Written by Mariah Larson

Tuesday morning the women of CommonGround Minnesota hosted their annual workshop, and one guest speaker included Erica Hanna, Owner of Puke Rainbows Creative, an Emmy-winning creator of strategic content. She spent time sharing her insight and advice regarding do’s and don’ts for the attention-catching trend of live video streaming.

Our world is becoming increasingly digital. As a result, between news outlets, sharing and social media, we’ve created platforms that allow information to be shared about anything, anytime and anywhere—it’s a challenge, and an opportunity. As technology becomes more innovative and integrated into farming practices, it creates a growing opportunity to use these media platforms to share experiences on the farm.

The overall population may be growing more disconnected from the farm, but they aren’t growing in disconnect online. Farmers and agriculturalists alike need to take advantage of these outreach opportunities to share their story and lifestyle on the social media outlets that people are using daily. Live stream video is a unique innovation we’re seeing more of on social apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.

Hanna uses Facebook Live prior to her presentation

Have you ever wanted an opportunity to clear up misconceptions? Or answer questions from consumers and community members on topics regarding agriculture or farming?

Well, here’s your opportunity! Who better to share the story of farming and stewardship than farmers and agriculturalists themselves?

Live stream video is a useful tool to add some “show” to your “tell” simultaneously while sharing your content online. You have the control of setting the tone, location and topic to discuss, while viewers get to hear what you have to share and interact back for discussion.

Hanna made an important argument that resonated with me—as someone who likes to be prepared and plan out posts and content to share: live video streaming can be intimidating and feel a little vulnerable at first, but that’s because it’s new and it’s also transparent. It’s clear to everyone watching just how authentic your content is, and it holds a lot of potential for sharing and connecting with others online. It’s convenient without needing to travel to a location, and your outreach with viewers is only limited by the settings you select.

Live stream video provides opportunities to connect directly with others in the moment, as well as saving and sharing your content for later use. Real-time video and viewer interactions have patterns according to the platform you’re using, content you’re sharing and the audience you’re reaching. Facebook Live, as a great example, has special features to analyze your video’s performance after the post ends to help you meet your outreach or viewer goals.

Tips and tricks are also out there on the web explaining the different live stream options available for social media apps, but ultimately the best way to know what works for you is to practice different platform settings, hit record and get started streaming!

A special thanks to Hanna and Puke Rainbows Creative for sharing such an interesting topic. I plan to use the information I learned at future MN Corn events and encourage others involved in agriculture to see what content they can share too!