10 Things We Learned About You in 2014

road_to_2014Over the course of 2014, we have been paying close attention to the information that interested you most throughout the year. From every visit, open, click, “LIKE” and download, we’ve been “listening” to you by gathering insights that will help us shape our marketing and content to most help you in 2015.

From your activity on the blog, we’ve listed 10 things we’ve learned about you during 2014 that will shape our marketing in the coming year:

1. You need content that helps you plan.

Throughout the year, we’ve served up a variety of marketing resources and have found that out of them all, you are most likely to download ones that help you plan. Take the 2015 Produce Marketer’s Master Calendar, for instance. This offer has been downloaded more than any other resource in our company’s history.

2. You want help reaching your buyer.

In 2014, we shared a lot of content to help you reach the consumer more effectively. Along the way, we realize that in 2015, you not only need information highlighting this very important audience, but could also use information on how to reach the retail, foodservice or wholesale buyers in the fresh produce industry. Lucky for you, this is our wheelhouse, so be on the lookout for more helpful information coming your way in 2015.

3. You are concerned about social media and how it can benefit your marketing.

Social media is a science and an ever changing area of marketing that we simply cannot ignore as companies in the fresh produce space. The only way that our team would not focus on the topic of social media in 2015 would be if our industry stopped growing fresh food on a daily basis or if almost every person on the planet didn’t have a Facebook account (and they do). In our opinion, if you haven’t used social media to reach your target audiences and are still wondering if it is right for your company, you are behind and you must consider getting up to speed in the coming year. We’re going to help you.

4. You seek to “engage” more with consumers in 2015.

Hallelujah! We strategically made this a key area of our content focus in 2014 so that we could ignite thought and “what if” thinking on you part, that will ultimately help us shift consumption of our fresh products in a positive way.   Engagement can translate into demand and ultimately consumption of your products, but it will take diligence on your part to master the art of engagement with the consumer so that you can become a friend and trusted resource rather than a salesperson.

5. Your biggest marketing challenge overall is “branding”.

And we agree 100%. As we work to de-commoditize our industry’s products, carve out our niche and presence on grocery store shelves, menus and wholesale establishments across the world, we should be concerned about how our brands resonate (or not) with the person buying them. In 2015, we’ll be providing you with content specific to this foundation of your marketing and will provide you with recommendations for creating a memorable and trustworthy brand.

6. You need more budget dollars to support your marketing efforts.

We know that marketing is important to you but we also know that this sentiment doesn’t always translate to key stakeholders and leadership within your company. When people don’t believe in the value of marketing, they typically are reluctant to invest in it. In 2014, we learned that you are in need of more funds to help you achieve your marketing goals and hire the staff that you need to be successful. The good news is, we have a guide titled 5 Steps to Get More Marketing Dollars that can help you now but will commit to providing you with more information relative to budgeting and getting more bang for your buck in 2015.

7. You are NOT as concerned with analytics as you should be.

It’s the truth. In 2014, you weren’t as keen on our content focused on offering advice and help surrounding the topic of analytics. Why? We believe you aren’t as concerned about analytics as you probably should be. At DMA Solutions, we are constantly connected to our analytics dashboards, both for our own company and the clients that we service on a daily basis. We do this so that we can work to constantly adapt to the daily changes we see affecting our ability to meet and exceed our marketing goals. What are you doing to ensure that you’re meeting your marketing goals on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis? We don’t think you can do enough and vow to provide you with more information to help you understand the value that analytics can bring to your marketing plan in 2015.

8. You prefer to receive emails from us on Mondays.

After a year-long journey measuring and asking you the right questions, we now know that Mondays are the right day to send you emails highlighting the topics you care most about. Thank you for your insights!

9. Mobile optimization of your online marketing assets is not top of mind.

Since we spend so much time understanding how you and consumers interact with the websites and online assets, we cannot underscore enough how important a mobile responsive and optimized website is to the success of your marketing in 2015. Consider the last time you used a mobile or handheld device to search for information or connect online. Now, consider the population at large. People are using their multiple mobile devices more and more to connect. The question is, are you ready?

10. You really do care about fresh produce marketing.

If you subscribe to The Core blog, we know you are interested in consuming content that is fresh produce marketing related. In 2015, we’ll work to continue to provide you with information that we think is helpful and welcome your input at any time throughout the year. We like to hear what you think so please plan to comment, share a post, forward an email, “LIKE” it on Facebook and help us learn more about the content that is most relevant to you.