As connectivity improves throughout much of regional Australia, agribusinesses are increasingly looking to ramp up their social media presence to drive brand recognition, profile and sales.
But for many of these businesses, access to high quality, personalised training and guidance can be a significant challenge and a major roadblock to any progress online.
Recognising this gap, National Australia Bank’s (NAB) social media command centre opened its doors to customers in 2012 to ensure regional customers were getting access to the same skills and support as urban customers.
For Shelley Bickerstaff, the national marketing manager at Frogmore Creek Wines near Hobart, the opportunity to meet with NAB’s social media experts has provided the business with a huge boost.
What was really interesting to discover was that we were doing all the right things, just not enough of them
- Shelley Bickerstaff, Frogmore Creek Wines
“Frogmore Creek is one of the largest wineries in Tasmania, and we’ve been using social media for some time now,” Ms Bickerstaff said.
“In 2012 we re-branded our cellar door and restaurant, and that became the beginning of our online brand push.
“About 18 months into that process, NAB invited me to its Social Media Command Centre in Sydney, which provided some great insight into what what we could be doing better.
“Tapping into the in-house skills of a business as sophisticated as NAB, who do social media at the peak level, and having access to some of their powerful data and analytics, really boosted my confidence as to what’s possible on these platforms.
“I could see that we were on the right track, and came away with ideas about how to take it to the next level.
“What was really interesting to discover was that we were doing all the right things, just not enough of them.”
Since then, NAB has worked with the winery in Tasmania hosting workshops, and most recently pinpointing specific elements where it could improve to drive customer engagement even further.
“Having the ability to tap into the expertise of the NAB team has been invaluable,” Ms Bickerstaff said.
Kreglinger Wine Estates, at Pipers Brook, Tasmania, is another business benefitting from NAB’s social media support.
Kreglinger’s marketing manager, Rachel Boyd, who is responsible for social media across four of the business’ wine labels, said the bank’s hands-on help provided invaluable assistance with content management across the brands.
“By providing me with a spreadsheet template to use for content planning, I’ve been able to look ahead and set out what I’ll be posting each day, week, and month across the different accounts,” she said.
“It sounds simple, but being guided through the right content, for the right label, at the right time, was a huge help,” Ms Boyd said.
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For the past two years, NAB’s social media team has also been travelling to Gunnedah in NSW to meet with customers at the AgQuip Field Days.
For consultant in the social media team, Lisa Bui, trips to regional areas are a great way to provide social media support to customers with a range of experience when it comes to online tools and social media.
“By taking our social media team to places like AgQuip, we’re able to give regional customers the opportunity to drop in and ask us anything they like,” Ms Bui said.
“Some are just starting out, so we might set up accounts for them, while others are very experienced and are just looking to fine tune various aspects of their online activity.
“From there, it’s great to track their progress and hear how they’re improving year on year,” she said.
