How to Market Your Equine Business?

On top of daily operational expenses, finding additional funds to promote your equine business is challenging. There is the constant confliction of trying to gain more customers but not wasting money on useless marketing techniques. In addition, marketing to horse people can present challenges because they are typically riding their horses and not following the latest trends.

Whether you have a boarding barn or are offering lessons, we came up with a short list of marketing tools that will be helpful in expanding your business.

Offer Free Incentives

Everyone likes free things, right? Free incentives are an infamous way to lure in new customers and educate them about your business. If you have a boarding barn, try offering 1-week of free board to new customers. If you have a tack store, perhaps all new customers that buy $25+ dollars of product could receive a free currycomb. Or if you have a lesson barn, the first lesson could be free if they sign up for a 10-week lesson program. The main point is that free incentives bring customers into your business and gives them confidence that they are receiving the best deal.

Create Marketing Partnerships

As many of us know, the horse world can be small and vastly intertwined. Yet, this can be an excellent, inexpensive marketing tool as well. Imagine going to a tack store and being given a slip of paper with your receipt detailing a free lesson at a local riding center. Then imagine if that riding center recommended all new students to buy their tack, boots, etc. at that same tack store.

Now, word-of-mouth recommendations can be large endorsers because customers find the recommended company to be more reliable and credible. Establishing a marketing partnership that made verbal recommendations would greatly increase new customer traffic.

Don’t Forget To Use Social Media

While social media is a “go-figure”, it is a highly valuable marketing tool for many reasons. Social media allows customers to interact with each other and the company, be informed about current business operations, and increases communication from the business to customers.

Leverage Existing Customers

Loyal customers typically generate the majority of profits for businesses so maintaining their relationships are crucial. Repeat customers also create word-of-mouth recommendations that influence new potential customers. To keep existing customers, many businesses through anniversary events where they give out gifts or create punch cards that lead to redeemable gifts.

By Anna Hellman