You want to grow your horse business, so that means you should be talking to more people in your marketing, right? Yes, but ... talking to more of the “right” people is the key. Let’s dive into 3 benefits of niching down in your equestrian marketing.
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!
If you’re here, it’s likely because you know your marketing could be more effective. You’re either not getting leads or subscribers or clients and customers, or you’re getting them but they aren’t the people you love working with or are best-suited to help. Therefore, they don’t stick around—or they do, but it’s not a great experience for either of you.
The reality is that you’re not for everyone—and, that's okay.
This is why your marketing will be most effective when you niche down so you can market to your best-fit audience.
But, how much is too much? How do you know which areas you should focus on when you’re niching down in your marketing?
To answer these question about niching down in your equestrian marketing, let’s look at what you’re likely doing that’s not been working for you: talking to everyone.
The solution for all horses and all people.
We are the premiere membership for all people and all horses.
I help every horse and rider find a true partnership.
These statements were taken from real-life horse businesses. Can you see how they are generic enough to talk to everyone while really talking to no one?
To be clear, I believe that what you have to offer could benefit every rider and horse. But, that doesn’t mean that every horse and rider that lands on your business’s Instagram profile or Facebook page is the right for you.
The reality is you aren’t for everyone. Your training style is a fit for certain people. Your teaching or even photography style is a fit for certain people. Your goals and processes are a fit for certain people. And, you’re not a fit for others.
Effectively niching down in your marketing is more than just demographics, breed, discipline, or location, although that can be part of how you niche down.
If you want to attract people you love to work with, you need to use marketing messaging that pre-qualifies them by sharing about your methods and your beliefs as well as their hopes, dreams, and frustrations.
Here’s one practical exercise to help with this process of niching down in your equestrian marketing.
Fill in the blanks for the following sentences:
____ [your business or program name] ___ is for ______ [list 3 or 4 bullet items related to the mindset, beliefs, goals, frustrations of your best-fit audience] ______
____ [your business or program name] ___ is NOT for ______ [list 3 or 4 bullet items related to the mindset, beliefs, goals, frustrations of your best-fit audience] ______
You could also include the words “you if” to help you narrow down your messaging.
____ [your business or program name] ___ is for you if ______
____ [your business or program name] ___ is NOT for you if ______
(Want a practical peek at what this looks like in real-life marketing? Check out this page and scroll down to where it says “This is for …” and ”This is not for …” )
Now you understand why it’s necessary to niche down in your equestrian marketing, and you have a practical way to get started.
Next, let’s amplify that understanding by exploring the benefits of niching down.
3 Benefits of Niching Down in Your Equestrian Marketing
Connected Messaging
The more specific you can get with identifying your best-fit audience's problems, desires, frustrations, and ideal solutions, the more connected they’ll feel to you as the solution to their problem.
Qualified Leads (AKA Goodbye, tire kickers)
Are you for cowboys and cowgirls? Are you for hunter jumpers? Are you for dressage riders, trail riders, horse enthusiasts? When you use that clear messaging in your marketing, you are qualifying your leads from the get-go.
If you’re tired of answering the same questions over and over from potential customers, it might be that your marketing isn’t clear enough.
You want your website visitors and social media followers to be able to clearly identify if they’re a fit for your program, products, or services based on the content they see from you – that includes website copy, images as well as posts on social media.
Effective Channels (Platforms)
Say goodbye to trying to be everywhere all the time.
What do you think is best? Be on every platform and give 10% effort to each (but at least you’re there). Or, one platform with 110% effort and fully present, consistent, growing, engaging, and exploring new methods and tools.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed because you feel like you’re expected to be in all the places all the time?
Trying to be everywhere all the time is a sure way to burnout and quitting before you get started.
When you’re clear on your audience, you know where to find them!
The best strategy for your intentional marketing efforts is to pick a platform - ideally where you’re most likely to find more of your right people – and go all in.
If you want to grow your equine business, yes, eventually you’ll likely be on multiple platforms.
But, trying to be everywhere all the time as you’re starting to make marketing a priority will water down your effectiveness
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!
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.