ARLINGTON, VA -- Having a strong online presence has been crucial since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately for USA Rice and its domestic promotions efforts, the organization has an ongoing partnership with FeedFeed, a digital network connecting people who love to cook, and has just completed a year-long social media campaign celebrating U.S.-grown rice using visual storytelling via Instagram, blog posts, and recipe videos.
FeedFeed selected four of their influencers to promote U.S. rice, each creating four unique and on-trend rice recipes accompanied by photography, a blog post, and an Instagram post for each recipe. These new influencer recipes were then included in FeedFeed’s weekly meal planners and on their site’s special page featuring
USA Rice recipes, and also highlighted on IGTV through FeedFeed’s digital TV series.
“In late March, as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown resulted in changing consumer shopping and cooking habits, the overall recipe production strategy for this campaign was tweaked to incorporate more pantry staples and minimal steps to create more approachable recipes for new at-home cooks,” said Cameron Jacobs, USA Rice domestic promotion director.
The campaign’s final numbers are impressive! In all, 16 U.S.-grown rice recipes were developed, posted, and amplified by the network of influencers, FeedFeed, and USA Rice. Together, the recipe posts, regrams, blogs, and videos generated a new social media record of more than 31.7 million consumer impressions and 1,021,668 engagements.
“For two straight years USA Rice has been heavily engaged in the social conversation, exposing a new consumer segment to U.S.-grown rice, reaching demographics like millennials, foodies, and conscientious consumers,” said Jacobs. “This program not only surpassed last year’s record-setting 31.6 million impressions, it more than doubled the engagements to more than one million which demonstrates how well our content and messaging is resonating.”
The collection of recipes also are available on the
thinkrice.com recipe database: Crispy Pork Rice Salad, Mediterranean Brown Rice Salad, Purple Rice Coconut Pudding, Vegan Brown Rice Stuffing, Crab Fried Rice, Thai Peanut Crunch Rice Salad, Stir Fried Tomato Beef Rice Bowls, Japanese Curry, Beet Salad with Wild Rice, Chicken & Rice Soup, Roasted Squash with Purple Rice, Instant Pot Spanish Rice, Teriyaki Meatballs, Jasmine Rice Bibimbap, and Wild Rice Soup.
In addition to the immediate impact of the campaign, USA Rice retains the right to use and access all created recipes, videos, and photos.
“Through our ongoing partnership with FeedFeed, we are making tremendous progress connecting with U.S. consumers -- our largest market. We’re excited about USA Rice’s evolution in the digital space and look forward to this ongoing collaboration,” Jacobs said.