4

Choose Engagement

Selecting the right outreach method is crucial for effectively delivering your messages to your target producers and encouraging them to engage with your regenerative agriculture program.

While boots on the ground is a powerful approach, scaling will likely require layering kitchen table conversations with wider-scale communications tactics designed to reach producer audiences in a range of formats.

Additionally, each producer segment may respond differently to various outreach methods and communication channels, so it’s essential to carefully consider the engagement that will maximize the reach and impact of the effort.

What We Did

We uncovered two key pieces of data about engagement design for the MRCC project area’s producers as we built our persona:

The MRCC project’s farmer persona strongly preferred communications presented as information, not advertising.
The MRCC project’s farmer persona preferred hardcopy, printed opportunities to engage over digital.

Over the course of the project, we deployed tens of thousands of touchpoints across email, text message, e-newsletter creative placements, website articles, printed mailers, broadcast on AgriTalk radio, and social media platforms to test engagement with conservation information.

What stood out in the analysis of the outreach was that while all producers were served all outreach methods, the outreach methods that performed the highest were those that were informational, including articles and native placements that look like editorial content.

Additionally, while it’s a measurably faster process to fill out a form expressing interest online, producers validated their interest in printed material by expressing their desire to learn more about conservation program participation at the highest rate via direct mail.

Make it Happen

Download the worksheet to start strategizing around engagement methods now.

Sample Outreach Methods

The success of your campaign hinges on the alignment of your persona, messaging, and channels. Carefully consider your audience’s engagement preferences to maximize reach and impact.

Based on research, we dedicated campaign efforts to printed mailers. Producers were served informational material across platforms, but direct mail outperformed other tactics. Note: We were not aiming for leads; we were targeting producers with mid-level readiness to help them become more ready.

The behavioral analysis indicated that Priority Producers have a lower-than-average trust in communications that feel like advertising. As a result, images and language are positioned as an opportunity for learning rather than selling an idea or product.

Insights from Sustainability Engagement Leaders

Planning Conservation Outreach Using Placed-Based Insights

“Growers are the ultimate stewards of their land and the center of what we do at Nutrien Ag Solutions. We have long-standing, trusted relationships with farmers in our supply chain. What we can learn in this process will help us engage and build deeper connections with our growers to implement practices in their operations that are both sustainable and profitable.“

Ryan Locke
Nutrien Ag Solutions