HD Notebook
Dec. 12 2023 10:24 AM

Joining together to build trust in dairy

A number of dairy organizations work together to manage crisis and issues and strengthen consumer confidence in our farms and products.

By Don Schindler, Dairy Management Inc

Trust in dairy isn’t built overnight. It takes time to create and break through with busy consumers who face an overwhelming amount of information and sources to assess.

This is why the checkoff continuously fills the pipeline with stories about America’s dairy farm families and how hard they work to feed people while caring for their land and animals. We also generate content that speaks to dairy’s many powerful health and wellness benefits for people across the lifespan. Check out our consumer Facebook Page, Instagram, and website.

Think of every story as a deposit into dairy’s “trust bank.” We want the bank to be filled not only during good times but also when our industry faces a challenge or needs to debunk a myth that harms people’s confidence in dairy.

Dairy Management Inc., the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, and our state and regional checkoff teams work in unison with leading organizations, including the U.S. Dairy Export Council, National Milk Producers Federation, MilkPEP, and International Dairy Foods Association on an industrywide issues and crisis strategy. This multi-stakeholder group is called the Dairy Communications Management Team (DCMT) and its mission is to protect U.S. dairy’s reputation through coordinated communication and engagement.

The process includes a monitoring and insights system that allows us to evaluate data to understand where dairy is showing up in traditional and social media. We can determine if conversations are breaking through or stuck in echo chambers.

When positive reinforcement is needed, the DCMT takes action. In our role as checkoff, we turn to our deep library of content at USDairy.com and begin a surround-sound push through the Undeniably Dairy channels as seen above and Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy channels, including LinkedIn. The local checkoff teams follow a similar strategy.

If we see, for example, something that questions dairy’s impact on the environment – a growing strategy among activist groups – we may amplify this story titled “Can Dairy Be Sustainable? Yes, And Here's Why.” Or if we need to reinforce how well farmers care for their herds, we point to “Animal Welfare For Dairy Cows Is A Farmer's Priority, Here's Why.”

We also have a library of articles that can address common health and wellness questions, like “Does milk cause acne?” or “What’s In Your Glass? Understanding Alternatives To Milk.”

Sometimes we can repurpose positive media stories, such as this one in Salon, “No meat, no problem: Try these 5 dietician-approved dairy products packed with protein,” through a strategy called “paid retargeting.” This makes the story available online to other interested readers and keeps factual dairy news front and center.

Our goal is to be strategic and pick the opportunities where we can make the biggest impact. Not everything is worthy of a response. But when we determine the moment is right, the DCMT and your checkoff is plenty ready to protect and continue to build consumer trust in dairy with content designed to set the record straight.

To learn more about your national dairy checkoff, visit www.usdairy.com/for-farmers or to reach us directly, send an email to TalkToTheCheckoff@dairy.org.


The author works for Dairy Management, Inc.

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