Beefing up: A mixed methods study of Oklahoma direct-to-consumer beef operations' Facebook use

Direct marketing is defined as the sale of agricultural goods and products from the farm straight to the consumer (UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, 2017). In recent years, direct to consumer (DTC) marketing has been gaining popularity in the agricultural industry. In 2022, 116,617 farms sold DTC, with sales of $3.3 billion, a 16% increase in the value of sales from 2017 (USDA-NASS, 2024). The COVID-19 pandemic further increased interest in purchasing beef directly from the farm (Ibendahl et al., 2022). Social media, specifically Facebook, has proven to be a widely used tool in agriculture (Lubell & McRoberts, 2018; Miller et al., 2023; Moreno-Ortiz et al., 2021; Weingarten et al., 2023). Guided by the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI), this study aims to describe how Oklahoma DTC beef operations use Facebook, as well as what Facebook-specific trainings they believe would benefit them. A content analysis was conducted from August 4 to August 29, 2025, across 147 Oklahoma DTC operations’ Facebook pages. Follow-up qualitative phone interviews were conducted with 14 Oklahoma DTC operations from September 9 through September 19, 2025, when saturation was reached. Quantitative data for this study was collected across all nine agricultural regions of Oklahoma, and qualitative data was collected from eight of the nine (USDA, 2022). From April through June 2025, Functional Brand, posts highlighting the functional attributes of company products and services (Tafesse & Wien, 2017), was the most common primary purpose (n = 227, 249, 224). Operations are utilizing Facebook with a variety of purposes and levels of activity, most commonly for education and storytelling. Participants shared they would benefit from trainings regarding using Meta Business Suite, best practices, and how-to tutorials. Past research also identified agriculturists are using social media for education and storytelling, in addition to marketing, which could explain the differences in primary post purpose data and media type (Daigle & Heiss, 2021; Riley & Robertson, 2021; Weingarten et al., 2023). Further research in this area could collect real-time data regarding the impact posting habits (frequency, purpose, media type) have on engagement levels and page growth.