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Using Transparency to Transform Stakeholder Engagement
Organizations and businesses across every industry share a common struggle: Keeping Stakeholders Active.
We’re talking about boards, committees, working groups, task forces, subscriber lists, investors and even volunteers. Fail to invest in their education and you’ll waste a valuable resource. But give them a clear understanding of your purpose and goals, and your reach grows exponentially.
Agriculture businesses, associations, checkoffs and nonprofits don’t just thrive on stakeholder synergy. They can’t exist without it. By working with Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB), National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Texas Beef Council (TBC) and several other state beef councils, Swanson Russell has uncovered a surefire way of keeping stakeholders engaged and equipping them to increase the organization’s reach.
THE CLIENT:
Cattlemen's Beef Board
Checkoff programs are complex entities. Because they’re funded by the people they serve, they must communicate with stakeholders for compliance and transparency. CBB oversees the national Beef Checkoff program, collecting $1 for every head of cattle sold or imported in the United States. Their communications highlight the Beef Checkoff’s initiatives and successes with the hundreds of thousands of beef producers nationwide whose dollars are spent on beef promotion, research and education.
THE PROBLEM:
Missing the Mark with Their Most Important Audience
In 2018, CBB was in a rut. Years of over-indexing in digital advertising campaigns were compounded by overlooking feedback from their most important stakeholders: the beef producers. Many are 60 or older and prefer print to digital, so they had little awareness of the Beef Checkoff’s activities. This knowledge gap allowed their opponents to spread misinformation and erode producers’ trust in the program.
THE SOLUTION:
Creating a Communications Flywheel
That’s when Swanson Russell stepped in and overhauled CBB’s marketing strategy. We interviewed CBB’s staff, board members and additional stakeholders and audited every communication piece with them in mind. That led to the creation of the Your Dollar Does campaign and CBB’s first and very own publishing platform, The Drive. It gave the Beef Checkoff a cohesive way of creating content producers wanted to see in the format they favored: Print.
Reaching Far and Wide
To grow The Drive into an industry-leading communications tool, we grew where it lived. Each quarter, the print newsletter now reaches over 135,000 producers while garnering even more impressions online through email, video and social media content.
Putting Our Ears to the Ground
We kept the conversation going with stakeholders beyond The Drive. Implementing new research methods — from digital analytics to feedback loops — helped us deepen our understanding of the audience and improve our content strategy and delivery.
Bringing in the Big Guns
To give the organization a bigger say in the industry, we found the right voices. Thought leadership content and media outreach have broadened The Drive’s reach, establishing CBB as a consistent and authoritative voice in the ag space.
The Drive reaches 135,000+ beef producers each quarter.
THE RESULTS:
Revitalized Stakeholder Engagement
In just a few short years, The Drive communications strategy — rooted in our deep industry understanding and belief-amplifying approach — revitalized CBB’s relationship with its stakeholders.
Growing Goodwill
Reviewing our performance and putting our learnings into action deepened stakeholder affinity. Comparing national survey data and subscriber survey data has shown significant improvements in industry awareness, favorability and engagement among The Drive readers.
Deepening Understanding
Gathering producer feedback has aligned our messaging, improved stakeholder engagement, outperformed goals and, most importantly, given CBB a deeper understanding of the producer community.
Winning More Media
Regular features and interviews in trade publications, speaking engagements plus a steady stream of op-eds and thought leadership pieces have bolstered CBB’s reputation and surpassed client goals every year.
