We are still discovering the impact of social networking on businesses. I recently was invited to a seminar by Kyle Lacy of Brandswag, a social networking guru, and was surprised to hear him say how many farms use Twitter. I have produced farm tax returns, and I see how advanced and expensive their equipment has become, but I never thought of their marketing. I always assumed they relied on distribution companies.   

So I searched for an Indiana farm to interview about their Twittering experience. I was immediately taken in by Maple Leaf Farms. I have always enjoyed duck, and I started reading all the recipes that they had posted on Twitter. Admittedly, I am a typical U.S. consumer, so I went to their website to find out if they had an online store to compliment the recipes on their Twitter account. Sure enough they had plenty of choices, and I decided to order their duck sampler. Sold.

I called their customer service line to find out who manages their Twitter account, and based on the customer service experiences that I have had I was not entirely hopeful that I would get a return phone call. Much to my surprise I received a call shortly after from Beth. I asked Beth about the farm, and she said they sell most of their product through distribution companies. So I inquired why they would use Twitter, and she said that they wanted to create a dialogue with the end consumers. They wanted to talk to the chefs who purchased the duck and find out what they could do to improve the product they were receiving. With Twitter they are able to speak with a number of chefs all at the same time, and get instant feedback. Beth mentioned that the increase in dialogue has also increased the traffic to their website. 

The ancillary benefits of Twitter and the increased traffic to their website are the revenues generated from people like me. Increasingly, consumers are using the web to do research on the products they intend to purchase. They also tend to complete their research by purchasing online. In 2006, online sales hit over the $200 billion dollar mark. For Maple Farms it provides an additional distribution method for their product, and a new stream of revenue. Farms are getting more sophisticated in both production and marketing.  Check out Maple Leaf Farms on Twitter or their website. I am sure you won’t be disappointed.