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Happy Thursday, friend. In the great state of Indiana, we celebrated all things America this past weekend. Memorial Day cookouts. Public pool openings. Indy 500 jorts.
Yes, a real article from a few years back: The 16 best jorts at the Indianapolis 500 Anyway, I’m shipping a bit of a different blog post today about the top roles I see for ag marketers in the next decade. But I’m also sharing a fun side project I’ve been working on: a digital community built specifically for ag marketers and communicators. Learn more on the scroll. On today’s docket:
📫 Ag Marketing in 2034: The Trio of Roles to Keep Your Eyes On*Just a heads up on today’s article – it’s a change-up from my normal ‘how-to’ content and more of an observational piece on which ag marketing roles I see as permanent in the future of the industry. It’s a general thought I’ve had for a while since working with 20+ ag companies – from large, public entities down to pre-seed startups. Exactly 100 years ago, a farm journal editor and future U.S. Vice President, Henry Wallace, began selling “Copper Cross,” an early commercial hybrid seed corn. Not the brand name I would have personally picked, but it’s 1924, so we’ll cut Henry some slack. Creative workshops probably weren’t a thing. Two years later, he formally creates Hi-Bred Corn Company. Five years after that, he gains distribution via a partner by the last name of “Garst.” And four years after that, “Pioneer” gets bolted onto the front of the company name… Yada, yada, you get where I’m going with this. Sometimes, I like to imagine what the “marketing team” for Pioneer Seeds might have looked like 100 years ago. With some imagination, I can take a guess: Enter Susie. Susie was probably Wallace’s stenographer, or maybe a clerk. A Swiss army knife of skills and talents. And if we’re honest, she was probably keeping Henry’s seed business alive, like most right-hand assistants. But more than a secretary, she probably was the marketer:
Hell, I bet Susie probably even doodled up the notable Pioneer trapezoid logo while Henry was droning on about genetics in their log cabin office in Des Moines. No offense, corn breeders.
The point is that a lot has changed for ag marketers over the last century. And we can expect that pace of change to only accelerate. Marketing – specifically in agriculture – is not exempt. If anything, it changes more quickly than other functions in a traditional agribusiness or AgTech startup. The strategies. The tactics. The technology. They come and go, boom or bust… and experimentation is constant. Rather than attempt to predict what an ag marketing team might look like in 2124 (that’s weird to type…) I thought I’d keep the timeline shorter, focusing on what roles will remain and be the strategic leaders in 2034. If I were gunning to be a top in-house marketing leader, here are the three roles I’d set my sights on: 1. Product Marketing Leader / Brand ManagerIt’s almost a misnomer to call this role “marketing” because of how deeply integrated these folks are into product planning, sales and channel development, supply chain, and more. They’re the heartbeat of go-to-market strategies. If you excel in this space, you’re a unicorn. It’s challenging to master such a wide range of skills and consistently deliver value across multiple business functions. This person sets the tone for the direction and launch of annual plans and new products (a BIG ask!). You might as well call this the “linchpin” marketer: they hold everything together. When they’re not brainstorming with product development or diving into market research, they’re getting their hands dirty — in the field with both customers and the salesforce. They ruminate on how to craft campaigns and strategies that can spread their brand and product across target markets and geographies. In other words: making sales at scale. 2. MarCom LeaderI’ve thought about it a lot, and here’s the deal: the top dog of marketing communications needs to live in-house, especially for the bigger brands. This person isn’t just a manager; they’re the essential conduit between leadership and the host of agencies and contractors they can use to support the work. Think of them as the brand’s cowboy, wrangling the wild herd of voice, messaging, key communications priorities, thought leadership topics, and more—keeping the whole rodeo in line without losing their hat. In agriculture, like any commodity space, it’s easy to blend into the crowd and produce work that sounds eerily similar to competitors. But a badass MarCom leader can carve out a distinct space where every tactic is cohesive, making the brand feel like it’s riding shotgun with the account manager out in the field. Easier said than done, right? All things funnel up to this person: content, social, advertising, PR, earned media, email, events/field marketing, and internal communications. Not necessarily a full-time role for startups or smaller organizations, but an absolute necessity when you’re scaling or running with the big dogs. 3. Marketing Ops LeaderCalling all data nerds! If you love the intersection of marketing and analytics (and being knee-deep in data), this job is for you. I believe this role is too integral to be outsourced. You’ll be diving into the CRM and analyzing web traffic, email campaigns, and lead generation. You’re not just looking for answers, you’re looking for opportunities. While the job is undeniably technical (making things better is your mantra), it’s also bursting with strategic potential. You’ll figure out answers to questions like: What’s the right tech stack? How’s the recent campaign performing? Where did web visitors most engage on the site? Oh, and maybe a nonobvious but obvious observation: this person will spend lots of time crafting how AI folds into your marketing team’s tactic toolbox. You’ll evaluate different software options, report metrics to key leaders, or explore technical avenues to link databases. Plus, you’ll manage the budget and train teams, guiding them through the data jungle. ———- There you have it—my predictions for the leading ag marketing roles that will have the biggest impact in the future. Now, the exact titles and responsibilities might dance around a bit depending on your specific corner of the industry—be it livestock, tech, or seed/crop protection. But broadly speaking, these roles capture the essence of what I’ve seen — and more importantly, what you can expect into 2034 (and beyond). 💼 ⭐️ My secret project: Say hello to Tread Digital!If I’m honest, this whole ‘Tread Digital’ idea was born because I craved it—a digital watering hole for all of us knee-deep in the wild world of ag marketing tactics. Like many of you, I spend my days strategizing and executing go-to-market plans. But it doesn’t matter if we work for an agribusiness, a genetics company, a grower association, or an AgTech startup, we’re in a constantly shifting industry while working in a constantly shifting function. Marketing in agriculture isn’t a walk in the park. Hell, it’s more like an interpretive dance with spreadsheets strapped to your feet. But there’s never been a central online hub where we could connect, share best practices, and learn from each other. That’s the vision behind Tread Digital: building a thriving community for ag marketers. A few highlights:
For $9/month, you gain access to the community, resources, and more. We’ve been in beta with 30 ag marketers for a month; here’s what a few have said thus far:
Wanna join us? Learn more and join here. Need a little extra help with all things content? Chat with us at Imagine Content to discuss how we help ag brands build trust, authority, and audiences. We’ve worked with 25+ ag brands on content strategy + execution, SEO, design, and content analytics. Get in touch to see past work and share where you’re needing help. Or, do you need a little more design capacity? Subscribe to our simple, unlimited design service to support your existing graphic designers or utilize an outsourced team. That’s all for this month, folks! |
