
should work to improve communication with/between members and drive traffic to angus.org
How will you be saying it and why?
The Association will encourage the producers/ranchers to connect with each other via e-mail,
direct mailing pieces, and updated posts on angus.org. Conventional methods to spread the word about
social media will most likely need to be utilized to encourage them to go online. Strong motivation
should be provided so they will consider going online if they are not already, or increase social media
activity if they are already online. Creating an online social media network for this specific audience
would likely generate more interest than just getting on Facebook or Twitter. This social media network
would allow them to better interact through specifically designed tools, member forums, video/picture
posting areas. To drive traffic, the Association should promote the new online community with
discounted membership fees, coupons (ex. for supply stores), and video/picture contests- drawing off of
the current “I Am Angus” promotion.
 April 20,
[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010 | 8

IDENTIFY INFLUENCERS
FACEBOOK
Influencer/Group Members Pos. Neg. Neutral Key Influencers
Angus Cattle 357 8 3 33 Tyler Biglow & Ben Clutton (officers)
Angus Cattle Are the Best 181 1 1 16 TJ Klopp (creator)
Angus Cattle Producers 82 - - 1 RJ Cline (creator)
I Raise Angus Cattle 85 1 - 7 Parker Douglas Morrison (creator)
Upchurch Bros. Angus Cattle 135 - - 24 Upchurch Bros. (business)
Wright Angus Cattle Farm 61 - - 1 Wright Farm (business)

YOUTUBE
apicreativemedia - 144 - -
Honestagency - 1 - 1
Gregthoe - - - 2

BLOGS
GreenRanchingMom.blogspot.com - x - - Green Ranching Mom
blogcatalog.com - 4 - 11 Mgravlee
- 2 - - 3boysandadog
eaheadlines.blogspot.com - - - 3 Everything Angus 24/7
Brianallmerradionetwork (Wordpress) - 1 - 1 Brian Allmer
britishwhitecattle.us.com - 2 - - Jimmie
nic-o-le.blogspot.com - 1 - - Nicole.W
lizahennigan.blogspot.com - - - 1 prof2mom
hypenotic.com - - - 1 Jodi Lastman
aberdeen-angus.co.uk - - - 1 Chrissie

FORUMS
Farmers for the Future - 9 2 10 Bobbi Johnson
Cattle Today - 1400 1000 2600 Dun

TWITTER
CertAngusBeef - x - - Other users/supporters (AAA)
Agritweets - 300 - - Cattle tweets
Sfoods - 2 - - Food sales
Cottonaggie - 2 - - Arizona Farm Bureau PR
Texas Wild Bill - - - -
Day Angus - 20 - - Angus Producer
Meatheadsgirlie - 20 - - Hamburger critic
Beef Magazine - 10 - - Magazine’s official page
Vetsweb - - 10 - Cattle, health concerns
ShaunaHermel - 10 - - Editor, Angus Journal
 April 20,
[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010 | 9

CONTENT STRATEGY
Twitter/Facebook-Angus Events
Twitter and Facebook will be used to inform followers/friends of upcoming Angus events in 140
characters or less. The Facebook account can be linked to the Twitter account so they are updated
simultaneously. The Twitter/Facebook will be updated for events big and small, such as
national/regional shows, cattle sales, upcoming conferences/events.
Tweet a few specific sales and provide link to calendar on angus.org in such tweets. Tweeting
about all shows (since there are fewer shows in comparison to sales) a couple weeks in advance so
people can plan to attend a show. In the show tweets we would recommend providing a registration
information/form link. Tweet feature stories and general “How to’s” to followers.
When Angus Association members win at a show or do something big- tweet about it to
encourage people to get involved in the AAA social media networks. It would give individuals and their
farm/ranch welcomed publicity. For Facebook, create a group for AAA and have them become fans of
other sub-groups such as Junior AAA.

YouTube
Add on to the existing I Am Angus video content and make it into a contest for AAA members.
Another contest to get people’s attention: Meat My Cow videos (one for AAA and Junior AAA)- winner
gets free entry fees and lodging at a particular show; national listing for their cows. Change channel
name from “apicreativemedia” to “AmericanAngus” or something that will let people out there looking
for the channel to know that it is from AAA. Consider adding “pop-up” ads to the bottom of the videos
to drive members back to the angus.org and other social network sites.
Flickr
Members can submit photos to AAA group page. Create a “Million Dollar Angus” contest where
people can submit a photo of their cow/bull and people can vote for their favorites each day. Finalists
get a biography posted on all social media sites including angus.org and in the Angus Journal. Grand
prize winner receives one million dollars or a similar motivational prize.
Angus.org
Add promotional information and incorporate social network presence on web site. Be sure to
include links to: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr accounts. Post information/press releases on
angus.org to remind members about online contests.
 April 20,
[AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN] 2010 | 10

ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY
Two week sample of Twitter/Facebook posts
5/3 Sale today at Spickler Ranch in Glenfield, ND. Get more information at http://tinyurl.com/ykrzed
5/4 Be sure to check out the sale at Philip Bull Days in Philip, SD today! More info available at
http://tinyurl.com/ykrzedq
5/5 Have you seen our YouTube channel? http://www.youtube.com/user/apicreativemedia
5/6 Bull Sale today at Vollmer Angus Ranch in Wing, ND. Get more information at http://tinyurl.com/ykrzedq
5/7 Weekly market wrap up at www.cattle.com/markets
5/10 Wendel Livestock sale today in Lamoure, ND! More info at http://tinyurl.com/ykrzedq
5/11 Get free Angus Screen Savers and Clip Art at http://tinyurl.com/yzbww9g
5/12 Find out the advantages of Angus at http://tinyurl.com/yfrj6jw
5/13 Complete your wardrobe with the Angus silk tie! http://tinyurl.com/yet79fc
5/14 Weekly market wrap up at www.cattle.com/markets

MEASUREMENT STRATEGY
Message effectiveness can be measured on Facebook through Fan Page Stats. This information,
which is provided by Facebook, will allow Angus to see how many new fans were added each week and
also number of wall posts, comments, likes, and page views. Twitter will be measured by number of
followers and re-tweets. The Angus social media network can be measured by the amount of member
message board posts per week.
After implementation of this social media plan Angus can expect to see a 5% increase of
Facebook fans. With proper marketing Angus should expect 5 new Twitter followers per week. The
Angus social media network should be expected to start slow and, with proper marketing, should see
200 posts per day within 6 months.