With all the online noise out there, your competitors, and the ever-changing social platforms and technology, marketing can sometimes feel intimidating. As an equine business owner, you may face a significant challenge in establishing your brand or building a strong connection with your audience.
To provide support, in this short blog, you will find strategic small business marketing tips to give you and your horse business an edge. Each of these tips is practical and costs nothing, so even a business just starting with a zero budget can take advantage of them.
Top Small Business Marketing Tips
Market your horse business well with these actionable small business marketing tips.
Create a Consistent Posting Calendar
First, you will need to create a consistent social content calendar. It is essential to maintain a strong presence on social media, engage your email list frequently, and keep your website up to date. This requires regularly uploading posts and creating new content.
To save time and headaches, create a content calendar for each month. It also helps to develop a 90-day plan in advance to keep things organized. You don’t have to post daily, but make sure your plan is consistent. For instance, posting once every two days is a good move, but you will need to commit to a schedule. So, work out what will benefit your brand the most and get to work. Consistency is key above all else!
Create a Referral Program
Once you have a steady stream of clients, you can use them as leads to attract even more customers to your business. To achieve this, consider developing a referral program that rewards clients for recommending your brand to new individuals. It leverages word-of-mouth marketing to bring you organic growth.
You can ask your current clients several ways; however, I find that a direct email, text, or phone call works the best. Remember, relationships are built on trust; therefore, this is not something I automate. The personal touch often creates just what you need for the perfect referral.
You can also offer discounts, store credits, or other fun bonuses to anyone who refers a new client to you. This is not just a useful small business marketing tip, but also creates a strong community around your equine business.
Leave a Prompt after Posts
When you post something, don’t post and ghost. In fact, it is good for your business and the algorithms of social media platforms to engage your audience in the comment sections. Creating a conversation is a great way to create engagement and improve your chances of reaching a wider audience.
To do that, leave a prompt or a question on your organic posts. For instance, if your post is about your horses, ask your audience what their favorite thing to do with their horses is. If the post is about grooming, ask them to share any grooming hacks and tips they have. This helps your business benefit from engagement and also gives your audience a chance to learn more about each other, fostering a strong community.
[Feeling stuck creatively and need some help? Check out how AI can help your horse business.]
Host Online Events
Your social media presence should not be limited to static posts alone. It is your job to capture people’s attention. You can host webinars, workshops, or mini-masterclasses to position yourself as an industry leader and build a loyal community.
These online events enable you to showcase your brand to the world, attract partners and customers, and foster stronger relationships with your audience. Ensure that you host events on a semi-regular basis and promote them across all channels to maximize exposure.
Always Keep Learning
Remember, as an entrepreneur, you MUST be a lifelong learner. Marketing trends shift and change every week, and you need to be flexible and open to change in order to survive. Adaptability is a golden virtue as a horse business owner, and it will enable you to not just survive but thrive.
Understand that learning can come from anywhere. You can learn about your customers by engaging with them and starting conversations, and you can even research your competitors to see what works and what doesn’t. These insights can help you improve your own horse business and achieve greater success.
Mix Your Content to Keep it Interesting
Always keep your content fresh and interesting. It won’t help much if you post about the same services or products every week. In fact, varying your content and providing your audience with something new to look at, ponder, and listen to can be a great way to break the monotony and keep them engaged.
Consider posting how-to articles, list-oriented posts, product or service reviews, and general articles in an alternating manner to keep the reading experience fresh. This is great for your audience, of course, but it will also alleviate your burnout, helping you stay consistent and energized for more extended periods of time.
Leverage Live-streaming
Last but not least, we have seen the popularity of live-streaming skyrocket over recent years. It is not just a way to show video content but also a method to connect with people. You can connect with your audience from around the world and take them with you in real time.
Whether you are grooming horses, taking a walk around the ranch, creating a new product, or live-streaming your experiences, it allows you to share a slice of your life with your clients and answer questions directly. It’s a fantastic small business marketing tips that’s sure to make your equine brand near and dear to your customers.
