We speak to many dairy processors throughout the year. We see you at trade shows, conferences and in your offices and plants. By listening to you, we learn about issues and challenges critical to your business success, as well as your thoughts about Dairy Foods.
Like you, we want to know about our customers. We surveyed readers about their use of social media and technology, industry publications and websites, attitudes and preference for Dairy Foods. I thank the many of you who responded to our reader preference and profile study. Here are some of the survey highlights and a snapshot of you and your dairy colleagues:
| Media access and usage |
|
• 75% of you read trade magazines and e-newsletters for your work. • Trade magazines (both print and digital) are the top-ranked source (47%) for dairy industry information. • Our subscribers’ preferred method of receiving Dairy Foods is print (59%), followed by print and digital (24%) and digital edition only (16%). • 59% of you use our website, dairyfoods.com, and 77% find it the most useful website in the dairy processing industry. • 69% use online videos for business, and 70% find product demonstrations the most valuable. • 52% identified LinkedIn as the most-used social media for business, with 12% accessing social media more than once a day. |
| Demographics |
|
• 40% of you have spent more than 20 years in the dairy industry. • 42% are ages 45-54. • 64% of you are male, 36% female. • Regarding the purchasing of products for your company, 32% of you approve/authorize, 26% recommend purchases and 15% select/specify services. |
2011 was a tremendous year for Dairy Foods. We had the opportunity to visit and report on such leading companies as Perry’s Ice Cream, Fage USA, Graeter’s (Plant of the Year), Leprino Foods (Exporter of the Year) and Kraft Foods (Processor of the Year). This access to your boardrooms and your trust allows us to provide reporting and content that is unique and exclusive to the market. This continues into the New Year starting this month with Emmi Roth USA’s milk-based beverages and premium yogurts operations (see page 80), Mars Ice Cream in February and Swiss Valley Farms in March.
Our multichannel approach
Many of you already visit the recently redesigned dairyfoods.com for the latest news, on-demand webinars, blogs, product videos, online Buyers Guide and more. You can also sign-up for our Dairy Product Innovations e-newsletter and our digital edition, which makes up more than 11% of our total circulation.
I encourage you to join our social media groups at dairyfoods.com/connect where you’ve helped grow our LinkedIn network to over 3,700 worldwide members, the largest group for dairy professionals. Jump into our vibrant Facebook and Twitter groups as well.
Each January, we publish our Supplier Capabilities Spotlights, a unique presentation of many leading companies that want to help you or are already supporting your market goals and business challenges. This edition gives our advertisers additional space and a chance to tell dairy processors more about their companies and the products and services they provide.
We want to continue to be your superior information source for success in the dynamic world of dairy food manufacturing: when, how and where you want it. Thank you for your loyal readership. I wish you much success in 2012. n
