The checkoff-funded BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com website remains the leading online destination for recipes dedicated to beef, shopping for and learning how to prepare beef. In the last Fiscal Year, the site had more than 495,000 total visits with more than 1.7 million page views. The checkoff’s digital marketing manager, Meredith Stevens, says visitors to the site spend more than 3 ½ minutes per session, which means they’re finding exactly what they need by way of recipes and cooking information and tips in order to have a great beef-eating experience.
“We know overall that food is kind of one of those most searched things online so we know that consumers are talking about food, and we know that they are searching for food, for recipes, for tips and that kind of thing. So the fact that the checkoff has beefitswhatsfordinner.com is already a huge indicator that we’re helping consumers find the information they need when it comes to shopping for, or cooking beef, and preparing and enjoying that beef experience with their families and friends.”
The Beef For Dinner mobile site has also gained popularity as the digital marketing world continues to expand and consumers are wanting their information in different ways. As Stevens explains, your cell phone is like your life-line: consumers grab their keys, wallet and phone as they leave the house, so they’re always connected. Because of this habit, the checkoff continues to expand its online and mobile marketing efforts to enhance the beef message to consumers and keep driving beef demand.
“What’s really interesting is what we saw was that when the Beef For Dinner mobile site was first launched, we stayed around 15,000 to 18,000 page views, which for a new site, is fantastic already. But as we’ve continued to integrate and leverage those checkoff dollars with the advertising campaign, and the promotions that are in-store, and making sure that consumers on-the-go know that there’s a Beef For Dinner mobile site for them, we have seen it explode with page views especially this summer knowing that it’s summer grilling season, that they have a resource when they’re actually in the store. They can get, not only can they search for recipes, but they can go throughout the rest of the store and make their beef choices and then get the ingredients they need to make those triple-tested recipes that the checkoff funds.”
Stevens says the Beef So Simple e-newsletter (an archive can also be found on the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner website) is distributed every Monday to more than 29,500 subscribers and is just another way that the checkoff is reaching consumers with beef basics, recipes and cooking tips.
“We want to make sure that we can reach them at all times, especially when they’re looking at what they want to feed their families for dinner, or lunch or breakfast for that matter. And so I think it’s important to make sure that all these online tools, whether it’s the website or social media or even blogger outreach, that we’re continuing to help spread the awareness that these tools are out there for folks to use, because ideally, you want to see that those page views and your sessions and your visitors are continuing to increase but also that they’re finding value in it. So the checkoff is constantly helping to fund ways to keep our sites and our tools dynamic.”
For information on other efforts being funded with your beef checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.
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The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Source: The Beef Checkoff
