At Root+Beta, we pride ourselves on having a team that delivers exceptional results and builds lasting client relationships. Courtney Castillo, one of our brilliant Account Directors, pushes this mission forward. As a member of the account service team, she works closely with clients as their biggest advocate within the agency. Whether she’s crafting tactful marketing strategies, fostering meaningful collaborations, or helping shape award-winning campaigns, Courtney approaches every challenge with curiosity and dedication. We sat down with Courtney to discuss her role at Root+Beta, explore her predictions for 2025, and learn more about her strategies to keep clients happy and drive successful campaigns.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
CC: As an Account Director, I get to work across a large number of dealerships which allows me to switch hats more often. Typically when you’re in an account or a marketing strategist role, you’re working with three to five dealer groups, and you really get to know them. This new role allows me to go outside of those dealer groups and try new concepts and strategies that my initial dealer groups weren’t able to implement. It allowed me a lot more opportunities to try new strategies and tactics.
Q: Does it require a lot of creativity to figure out the right strategies for each client?
CC: Yes, lots of thinking outside of the box. When you’re working with multiple John Deere dealer groups, it’s easy to get into the swing of this copy-and-paste strategy across all of them. This role challenges me to diversify the strategies and tailor them to each individual dealer group and what their AOR [Area of Responsibility] needs.
What marketing trends are you excited about right now, and how do you see ag brands adopting them?
CC: There’s so many. When TikTok rolled out, there was a huge resurgence in user-generated content. We saw that on the organic side but on the paid side, we started to see that really take off with consumers. This has been a trend for years, but consumers have craved more authenticity from brands, and we’re finally seeing it in the paid space.
Creative that looks like someone shot it on their iPhone outperforms the professionally produced video spot. So it’s something that I’ve enjoyed seeing and rolling out across our dealer groups.
Do you have any 2025 predictions for marketing in the Ag space?
CC: I think AI is going to be a major topic for the next couple of years. We’ll start seeing more AI tools that make content creation for dealerships faster.
From a trends perspective, with the potential TikTok ban, I believe we’ll see a shift in where advertisers are putting their dollars. Threads just announced they’ll be trialing ads. Finding those new platforms will be key to making an impact before it becomes mainstream.
There might also be a push to strengthen brand awareness, especially given the current economy. Many brands will focus on retention and making sure that they maintain good standing with their current consumers because it’s easier to retain the people that you already have than to gain new clientele. Along with that, we’ll likely see more UGC-style content or even memes to boost engagement.
You recently attended the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) awards in Memphis with other Root+Beta team members. How was your experience?
CC: It was my first time attending anything for NAMA. So I was a little nervous going into it, but it was awesome meeting different marketers within the industry and seeing some of the work they produced and won awards for as well. Seeing what other marketers are doing in this space was super rewarding. I’m really excited to attend the NAMA national conference in Kansas City.
Root+Beta won 7 chapter and regional awards from the conference, which included work from one of your accounts. Out of all the winners, which campaign was your favorite?
CC: I didn’t take the lead on this project, but it’s my absolute favorite because of its ripple effect throughout our entire partnership. The rebrand we did for United Ag & Turf at the start of FY’24 stands out the most and it’s one that earned us a chapter merit award and a regional merit award.
That project gave me the opportunity to work alongside a couple of team members who are geniuses when it comes to creative strategy, and it really empowered me and gave me more confidence to apply that branding to other projects throughout the year. That rebrand was a catalyst for one of our biggest wins, first place in both chapter and regional, which was the NASCAR sponsorship.
I grew up watching NASCAR—not really by choice, but something my mom, my absolute hero, introduced me to. Getting to bring a piece of that into my professional career was incredibly rewarding.
What is your agriculture/equipment marketing superpower?
CC: My superpower is strategy—specifically, the ability to listen closely to our dealers and identify their pain points, even if they’re not saying it directly. I can understand where we need to be, when we need to be there, and what success looks like.
Some dealers want to focus on driving market share but also maintain revenue. I can listen to their concerns and turn them into actionable plans. I can say, ‘Okay, we need X amount of ads that are focused on compact tractors so we can win in the market share space.’ While keeping in mind, the need to include campaigns where lawnmower and Gator consumers are spending their time.
What’s something people wouldn’t know about you from your job alone?
CC: I’m a big reader! I love reading in my free time. I also hiked Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park in the snow—my favorite and scariest hike to date!
What are you looking forward to this year with Root+Beta?
CC: So much! Conference season is just around the corner, and I’m excited to unveil our new brand at these events. It’s a great opportunity to meet other marketers and businesses in the ag space, share what we’re doing, and show how we can help. We have so many talented people on our team, and I truly believe we can do a lot for these ag businesses.
About Root+Beta
From global brands to local farms, Root+Beta builds authentic relationships & create powerful business outcomes. We don’t just talk-the-talk – we’re deeply rooted in the agriculture industry & built by people just like you. Crafters of bold strategies that deliver, we move fast, test what works, and pivot when necessary. Our approach is data-driven so every decision is backed by insights and made to maximize your marketing investment.