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- Equine Experts Send Us Your Best Tip - Win $750 Worth of KAM’s Healthy Horse Products and More
- Breeding Costs: Things to Consider
- Submit Your Grant Proposal To USA Equestrian Trust
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- Top 3 Ways Using Horse Classifieds Can Save You Money
- What do do when the Panic is On to keep our Horses Safe!
- General Horse Articles
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- Riding on the Horse Trail: A Guide to Etiquette
- Targeted Nutrient Therapy for Insulin Resistance
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- 5 Horse Feeding "Don'ts"
- What do do when the Panic is On to keep our Horses Safe!
- A Look at Horse Feed
- Horse Grooming
- What do do when the Panic is On to keep our Horses Safe!
- Relive Southern Eighths/Nikon Three-Day on YouTube
- Keeping Your Horse Beautiful with Horse Products
- Horse Health Issues
- Bucking, Shying and other Attention Deficit Disorders
- Let Sleeping Horses Lie: A Look at Horse Sleep Patterns
- Horse Breeding: Covering a Mare
- Horse Training
- Training Mythunderstandings: Heeding Groundwork: Class Review
- Starting Early: Training the Foal
- Equine Experts Send Us Your Best Tip - Win $750 Worth of KAM’s Healthy Horse Products and More
- Horses & History
- When Dealing With Horses Get It in Writing - Sign Up for May 16 FREE Webinar
- A Brief History of Horse Breeding
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- ELITE DINING AND HOSPITALITY CLUB TO DEBUT AT 53rd WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW
- Healthy Horse Boutique Supports Haddad Staller In Her Olympic Quest
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How to Market Your Equestrian Business
03/30/2009
If you’ve had an equestrian business for several years and are looking to take it to the next level, or if you’re just breaking in, this is your three-part guide to marketing your equestrian business.
There are many different paths into the equestrian business: you can work as a trainer, a ranch manager, a veterinarian, or an instructor. But at the end of the day, running an equestrian business means building a brand. You need to market your equestrian business, outline your services, advertise and get out there. If you’ve had an equestrian business for several years and are looking to take it to the next level, or if you’re just breaking in, this is your three-part guide to marketing your equestrian business.
Get an Image
If you go to any seminar on starting a business, one of the first bits of advice they’ll give you is to have a brand image. This is just as true for equestrian business as it is for any other sort of business. Get a company name and a tagline that really encapsulates your equestrian business. A tagline is sort of like a motto that explains what your equestrian business is about. For example, Target’s tagline is “Expect more, Pay less.” It sums up what Target is about: affordability.
Once you’ve picked out a name and tagline for your equestrian business, then comes the logo. You need a symbol that can go on t-shirts, signs, and on your equestrian business website. Some people prefer logos that are more pictorial, others prefer the name of their company written in a particular font with a particular color. Be careful what colors you use in your equestrian business logo—that is going to be your businesses color palette. Consistency of image is very important in marketing, so stationary, uniforms, brochures, and signs must all have the same fonts and the same color palettes.
Once you have the big three (name, tagline, and logo), it’s time to incorporate that image into your equestrian business. Don’t just send invoices on plain paper—use customized stationary with your logo. Print equestrian business cards, brochures, newsletters, inserts, and postcards, being sure to display your logo, color palette, and tagline when appropriate. If you run an equestrian business like a school, consider making clothing for students to buy that also incorporates your new image.
Get Online
This equestrian business image now needs to be taken online. There has been a lot of argument today over the best and most efficient ways a company can market themselves online. Truthfully, some ways of online marketing are essential for your equestrian business, while others are merely a fun way to create buzz about your brand. One absolutely essential online marketing tool is a webpage. No matter what form of equestrian business you run, without a website, you will be more or less invisible. Worse still, it also creates a reputation for being amateurish. You should know that if you own a ranch or a school, a proper website for your equestrian business will cost at the bare minimum $500-$1,000, and top of the line professional sites can cost $10,000. It’s an investment that pays rich dividends, however. Once you have a website, online directories like GoEquine.com or YellowPages.com are imperative for promoting your equestrian business. List your services in as many online directories as you can—many are free, and others require a small monthly fee.
There are other forms of online marketing that aren’t essential to your equestrian business, but they are very important if you have the resources. One is Google AdSense, a program where your website appears as a sponsored link when someone types in a certain word combination. These have been shown to be hugely successful in driving traffic to equestrian business websites. Another tool for your equestrian business with a high rate of success is email newsletters. Once you have a list of patrons and employees, your equestrian business can send out newsletters once a month or so, letting everyone know what’s going on, or passing on links or articles of interest.
The final way you can market your equestrian business is through UGC (user generated content) sites. These can help drive traffic to your equestrian business site, but they can also get across your company’s personality. Podcast, blogs, Twitter, and Facebook pages are all ways you can let the public know what’s going on in your equestrian business—as well as keep an eye on what everyone is saying about your company.
Get Out There
The final rule to marketing your equestrian business is to get out there. Establish your name and reputation as someone who is passionate about what they do, and an expert in their field. Submitting articles or a weekly column to websites or magazines is one way of marketing your equestrian business. Another is to write an e-book (or better yet, a real book if you can find an interested publisher). Taking part in the equestrian community is a great way to create buzz about your equestrian business. Take part in demonstrations at horse shows, compete at horse events, and make public appearances at every horse competition. Releasing a press kit now and then about your accomplishments is a great way to keep your equestrian business in the public eye. Besides, interacting with your public is a great way of learning the newest trends, sizing up the competition, and socializing with other equestrian-lovers.
