“We promote, have fun, educate and bring awareness to consumers through our engaging posts, videos and content,” said Hull. “With 180,000 followers on all social media channels, we reach current Idaho potato fans as well as new fans and younger audiences that love potatoes. Our engagement rate is 16.3 percent, which is really high and means people are responding to our content with likes, comments, shares and reactions.”
Instagram is IPC’s top social media channel with an 18.6 engagement rate from November 2023 through November 2024, compared with an average Instagram engagement rate of 1.5 percent for the food and beverage industry, said Hull.
Users are checking out creative posts like zodiac signs as fries (1.2 million IG views, 110,000 engagements) and a collaborative video with Tasty on Buzzfeed featuring pumpkin-shaped potato gnocchi (3.7 million IG views). IPC also will be continuing its popular social media series with Tasty, Cooking Potatoes 100 Different Ways, through St. Patrick’s Day 2025, including several short videos on IG, TikTok and Facebook.
IPC’s Facebook channel had more than 118,000 followers with a reach of more than 2 million for posts, including the top post announcing the Big Idaho Potato Truck’s first Hawaiian getaway.
YouTube video views were up 526 percent from the previous year for a total of 3.7 million views, said Hull, as IPC added more shorts. Pinterest garnered a total audience of 1.4 million with more than 2.5 million impressions from pins, while the top IPC video for TikTok, Easy Shepard’s Pie recipe, saw 445,000 views last year alone after initially being posted in 2021.
IPC also plans to launch more opportunities for consumers to purchase Idaho potato swag via social media, such as the apparel, hats and Spuddy Buddy mascots currently sold on the IPC website.
“We are getting our Instagram store connected and soon will have an Amazon store for Famous Idaho Potato merchandise,” said Hull. The wide array of social media activity helps keep Idaho potatoes top of mind with a wide variety of retail consumers, said Hull.
“Our audience used to be mostly women ages 40 to 55, but year after year we’re seeing our age demographics on social media getting younger, and we have a lot more men now.”
“IPC retail promotion directors can go in to a retailer and showcase the ways the Idaho brand is engaging with the younger generation through social media,” agreed Ross Johnson, IPC vice president of retail and international. “We are able to demonstrate why consumers are seeking the ‘Grown in Idaho’ seal and the importance of focusing on quality over price.”
Photo: Jeweldean Hull
