Community publications and media can be the sweet spot to promote your business locally.
By Jennifer Paulson
When you think about equine media, you might focus on the big brands that you see on the newsstand at your feed store or those with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. While they play an important role in promoting our industry and serving educational and entertaining information, they’re not the only stars of the show.
Community journalism—those publications that serve a much smaller, more localized group of individuals—plays a vital part of our industry and promoting your business. Think local association publications, regional newspapers, and online informational outlets that are specific to your state or region. These informational hubs often rely on community members to provide content so it’s truly representative of the local horse landscape and the people who participate in it.
There are a few ways you can be part of their community-driven mission while also promoting your business.
- Provide content. Whether you write it yourself or someone interviews you and writes an article with your information, being a valued content provider puts you in a great spot for self-promotion while providing your expertise to a group of riders in your area.
- Advertise. With big audiences come big advertising costs, but with smaller, regional publications, you might find advertising your business is very cost-effective while reaching a more relevant audience.
- Subscribe. It probably only costs a small amount for a subscription/membership with these local providers. Make the effort to show your support.
- Distribute. Work with publishers to be a small distributor for local news at your barn to support their efforts at building and growing your horse community.
