By Bob West
Meister Media’s annual media use survey debuted in 2009 when we needed data to convince clients that our audiences used the Internet for work. We’re long past making that argument today, so now the survey exists to help marketers keep up with growers’ and retailers’ changing information-consumption habits.
The 2019 Media Consumption Survey was released in December 2019 and featured responses from more than 420 U.S.-based fruit growers, vegetable growers, cotton farmers, greenhouse growers, and ag retailers who subscribe to at least one Meister Media magazine along with at least one of our enewsletters.
Here are our five primary observations from the survey data:
- The need for multi-media communications plans is more obvious than ever, especially for marketers targeting larger growers and retailers. More than 40% of respondents identified seven different information sources they use at least once a week for work and that figure climbs to 58% for larger growers and retailers.
- The respondents’ age indicates how likely they are to use online video, apps and social media for work, but respondents’ age doesn’t have a material bearing on their use of enewsletters or websites for work. For example, 64% of survey respondents younger than 40 years old report using industry websites for work on a weekly basis, compared to 59% of respondents older than 65.
- As more media options develop, growers and retailers use them for different reasons. For example, this audience clearly learns about new products primarily through magazines while they identify their peers as the most useful source of information when the time comes to make a purchasing decision.
- App use is clearly on the rise in agriculture (and it’s higher among retailers than among growers). The number of respondents reporting they have downloaded at least one app for work climbed from 67% in 2017 to 79% in 2019 while the number who have downloaded seven or more apps for work climbed from 14% in 2017 to 23% in 2019. Not surprisingly, this group is using apps more often for work – 63% of respondents said they used an app for work at least once a week in 2017, and that number climbed to 75% in 2019.
- Social media adoption remains slow. To be specific, roughly half of the respondents said they use social media for work in 2017, which is consistent with the 2019 results. Among the various social media platforms, Facebook was the most commonly used platforms by both growers and retailers with roughly 33% of respondents indicating they use it at least once a week for work.
The changing nature of media clearly creates challenges for marketers. Hopefully this research helps you make the best decisions for your planning. For a complete copy of Meister Media’s 2019 Media Use Survey, contact your account manager or Bob West at Meister Media.
Bob West is the Commercial Digital Director for Meister Media, and you can reach him at 440-602-9129 or [email protected] with any digital marketing questions.