If you’ve ever felt stuck in a cycle of posting and emailing that goes nowhere, these 3 steps will help you get an ROI from the effort and energy you put in to marketing your horse business.
Welcome to the show notes! Remember, this is a brief summary from the How to Market Your Horse Business podcast. You'll want to listen to the entire episode for all the good stuff!
Does any of this sound familiar?
I’m so tired of chasing followers and likes on social media without actually getting new clients—it’s like I’m stuck in a cycle that goes nowhere
I write blog posts because I know they say it’s good for SEO but I don’t know if it’s actually doing any good, if I’m getting any business because of it.
It feels like my marketing is hodgepodge and haphazard but I don’t know what else to do.
You’re not the only one. I’ve heard these comments from every frustrated equestrian entrepreneur who wants to grow their horse business yet can’t seem to get ahead in marketing and experience business wins for their horse business.
In terms of your marketing strategy, I’m always going to invite you to evaluate your audience and messaging —how niched down you are and how your marketing is clearly solving their problems.
But, there’s one more thing that’s likely missing in your marketing mix. It may be because you’ve been ignoring it. Or, you just didn’t know how important it is. It’s data.
If you’re afraid of spreadsheets or numbers, stay with me. It doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective.
3 Steps to Use Data to Turn Marketing Busywork Into Business Wins for Your Horse Business
1: Clear definition of success.
If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. ~ Zig Ziglar
Everyone needs a compass to guide them, and your horse business is no different.
The key here is not to chase what everyone else says success should be. It’s also not to hold a specific income number as the ideal as if everything will be perfect if you could just make a certain dollar amount or drive a certain truck.
But, let’s be honest. That has much more to do with matters of the heart and mind. There’s nothing wrong with having an income goal as a business – how else are you supposed to budget and plan for the year? My caution is more about how you think about your goals and realizing no amount of material goods can make you truly happy.
That being said, I do want you to be clear on what your business needs to succeed, whether that’s income, orders, products sold, clients served, etc.
Another often overlooked item to consider is what type of business owner, parent, partner, or friend do you want to be? How do you want to feel at the end of your workday?
These are all healthy places to start when you think about defining success for yourself as an equestrian entrepreneur.
2: Accept and acknowledge the path to growth is not linear.
We’re getting a little nerdy here, but stick with me. I’ll break it down for you, as always.
To meet your goals, you should measure both lead and lag measures.
What’s the difference?
Lag measures track the success of your goals.
Lead measures are what you can actually control that have a direct correlation to the goals you’ve set. (Source: Franklin Covey: The 4 Disciplines of Execution®)
What does this look like in marketing?
Examples of lag measures:
Monthly income (ideally broken down by segment of the business)
Podcast downloads
Website inquires
Direct message conversations
Website traffic
Examples of lead measures:
Number of social media posts
Number of articles published
Number of blog posts
Number of podcast downloads
Number of SEO-optimized web pages
Your lag measures will give you insight to let you know which of your lead measures are working to get you actual leads. From there, you can refine your marketing strategy to help you meet your goals.
Both measures are important. They each give you a picture of what’s working and what’s not so you can make strategic decisions for your horse business.
3: Create a system for tracking.
Dashboard, scoreboard, tracker. Call it what you want. And make it as simple as you want.
If you want to make strategic decisions that will help you stop spinning your wheels, you need a system for tracking what matters.
Simple is your friend!
I recommend using a Spreadsheet or Google Sheet rather than a Document or Google Doc because it will allow you to sort by columns, highlight colors based on values, create charts so you can see patterns, and so much more.
[If you need help with this step, ask a tech-oriented friend.
The great thing about data is that it’s completely objective. It doesn’t have an opinion and it only has the value that you assign to it. It’s a tool to give you objective insight so you can see what’s working and what’s not.
You might realize you thought were doing busywork with your marketing but when you look at the numbers, that’s not the case. Or, you might see where the gaps are in your marketing so you can make some strategic decisions to focus on what’s going to move the needle for you.
It’s exciting to look back over months (and years) of data and see the growth on paper. You get to see a visual fruit for the labor you’re putting in.
When you can see the results from your marketing, it no longer feels like busywork.
Of course, you'll want to listen to the full episode to dig into each of the insights shared and discover how you can apply each one in your horse business!
Ready to set your equine business up for long-term success? Take the Reins 1:1 Coaching will give you a step-by-step roadmap to get there.
Links Mentioned In This Episode
Rate, Review & Follow in Apple Podcast
‘I love How to Market Your Horse Business.’ <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people (just like you) grow their horse business so they can be out in the barn doing what they love. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Not an Apple person? Other directories don't have a rate or review option right now, but you can still subscribe/follow! Click here for Google Podcasts or here for Spotify.