Done, done, all done

Extracted from the Farm Tender weekly Newsletter - Sign up and get the email every Wednesday morning before 6 am. www.farmtender.com.au

By Dwain Duxson.

There is a new breed (for want of a better word) of Ram Seller who is doing things differently and syphoning business off the more established Studs. I will explain how they are doing it soon.

Just a bit of history. In a previous life, I was a Ram seller (with my brother and old man, who are still at it) trying to do things a bit different and wanting to take market share off the incumbents. We had a new type of Merino, which we thought was great, and whilst we had our supporters, we didn't really threaten as much as we wanted to.

Our weapons were plain bodied Merinos that didn't have to be mulesed, and we were using breeding values (ASBV's) that turned Wool Sheep into Meat and Wool Sheep. That was twelve years ago. A dozen "Stud Sheep" years is a short time because it can take a lifetime to get someone to change in the most traditional of industries.

Through luck or good management, our family has stuck to using ASBV's and it's now starting to bear fruit.

The new age commercial breeding Ram buyer only has one question. "Show me the numbers"? By that, I mean, show me the breeding values.

But there's a handful of Breeders taking the Ram Selling game to a new level. Only 18 months ago, displaying Sheep at the many events around the country was seen as the best way to market and get your product out there.

But that's all gone. So these new level breeders have decided to use digital marketing and social media to their advantage. I won't mention any names, but many of you would know some of them.

It's a stroke of genius I believe, and from what I can see, these guys are growing their Ram selling businesses like never before.

I am biased though, as we are big believers in digital.

They have savvy websites, and in some cases apps, and are regularly doing content and videos on platforms like Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook and Tic Tok. The Stud principal usually does the content but it's managed and designed by a third party digital marketing professional. The content they deliver is professionally done but not over the top.

Each post needs to be different and interesting. And it's not all about selling, well maybe a little bit, but it's best to tell the story first and foremost.

Doing it this way is hard work, let me tell you. Posting constantly and consistently across these platforms is exhausting. I do several social media posts and videos each week, and it's not for the faint-hearted. I used to get a bit peeved at negative feedback, but I go by a theory now that, "if you put yourself out there, you have to expect it back". So it's part of the territory.

If you are selling a product or service in the Ag space, you might want to look at a few new ways to get noticed.

Go to where the eyeballs are.

End of message.