It’s no secret that having a professional equine marketing and PR agency on board is a significant asset to any business. They provide a unique perspective and a wealth of expertise which can help generate brand awareness. But how do you go from zero to hero? Our creative equine marketing team share four of the best pieces of equine marketing and equestrian PR advice you’ll read.
Understand What Equestrian Marketing Is And Can Do For Your Business
The first step in creating your own equine marketing strategy is understanding precisely what equine marketing means.
Ask yourself, is equine marketing something I should consider for my business? If so, what does it mean? What is an equestrian marketing plan? How will it benefit me?
These questions are all important to ask yourself before onboarding an equine marketing agency. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Equestrian marketing is promoting your equine business or products through various channels such as social media marketing and management, email marketing, website content creation, etc. This includes everything from posting on Facebook groups, Instagram pages, Twitter accounts, YouTube videos, etc.
An equestrian marketing plan is a strategic document that outlines your goals, objectives, and strategies for achieving them. It also includes budget planning and timelines.
An equestrian marketing agency is a company or individual that specializes in equine marketing and equine PR. They have the knowledge and experience to create a successful equine marketing campaign for your business through social media campaigns and help their client to develop a presence in the media. UK equestrian media titles such as Horse & Rider, Absolute Horse Magazine and Horse & Hound regularly feature our equestrian brands.
Choose equestrian PRs who are horse owners and are familiar with equestrian products, and understand what is required to make an equestrian range a successful launch.
They should have a degree of understanding and a wide range of expertise in equestrian business. Our business owners have a degree in journalism and are certified in Digital marketing. We create video content and share expert equestrian business advice with our clients.
Be Agile In Your Social Media Management
Keeping up with algorithm changes, trends and timings on social media is a full-time job because it requires constant monitoring and management. Our clients enjoy our social media marketing services because you need to be able to adapt quickly to new platforms and keep up with the latest updates. We ensure our wide range of clients has the entire agency team in support. The more agile you are, the easier it will be to manage your social media presence. Here are some of our expert tips to get started:
- Create a schedule for managing your social media posts. Set aside specific times each day to post on different platforms.
- Use automation tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, and SproutSocial to save time.
- Don’t overdo it! Post only when there is something worth sharing.
- Be consistent. Consistency is key.
- Schedule regular check-ins with your team members.
- Make sure you’re using the right hashtags. Hashtags are extremely useful for finding relevant conversations about your industry.
- Keep track of your performance. Monitor your engagement rates, follower growth, and reach.
- Learn from other people’s mistakes. Read through their comments and learn from their experiences.
- Have fun! Engaging with people online is perhaps one of the most rewarding parts of being involved in the equine community.
- Remember that social media isn’t just about posting. There are numerous ways to connect and engage with your audience.
- Take advantage of the power of video. Video has become the second most popular form of internet traffic after text.
- Get creative! Try out new ideas and experiment with different types of content.
- Share quality content. Quality content gets shared.
- Stay active. Regularly share great content and participate in discussions.
- Listen to feedback. People just love to talk about themselves and share their opinions.
- Always respond to comments. Respond to every comment, no matter how small.
- Encourage interaction. Invite people to interact with you by liking, commenting, and sharing your posts.
- Ask questions. Start a conversation on social media!
- Give credit where credit is due. Thank those who help you grow your following.
- Be authentic. Being genuine helps build trust and credibility.
- Be transparent. Letting your followers into your world helps them feel closer to you.
Be Aware Of Your Business Competition
Keeping an eye on your competitors is important because it can help you stay ahead of the game. It also gives you insight into what works and what doesn’t work for them. This valuable information can help you decide whether to try similar strategies or create unique ones.
Here are few things to consider when looking at your competition:
- What do they say? Look at their website, blog, social media profiles, etc.
- How do they use social media? Are they engaging with their customers?
- Do they have any special offers?
- Is there anything else interesting about them?
- Who are their influencers?
- What are they doing differently than you within their range?
- What makes them stand out?
- What are they not saying?
- What do they need to improve?
- What would make them more successful?
- What could you offer them?
- What are they missing?
- What are they doing well?
- What could you do better?
- What are they doing wrong?
- What could you do differently?
- What are they not doing?
- What could you add?
- What could you remove?
- What could you change?
- What could you start doing?
- What could you stop doing?
Although you don’t want to copy your competition, being mindful of what they do and sell is important to note, e.g: minor adjustments can sometimes indicate new directions or tactics, so be watchful!
Invest In The Tools & People You Need
Investing in tech and appointing the people with the skillsets you need will help your business grow much quicker than if you try and skimp and save on these areas. These tools include:
- A good web hosting service
- An email marketing tool like MailChimp
- A CRM system like Salesforce
- A blogging platform like WordPress
- Social media management software like Hootsuite
- A landing page builder like Unbounce
- A lead generation tool like Infusionsoft
- A conversion tracking tool like Google Analytics
Appointing a bookkeeper, creative equine marketing team, and warehouse support will help free up your time. Consequently, it ensures that you can focus on growing the business and building your client base whilst taking advantage of the support team you have around you because equestrian business management is essential at all levels, especially at the top. Without proper management, businesses can fall apart very quickly.
Invest In A Good Website
Investing in a good website will give you the best chance to showcase your products and services to potential clients. They allow you to communicate directly with your audience and provide valuable blog content especially as websites also serve as a great way to generate leads and increase sales.
A website is one of the most powerful marketing tools available today particularly if you’re serious about building a business online, there’s no “one size fits all” solution, nevertheless, how do you know which type of website will suit your needs best? There are three main types of websites: eCommerce, informational, and membership sites. Each website format has its own set of pros and cons. Let’s take a look at each of them;
- Ecommerce Sites
- Informational Sites
- Membership Sites
The likelihood is that your business is an e-commerce site. E-commerce sites require a lot of maintenance and upkeep. This means that you’ll spend a significant amount of money every year on domain name renewals, hosting, and other technical issues.
If you’re looking for something simple, this may be the right option although it won’t scale well over time because you’re more likely to have to upgrade your website or even replace it altogether.
If you’re looking for a more robust solution, then informational sites might be the answer, as a result, small businesses typically use informational sites to share information with their customers rather than selling directly through their websites.
With the right creative equine marketing team involved in your business, your equine business has the potential to grow and develop. Contact us for an informal confidential chat to see how we can help push your business forward with success.
