Marketing Fresh Produce and Healthy Lifestyles
The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) is a non-profit global trade organization
who represents companies from every vertical in the fresh produce and floral supply
chain. They aim to connect, inform, and deliver industry solutions to help
members foster growth and sales.
Starting a Conversation
The Social Media Impact
For the social media marketing side of our time with PMA, our biggest goal was to boost engagement and followers while integrating into their existing channels and strategies.
Key Responsibilities
- Engage with members on a global scale
- Curating industry-related content
- Crafting and scheduling posts
- Following quality guidelines to ensure consistency
Campaigning for Fresh Produce
The Push for a Healthier Lifestyle
For their campaigns we supported PMA’s teams by welcoming new members, offering the benefits and results from certain campaigns and much more. From their ‘behind-the-scenes’ involvement in the FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) compliance to their creative ways of appealing to younger generations, PMA has become one of the driving forces behind the ‘healthier lifestyle’ movement.
Fresh Summit’s Industry Impact
How We Helped PMA Hit Trending…Twice
Early in our term with PMA we had the amazing opportunity to assist them with their biggest annual event, Fresh Summit. They go ‘all-out’ for the event transforming each convention center into a fresh produce paradise, complete with amazing speakers like Guy Kawasaki and major companies like Green Giant and Sunkist all vying for attention on the expo floor.
The Game Plan
Providing Support to One of the Produce Industry’s Biggest Events
We’ve been lucky enough to lend a helping hand to PMA’s Fresh Summit for two years, the first being
in Anaheim, California and the second in Atlanta, Georgia. For both, the Areli Group split our team
into on-site and off-site groups which were extremely beneficial to real-time support and engagement
for both followers and event attendees.
Main Responsibilities
Used a variety of resources from our toolkit
for real-time updates
Created a seamless experience for
followers & attendees
Implemented a process to work lock-step
with the PMA team
Reaching Attendees: Media Wall
Leveraging Our Resources
The Media Wall actually was one of the best assets for our team during Fresh Summit.
Its primary use was to inform attendees about upcoming sessions and speaker insights, but we also used it as an opportunity to keep social media at the top of all of their minds. We prompted attendees to share their experiences and favorite takeaways all while using the #freshsummit hashtag, we increased the volume of tweets and timeline deliveries which played a major role as to why we hit ‘Trending’ the second year.
Making Fresh Produce Trendy
Hitting the Mark and Making the List
Prior to the event, we started conversations with some of the event’s top speakers and influencers, which also included industry bloggers and journalists. By creating a community of partners and influencers within the produce industry we created a strong foundation which helped us carry that momentum into the event. Collectively, these factors and the timing of our updates and posts (during the event) were critical to why we trended for the second year in a row. Once we identified this valuable event process, we were able to create event standards for future PMA events.
Some of PMA’s Members Include:
“Areli was able to come on-site and provide us with the support needed to continue a really deep level of engagement.”
Elizabeth Rich
PMA – Director Of Digital Content
Wrapping Up
How to Keep the Fresh Produce Industry from Spoiling
From our experiences with PMA we realized just how effective social media was to the fresh produce and floral supply chain
industries. With the ability to improve customer experiences through real-time conversations, the industry gained a cohesive
voice through social.
Moving forward, companies still adamantly using traditional techniques will find it increasingly difficult to reach larger
audiences or scale organically. While we’re still in the early stages of social media’s impact on the fresh produce industry, it’s
potential is definitely apparent.
CAN YOU BE DOING MORE?
How are you tapping into the potential of social media?
Learn how the Areli Group can help you and join the conversation!