6 Ways to Market your Equestrian Business Online
Marketing your equestrian business is key to its success. You’ve got an amazing product or service but no one is going to know about it unless you market it.
With so many different ways to market your equine brand online it can be difficult to know where to start. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy. You need to understand your business, its goals, and your customers to decide what will work best. Focus on doing one or two of these ideas really well before moving onto a different marketing idea. It takes time, effort and consistency to see results.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
1. Website
A website is an essential part of any equestrian business. If you’re running a retail business then it makes sense to have an online presence to sell your products. Services can also be effectively marketed on a website. Your site doesn’t need to be overly complicated, it can be as simple as who you are, what you offer, and how to get in touch.
Even if customers have heard about you through word of mouth, there’s a good chance they’ll Google you after. A website helps provide further information, build trust, and convert visitors to customers.
Not only does a website give more info to people who have already heard about you, but it introduces new people to your horse business. When people are searching for “riding lessons in [your location]” or “best farriers in [your location]” your website and brand might appear in the search results. Your website’s position in the search engine results is down to lots of factors but can be improved by SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). A good website will help you rank highly. We’ve got a tip on how to improve this later on.
With more than half of the world's population using social media, you can't afford not to be using these platforms to market your equestrian business. There are lots of different social media platforms, including:
· TikTok
· YouTube
It can be overwhelming trying to post on all of these platforms, especially as a solo entrepreneur without the support of a whole marketing team.
Focus on posting consistently on one or two platforms before branching out. Consider your product/service and where your ideal customer is likely to be. For product-based businesses, Facebook and Instagram are a good option. They allow you to post images and videos of your product, as well as tag the products to make it easier for the customer to purchase.
If your business mainly works with other businesses, rather than consumers, LinkedIn may be best.
YouTube can be a useful way to upload videos and integrate them on your website. As an equine dealer or sales agent, you can use YouTube to upload clips of horses for sale to send to prospective clients, or to embed on your website. Alternatively, lots of people use YouTube to help solve problems. They may be looking for a video on ‘how to plait a horse’s mane’ or ‘how to slow down a horse when jumping’. Creating content to solve common problems establishes you as an expert in the industry, increases brand awareness, and can convert into website visits/sales.
To gain the full benefits of social media for your equestrian business you need to take it seriously. Gone are the days when you could upload a cute pic of your pony and gain tons of likes and followers.
A social media strategy and consistent posting schedule will help you engage with your ideal audience while expanding the reach of your brand.
Need help with your social media? I offer coaching to give you the skills and confidence to run your social media. Or, if you’re short on time, I can also fully manage your social media platforms.
If you’re anything like me, the first thing you do when looking at a product is check out the reviews. A positive review provides social proof that your product is good, encouraging customers to buy it.
Review management software, like Reviews.io, is an easy way to automate review collection. You can set it to email customers a certain time after they’ve ordered to ask for a review. That way you can get verified customer reviews that automatically display on your website.
For service-based equine businesses, a testimonial is pretty much the same as a review. Follow-up with current or past clients to ask for one. You can post these on your website, or ask clients to leave a review on your Google and Facebook business pages.
Reviews build trust which in turn leads to increased sales.
While social media marketing is on the rise, don’t forget about good ol’ fashioned email marketing. Remember when Instagram was down for like a whole day?! If your entire marketing strategy is based on social media, how can you reach customers when these platforms aren’t working?
We don’t own the social media platforms so we’re not in full control. I’m not suggesting you forget about social media entirely but it’s a good idea to spread the risk a bit by having multiple ways to reach your customers.
An email newsletter has lots of benefits:
· Lands directly in your customer’s inbox
· Sends traffic to your website
· Good way to promote new products and offers
· Can target/segment customers based on their buying history for more effective communication
· Mailing list is owned by you – not reliant on social media platforms or affected by algorithm changes
· Keeps your brand at the forefront of customers’ minds
· Opportunity to sell ad space in your newsletter to relevant brands
· Builds a connection with your audience and customers
Here’s a little peak at my sign up form for the Hoofprint Digital newsletter. Feel free to sign up while you’re here…
Remember to get permission from your contacts before sending them an email newsletter. If you have an option for customers to sign up to the newsletter at checkout, make sure it’s clear they agreeing to receive marketing emails from your company.
Some websites, like Squarespace and Shopify, have integrated email marketing. However, you may prefer the flexibility of a separate platform such as Mailchimp or Klaviyo. These give more options in terms of design, automation and segmenting your contacts.
Personally, I like using Klaviyo and the free plan includes up to 250 contacts/500 emails so it doesn’t require any investment to get started.
I mentioned earlier that a website with good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps it to show up on Google and bring more potential customers to your site. One way to improve SEO is with a blog.
Search engines like to see websites with new, fresh content. Regularly adding blog posts to your website does just that. Plus, they offer the opportunity to include lots of relevant key words to help your website be found.
Blogs aren’t just useful for SEO but help to:
· Build trust – they demonstrate your knowledge to position your brand as an expert in the industry.
· Increase traffic – blog posts can be shared on social media and by other people. These links then bring traffic directly to your site. By improving your SEO, you will also see an overall increase in web traffic.
· Increase sales – it’s easy to integrate links to your products/services in a blog post without it being a ‘hard sell’. You can also provide further information about your products/services which make them more likely to be purchased e.g. ‘A Guide to XC Boots’ would help the customer make an informed decision.
· Connect with your customers – reach your target audience by providing the information they’re seeking. You can also engage your customers by providing helpful or entertaining content. Ideally, they will want to keep coming back to your website to read new posts.
While blogs are a great way to boost SEO, it’s important to remember that real humans are reading your content, not just search engines. Write about topics that will interest your customers, use only relevant keywords and publish high-quality content.
Hoofprint Digital can take care of your equestrian copywriting needs, including writing blog posts on a regular or one-off basis.
Partnerships are a fantastic way to spread the word about your brand. There are lots of different types of partnerships and it’s easy to get hung up on the details but just remember that both parties should feel like they benefit from the arrangement.
Here are a few partnerships to consider:
Collaboration
This is usually where you work with a brand similar to yours to share audiences. Giveaways are a good example of this where you might team up with one or more equestrian companies to offer a prize. Aztec Diamond’s Dream Wishlist Giveaway is an example of this on a large scale.
Paid Partnership
The brand provides paid compensation for a rider or influencer to promote their product. This could be a one-off ad, or an ongoing partnership. These are common on social media and the cost will depend on the influencer’s audience size and engagement. Paid partnerships can be particularly beneficial when launching a new product or brand to reach a large audience quickly.
Gifted Collab
Instead of payment, a product or service is gifted in exchange for promotion. Again, this could be a one-off, or as part of an ongoing relationship. Brand ambassadors are pretty popular in the equestrian industry and often cover these types of partnerships.
Gifted collabs work well when the recipient is a big fan of the brand, is growing their following, or needs the product/service offered. Typically, top level riders or influencers with a large following will look for monetary compensation. As much as it’s lovely to have a saddlepad in every colour of the rainbow, they sadly won’t pay entry fees or the vet bill!
All three partnerships above have their place in a marketing strategy. You can focus on just one or think about how you can effectively use all three. As long as you are communicating with the other party well throughout, you can both benefit from the partnership and grow together.
As you can see, there are lots of different ways to market your equestrian business. There isn’t one ‘right’ way of doing things so don’t be afraid to take a different approach to these types of marketing.
If you need help getting your marketing started, or just want some reassurance that you’re on the right track, I offer coaching and consulting for equestrian businesses. I also offer ‘done for you’ services where I can take the reins on your marketing to give you back time to focus on running your business. Get in touch for more details on how we can work together.