Advertise and market like a millionaire with tips from some of the best in the performance-horse business.
By Megan Arszman
With so many options for marketing and advertising—social media, digital, print—it’s easy to get lost in a flurry of ideas and things to do for your business, whether you just hung out your shingle as an NRHA Professional or have been in it for years. You want to be everywhere: Facebook, Instagram, NRHA Reiner, arena signage, etc. You want everyone to know who you are. But are you guilty of having champagne, rather, single-barrel bourbon marketing dreams on a clearance sale 24-pack beer budget?
It’s easy to want to mimic the marketing plans of the most visible riders and programs, but it’s important to step back and take the time to create a brand, develop a plan for your business and continue to work hard in the saddle, so you can be successful in the marketing arena.
But how tough can it be? We spoke with Cam Essick, owner of Pacific Range design group and consultant to many NRHA Professionals, and Kelsey Price, marketing professional and wife of Kole Price. Here we’ll cover:
Part 3: Traditional Marketing Campaigns
Part 4: Treating Yourself Like a Prospect
Branding
Too many times Price sees a new NRHA Professional unleash his brand when it’s not yet a cohesive product.
“I think people tend to do things halfway when they’re in a rush to become a big name,” she says. “It’s easy to forget what their brand image is because they don’t take the time to build off of everything.”
Price recommends working with someone knowledgeable and dedicated to marketing to come up with the key concepts for your brand debut: color scheme, font, logo, and a motto. Rather than working with a multitude of people, it’s best to have one person who can keep everything cohesive and consistent.
“Having one marketing person, rather than a person here and there, can keep everything together and build that theme you need to be memorable,” she says.
Choosing a color scheme can help you be more recognizable, and you can take it farther as a trademark. (Does the phrase “the green shirt” ring any bells?) Then taking that color scheme and applying it to an eye-catching, but simple logo can add flair to any ball cap, banner, or trailer wrap for immediate identification. (Does a blue star with a futuristic “F” catch your eye?)
But branding is more than flashy colors and fancy stall setups. Branding also involves who you are as a horseman or horsewoman, says longtime graphic designer and marketing guru Essick.
“Everything goes back to the early days when you did everything with integrity and truth,” she says. “The best riders who are the best at marketing themselves are the ones who’ve had successful programs due to a great foundation.”
Essick stresses the importance of doing an inventory of your strengths as a professional and then creating a business plan based on those strengths. Too often the newer professionals feel the pressure of being everything immediately and all at once, thus not allowing time to really focus on their strengths and grow from there.
“I think you need to find what you do well, make sure you can back it up every day, and then go forward with that,” she says.
Read the rest of this article at the links above.
