Building a brand using reach of social media

Asking those who used social media to raise their hands was how Lavinia Wehr got familiar with Harvey Beef Gate 2 Plate Challenge field day visitors at the annual event last week.

The Curtin University public relations graduate, who grew up on her parents’ farm in Scaddan, said she was passionate about social media and people in the agricultural industry.

Ms Wehr started up her own Perth-based digital marketing and PR business, Lavinia Wehr Social, in March 2018, working for agricultural and regional clients.

“From my family farm, I have vast understanding of agriculture — I can drive a tractor if need be,” she said.

“I have that network to help me with my clients to understand how social media can work to benefit community, and I am able to curate content to reach out to target markets.”

Ms Wehr said 15 billion people used Facebook each month across the world.

“And 90 per cent of West Australians are on Facebook,” she said.

“Facebook has the intelligence of knowing what content you like and can give you more of that content.”

Ms Wehr said businesses had the ability to target people on social media.

She said YouTube how-to videos were some of the most popular hits and businesses could use this media to build their brand and provide the next level of service.

“With COVID, we said goodbye to on-farm visits,” she said.

“The pandemic encouraged YouTube as another way to reach people.”

Ms Wehr said there were 1.2b active Facebook users daily to whom businesses could target ads.

She said the power of social media was community building.

“When using social media for brand awareness, it is important to tell your story and be authentic,” Ms Wehr said.

“COVID taught the general public how important agriculture is.

“It is so important to educate the the rest of the country of what we (the agriculture community) are doing now.”

Ms Wehr’s top tips were to tell the author’s story, educate people on industry, and use visuals as a powerful message.

“Create quality content, tell who you are, what you sell and how you do it,” she said.

“Educate people on what you’re doing with your business.”