In her Brands-Only Summit presentation, Cargill's Maria Lettman shares a case study on global thought leadership. She explains how they launched a global thought leadership program on Twitter with no budget.

1. SOCIALMEDIA.ORG/SUMMIT2016ORLANDOJANUARY 25–27, 2016
Global thought leadership
on a shoestring
MARIA LETTMAN
CARGILL

2. © 2014 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
CONFIDENTIAL. This document contains trade secret information. Disclosure, use or reproduction outside Cargill or inside
Cargill, to or by those employees who do not have a need to know is prohibited except as authorized by Cargill in writing.
© 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Global
thought leadership
on a shoestring
www.cargill.com

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How can
the world
feed
9 billion
by 2050?

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Less than
one hectareLess than
one hectare

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Our social media challenge
• Food security deemed No. 1 company priority
• Promises already made
• NOW
• No staff
• No budget

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Get
good
data
Trade policy Rural
development
SustainabilityHunger
Farm
productivity
Climate change

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Get agreement
APPETITE Pros Cons
A. Lead the
conversation
• Biggest play
• Longer-term impact
• Requires most resources
• Requires most subject expertise
• Requires most social media skill
B. Focus on specific topic,
audience or geography
• May be able to tap into
existing company
knowledge, resources
• Less to do, measure
• Leaves other niches open for the
taking
C.Amplify our events,
content, people
• Easiest to fit into
existing jobs, channels
• Quick wins
• Doesn’t set us apart

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Get some more agreement
• Goal: Become a meaningful voice in the online conversation
• Expectations: Social-media efforts must measurably contribute
to company’s overall food-security strategy and be sustainable
• Pace: evolutionary
• Scope: global, with three primary topics
9

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Get strategic
• are we trying to reach?Who
• do we want them to do?What
• is the conversation happening?Where
• do we achieve the goal?
• measure success?How

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How we handled no staff
• Can’t regularly be offline
when audience is online
• Can check social media
at least every 10 minutes
• Able to drop everything when
needed
• Able to work nights and
weekends
• Agile
• Sense of urgency
• Not frustrated by
constant interruptions
• Cool under pressure
• Thick-skinned, polite and
friendly under fire
• Fearless but careful
• Likes to help, contribute
• Provoking conversation
• Talking like a human
• Making split-second decisions
• Writing and writing fast
• Addressing nuanced topics
in a simple way
• Managing difficult
conversations
• Self-editing
• Subject matter expertise
• Broad knowledge of Cargill
and how subject matter
relates to our businesses
• Knowledge of social
media and the web
• Understanding of
online behavior
Knowledge Skills
AvailabilityQualities

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How we handled no budget
(hunger AND (ag OR agriculture OR farm OR farms OR farming OR farmer OR
farmers OR smallholder OR “small holder” OR smallholders OR ”small holders”
OR poverty OR grow OR growing OR planet OR global OR world OR end OR
ending OR agribusiness OR business OR nutrition OR malnutrition OR scarce OR
scarcity OR water OR drought OR sustainable OR sustainability OR climate OR
"climate change" OR seeds)) OR (famine NOT (feast OR Irish OR potato OR Lord
OR God OR Bible OR "good book" OR Christ OR hour)) OR "food security" OR
"food secure" OR "food scarcity" OR "food shortage" OR "food shortages" OR
"food sovereignty" OR "chronic hunger" OR "chronic malnutrition" OR "food
insecure" OR "food insecurity" OR "food deficit" OR "food deficits" OR "grain
deficit" OR "grain deficits" OR "food justice" OR "food crisis" OR
undernourishment OR "under nourishment" OR "under-nourishment" OR
malnutrition OR mal-nutrition OR "global food security program" OR "world food
summit" OR "feed the future" OR "food access"~3 OR "food scarce"~5 OR "food
availability"~3 OR "food security"~3 OR "food secure"~3

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@foodsecureworld

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First to find
and offer
best content
every day

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Highly visible
before,
during and
after events

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No budget: Did it work?

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No staff: Did it work?
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Holidays
Interactions
by week

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If anyone
doubts
the value
of social

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Six
lessons
learned
20

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1. Patience,
patience,
patience
21

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2. Curation
is not
just for losers
22

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3. For events, “before” matters more
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140 Think tank event
Davos
World Food
Prize
Interactions
by week

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4. The path to influencers may be indirect
24

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5. Stick to
prime time
25

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Full-Bleed Photo 6. Don’t
make
people
regret
the click!
6. Don’t
make
people
regret
the click!

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Thanks!
maria_lettman@cargill.com
952-742-2385
http://www.linkedin.com/in/
marialettman

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upcoming events
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