January Newsletter Strategy — Image & Compliance Updates

Overview

During the January 9, 2026 marketing review call, the Doudlah Farms team reviewed a draft January newsletter and a batch of social media posts. The session surfaced two recurring concerns: hero images that inadvertently signal fresh produce (triggering misdirected customer inquiries), and missing or mis-ordered certification icons that create USDA Organic compliance risk. Several testimonial credibility improvements were also identified.

Hero Image — Replace to Avoid Produce Confusion

The draft newsletter opened with a fresh-vegetable photograph. While visually appealing, Doudlah Farms has a documented history of receiving customer calls asking about fresh produce whenever vegetable imagery appears in their marketing.

Decision: Replace the hero image with one that clearly communicates dry goods / pantry products.

Source: Sherry will locate the image used in past Edible Magazine of Madison quarterly ads. Those ads were specifically designed to represent Doudlah Farms without implying fresh produce availability. Karly should request the file from Sherry (or from Jen, who may also have it on file) and swap it into the newsletter template before send.

"When we put fresh vegetables on our site for any reason, we start getting calls… people think of farming and they think of fresh vegetables." — Sherry Lucy Doudlah

Footer — USDA Organic Icon Compliance

The January draft footer was missing the USDA Organic certification icon entirely. USDA has strict rules about the order in which certification marks appear; the USDA Organic seal must be listed first.

Required footer changes:

Failure to display the USDA Organic mark (or displaying it out of order) can create compliance issues with the certification body.

Testimonials — Adding Name + State for Credibility

Social media posts pulling customer testimonials from the website were displaying quotes with no attribution. The team agreed that adding a first name and state (e.g., "Wynonna, CA") meaningfully increases perceived authenticity.

Going-forward standard:
- Capture first name and state at the point of review collection where possible.
- For existing testimonials where state is unknown, first name alone is acceptable; do not fabricate a last name or initial.
- If the customer ordered via Amazon and no location data is available, first name only is sufficient.

"It makes it more believable if we put like a first name and the state they live in… it looks like somebody really is saying it and we're not making it up." — Sherry Lucy Doudlah

USDA Food Pyramid / MAHA Messaging — Content Opportunity

Mark Doudlah flagged a recent MAHA announcement inverting the traditional USDA food pyramid, with strong emphasis on whole foods, scratch cooking, and reduced ultra-processed food consumption. This aligns naturally with Doudlah Farms' product positioning (dry beans, whole grains, popcorn).

Recommendation: Evaluate a social content series framing Doudlah Farms products within the updated dietary guidance. To minimize political risk, reference "the new USDA food guidelines" rather than MAHA specifically. Key angles:
- Beans as a cornerstone of whole-food eating
- Scratch cooking with minimal ingredients
- Non-processed, clean-label pantry staples

Karly to research the political landscape around the messaging and draft a content plan for Sherry and Mark's review.

Action Items

• [ ] Sherry — Locate Edible Magazine ad image and send to Karly for hero swap
• [ ] Karly — Update newsletter footer: remove Moza icon, add USDA Organic as first element, shift Regenerative Farming right
• [ ] Karly — Add first name + state attribution to the Wynonna cornmeal testimonial post; apply standard going forward
• [ ] Karly — Research USDA food pyramid / MAHA content angle; draft social content plan for client review
• [ ] Karly — Implement all feedback and send revised newsletter draft to Sherry and Mark for final approval

Related

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