ARLINGTON, TEXAS (RFD-TV) — When it comes to connecting with consumers, the dairy industry is blending the physical with the digital. Dairy Management Inc. President and CEO Barb O’Brien told Tammi Arender that this new approach is helping farmers bridge the gap between online engagement and the purchase point.
DMI Chairwoman Marilyn Hershey, a dairy farmer from Pennsylvania, explained further that the Dairy Checkoff‘s success depends on collaboration across national, regional, and local systems, as well as a perfect mix of both digital and physical touchpoints with consumers.
“Digital is that blend of physical and digital, and the reality is: put consumers in the middle, and they are surrounded by their lives’ experience,” Hershey said. “They are surrounded by physical points of contact with our products and digital ones — and we know consumers can enter that experience at any point -- so we need to ensure we have the right balance and blend of communications flowing through those channels to make them aware of our products, our farmers, our practices, and our industry. We need to make sure there’s a trigger for that purchase as they’re going through the consideration process, and pull that through into an actual end purchase. It’s been fascinating to watch; the role data and technology are playing in that consumer transaction is amazing. And we’re following that bouncing ball, and it’s going to continue to evolve, right? I don’t know if you heard that data point, 69% of purchases today are influenced through some kind of digital trigger, so it’s important.”
O’Brien was one of the featured speakers at this week’s National Milk Producers Convention in Arlington, Texas. She also wanted dairy farmers to know that every dollar they pledge to the Dairy Checkoff is well spent, thanks to the technology that can provide.
“I want farmers to know this program is working,” she said. “The investment they make in the Dairy Checkoff program is creating the science and the insight to ensure that we are going to market on their behalf in a very intentional and precise way. Every dollar is spent with intention, with a clear understanding of who we’re marketing to, what resonates with that particular target, and how we can present what is, in fact, a growing portfolio of products that will meet their needs.”
