Social media campaign aimed to drive website traffic to Illinois Farm Families' website.

1. Social media advertising was used to drive the majority
of visitors to the website.
• Recipes continue to be engaging, relating farming practices
to the food consumers cook.
• Two of the top posts demonstrated that using the shared
values of sustainability and safety was an effective way to
gain additional website visitors, because consumers trust
people who share their concerns.1
Social media drove traffic and grew trust in Illinois farmers.
Farmer features, shared value connections and recipes
continue to be the most liked stories.
90%55,516 1.4 1.75
page views
Total pages viewed Expanded audience
with new visitors
Pages viewed
per person
Average time spent
on each page
minuteswebpagesnew visitors
Where did website visitors come from?Monthly website visitors
The number of website visitors almost doubled during
the summer compared to the three months beforehand.
33% Social
27% Google Ads
15% Google search
12% Direct URL Search
10% Illlinois Farm
Bureau Campaign
watchusgrow.org
12,230
9,945
5,501
4,255
3,653
WEBSITE CAMPAIGN
BOOSTS VISITORS BY 125%
More than 36,000 consumers discovered information from Illinois farmers, building trust in farm practices
June – August 2018
6,317
Apr 18
5,000
0
10,000
15,000
20,000
May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18
9,903
12,501
14,902
4,357

2. The bottom line:
Thousands of consumers are using watchusgrow.org as a resource for information about Illinois farmers and agriculture. Social
media is providing IFF with the ability to target the right audiences with the right messages that drive them back to the website to
learn more, engage with the content and trust IFF as a credible resource.
Blog posts and featured website posts with relevant and timely content are driving a significant amount of traffic. Consumers are
also finding us from Google Search advertisements, which perform well and provide a cost-effective way to reach more consumers.
Since 2012, trust in blogs and social media has risen 15%.2
With so many inaccurate articles online, watchusgrow.org provides an
essential source of accurate and engaging information about agriculture for consumers, building trust in Illinois farmers. It’s never
been more important to share our story online. Consumers are listening.
References:
1. Edelman. Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report. 2018. | 2. Sullivan, Higdon Sink. Food Think: Evolving Trust in the Food Industry. 2016.
FARM TOPIC PAGES
WERE THE MOST
POPULAR CONTENT
The summer web traffic campaign
demonstrated that consumers want
comprehensive sources of information
about raising animals, GMOs, food labels
and organic and conventional food. They
found this information on IFF’s topic pages.
Highlighting Illinois’ agriculture diversity
IFF’s summer campaign broadened consumers’ perceptions of Illinois agriculture by
talking about a wide variety of farm practices.
Consumers viewed
diverse content
GMOs most
viewed website page
Modify your thinking
GMO topic page
Kids, cows and college funds
cattle topic page
Label lingo
labeling topic page
3,710 (6.7%)
1,641 (3.0%)
1,502 (2.7%)
Page title Views (% of total views)
Modify your thinking
GMO topic page
4 farm moms and the
labels they’re not buying
GMOs: A look at the
seedless grape
3,710 (6.7%)
3,620 (6.5%)
3,435 (6.2%)
Page title Views (% of total views)