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to become a regular way for Red Doc Farm to sell bulls. “The best part of the sale weekend is the personal interaction and time with our customers,” Scooter says. “This experience reiterated how truly valuable that really is.” Social Media Marketing The Banners & Buckles Plus Sale was scheduled for March 28 at the Southern Arkansas University Story Arena in Magnolia, Ark.; but, like many events, it was forced to cancel because the university campus and facilities were closed due to COVID-19. As the sale manager and organizer, Darren Richmond, Ringgold, Ga., led a consigner meeting to discuss alternative options. “As a group, we decided to use the sale’s Facebook page and have each consignor post photos and videos of their consignments for sale private treaty,” Richmond explains. They came to this decision to avoid the additional expense of an online sale and because the group had already planned to stream the sale on Facebook Live and take bids via phone. Sale consigner Colby Threet, Rockin 3T Ranch, Ennis, Texas, supported the

what’s said, when it’s posted and where it’s posted. “Know your target audi- ence and take advantage of all the Facebook groups you can join,” he advises. “When I have animals for sale, I may post to 10 different groups – doing this drastically increas- es your odds of getting the attention of potential buyers.” After two sales he manages were canceled due to COVID- 19, Richmond applauds the

Santa Gertrudis community for how well they worked through the issues. “Thousands of dollars were spent on advertising, catalogs, postage and other items prior to the sales and, in both cases, the consignors were very under- standing of that expense,” he says. “All the consignors or sale sponsors either donated all or part of their sale entry fee to help cover those sale expenses. I would like to thank all involved sale consignors and sponsors for making this happen.” Whether they’re a planned event or “Plan B,” online sales, video auctions and social media marketing are part of our current livestock marketing culture.

idea to use Facebook as a sale platform. “Good, bad or indifferent, it’s a part of our everyday life,” Threet says. “Face- book was our main source of advertis- ing, and that was where a majority of my customers and potential customers saw the lots I and others consigned.” Richmond says all the consignors helped by sharing pages and getting the word out that the consignments were available private treaty. “Several consignments that were popular prior to the sale being canceled sold very quickly on Facebook,” he says. That didn’t come as a surprise to Threet, who believes it’s easy to use social media because he has control over

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WUNDERLICH FARMS (979) 277-2838 Brenham, Texas 77833 n.wunderlich@hotmail.com

JUNE 2020 • WWW.SANTAGERTRUDIS.COM

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