TALLAHASSEE --- When it comes to getting the word out on Florida citrus, some of the older social media outlets are still the go-to engines.
The Department of Citrus continues most of its marketing engagement on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and YouTube, citing reliability and visual storytelling as core reasons, commissioners were told Wednesday.
Influential sites preferred by younger people such as Snapchat and TikTok --- some of which are in the state's legal crosshairs --- are deemed less important for the department due in part to the target audience. In the case of X, from the department’s standpoint, the site revolves around news rather than visuals.
Rosalie Morton, senior vice president of integrated marketing at Padilla, said the department needs to be thoughtful about where it spends its time promoting citrus, including the state’s signature orange crop, as a healthy drink option.
“Consumers today aren't kidding themselves that influencers aren't paid. They know that influencers are paid,” Morton said. “But they respect that influencers, and the ones that we work with certainly, are only choosing brands that really match their ethos.”
“And so, they are not going to be like, ‘oh, that's an ad, I'm not going to pay attention to that’,” Morton continued. “Instead, they really take it seriously, because they like the content they like the influencer, and they respect the influencer's opinion.”
Padilla handles consumer marketing for the department.
The state budget for the current fiscal year includes $15 million for marketing efforts by the Department of Citrus. A line in the spending plan (HB 5001E) states the money is exclusively “to produce consumer or influencer engagement and awareness of the health, safety, wellness, nutrition, and uses of Florida citrus products.”
Similar language appeared in budgets for prior years with the totals showing that not all $15 million of the marketing money was for “influencer engagement.”
From the department’s viewpoint, the modern juice consumer is middle-to-upper income, interested in sports, fitness and the health of themselves and their family, often online, and interested in increasing how they incorporate orange juice into their daily routines.
“When we think about social media, we start with the consumer, not the platform,” Morton said. “That means that we look at our audience, the modern juice consumer, and we think about where they are online and the types of content that they're consuming.”
Each preferred social media site has its own job.
Facebook remains the top site to push content as it is highly used among Millennials, Gen X and older consumers and its artificial intelligence algorithms direct content that it knows people are going to engage, Morton said.
Instagram is built around visual storytelling and creators, while Pinterest behaves more like a visual search engine where Morton said people ask specific questions like, “What should I make? What should I serve? What fits my lifestyle?”
LinkedIn, servicing generative AI on ChatGPT, remains critical for reaching retailers, food services and industry stakeholders.
And YouTube, with long-form video, is where people go for educational content.
“Organic content is really important because it creates familiarity, it creates community, we do see people commenting, liking, sharing our posts, so it does still have that community aspect to it,” Morton said. “But paid media is so critical. It gives (the department) the precision and scale beyond its exact current followers to ensure that we are reaching more of that modern juice consumer and expanding a reach.”
