As an intern at Farm Journal, I had the great opportunity to attend the 2024 Pro Farmer Crop Tour, an annual event where scouts travel across key U.S. farming regions to assess corn and soybean crops, providing yield estimates and insights on crop conditions. I lead the content blitz for the event, working alongside the company’s content, broadcast and marketing teams. From video production to social media management, my role was to deliver engaging, real-time updates across all platforms to enhance awareness of the event.

I am excited to share our team’s amazing results, what we learned along the way and best practices for running a content blitz during a major national event.

The Power of Video: Capturing Real-Time Updates

Creating and sharing video content was a core strategy, allowing the team to capture the tour’s energy and deliver expert insights straight from the field. One standout piece gained more than 98,000 views on the U.S. Farm Report Facebook page. Real-time updates resonated most, as viewers stayed tuned for the latest yield forecasts and expert analysis. 

Best Practice #1: Timeliness and Authenticity Matter Most in Video

The most successful content was both timely and authentic. Audiences want fresh, up-to-the-minute information delivered with credibility. Make sure your video production schedule aligns with the key goals of your event and captures real, unscripted moments to maintain audience engagement.

Engaging Social Reels: Bringing the Tour to Life

Reels played a pivotal role in expanding reach on social media. One of the best-performing reels, showcasing record-breaking yield forecasts, gained more than 39,000 TikTok views on the first day of Crop Tour. By using specific, visually appealing content, the team engaged both existing audiences and connected with new viewers.

@farmjournal Chip started on The Pro Farmer Crop Tour in South Dakota this morning. Here’s what he’s seeing in corn and soybeans so far! #pftour24 #corn #soybeans #agriculture ♬ original sound – Farm Journal

Best Practice #2: Short-Form Content Delivers Instant Engagement

Social reels offer a fast, engaging way to draw people into your content. Focus on snappy, visually appealing updates that highlight key moments of your event. Reels can create instant buzz, especially if they are part of a larger, coordinated content strategy.

Tracking Engagement Across Platforms

Throughout Crop Tour week, the team measured performance across various platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X, and Tiktok focusing on key metrics like attention hours and video completion rates. On the final day, event coverage earned 10,990 total attention hours across the 4 video platforms. 

Best Practice #3: Track Key Metrics in Real Time

Real-time analytics were critical to adjusting strategies on the fly. Monitoring attention hours, completion rates and plays allowed the team to optimize content based on what was resonating most. Having a clear measurement strategy ensures you are getting maximum performance from content efforts during live events.

Lessons Learned and Final Takeaways

Leading the content charge for such a large event showed that great content is not just about quality — it is about being strategic, timely and responsive. Data gathered during Crop Tour provided insights into audience engagement to guide future event coverage.

What worked well:

• Timely, real-time video content captured audience attention and drove engagement.
• Short-form reels helped broaden reach, attracting new viewers to the Crop Tour story.
• Tracking metrics throughout the event helped fine-tune the approach and deliver better results.
• Lighthearted, behind-the-scenes content showed real, genuine personalities, driving more engagement from followers. 

See video below: 

@farmjournal We’re on Crop Tour, of course we have some fun!!! #pftour24 #croptour #corn #soybeans #farmtok #explore #fyp #foryoupage #crops ♬ original sound – Farm Journal

These best practices can be applied to any marketing effort — whether promoting an event or launching a new product. Focus on real-time updates, short-form content and continuous performance tracking to optimize your campaign’s success and connect with target audiences.

The 2024 Pro Farmer Crop Tour was a huge success, and I’m excited to bring these best practices to future content strategies! 

A special thank you to Mallary Zimpfer, Zach Zingula, Jen Richter, Pro Farmer and the Farm Journal content team for the amazing collaboration that made coverage of the 2024 Pro Farmer Crop Tour possible!