As a Stud Breeder, you likely find that your year revolves around your annual sale. One of the most important aspects of your annual sale is Marketing. The way that you market your sale and stud can be the difference in pushing that sale average up a few dollars, or drawing a selection of new bidders.

Given its importance, we thought we’d share our six golden rules for marketing your livestock business.

 

Be Prepared. Start Early.

It’s never too early to start thinking about how you will market your business. The most important time for getting the word out is the 4 weeks leading up to event. However, these few weeks are notoriously busy. Creating a plan early means that less decisions need to be made when things start getting manic.

Once you have a marketing plan in place, have a careful look over it. Is there anything that you can do now? For example, if you are planning to have an advert in a newspaper, can you arrange for it to be designed now and booked in now?

 

Use a variety of Platforms

There are many different marketing platforms that you could use to market your business – a website, social media, emails to your mailing list, a printed newsletter, print adverts, posters and more. Often, a variety of these platforms should be leveraged in order to get the best results.

Using a mix of both direct and indirect contact is important.

An example of direct contact would be an email or newsletter sent to previous clients and contacts. Someone might miss a post on Facebook or an advert in the newspaper. However, they’re much less likely to miss an email in the inbox or letter in their post box. This is why it’s important to keep a mailing list and always look for new ways to add new people.

An example of indirect contact would be a paid post on Facebook or an ad in the newspaper. It will have a greater reach and increase your chances of reaching people you haven’t met yet.

 

Know what is important to your client’s and structure your advertising around this information

Taking the time to consider what might interest your clients helps prevent vague and ineffective marketing messages.

What is it that your potential clients will want to get out of the livestock they purchase. Great performance figures? A strong pedigree? Breeding aims that align with their goals? Knowing this means that you can tailor your marketing message directly to your clientele.

 

Keep it fresh in people’s minds

It’s important to keep your stud fresh in people’s minds, especially in the weeks leading up to your sale.

Farmers are busy. You need to be continuously popping up on their radar several times to engage with them.

This is another benefit of using a variety of different platforms to reach your clientele. For example, a farmer may see your ad in the newspaper. He or she is interested, but busy, so the date goes unrecorded in their diary. The next week, they may receive an email from you, letting them know about the date and where they can preview the catalogue. This reminds them that they need to put the date in their diary.

 

Find something to make you stand out from the crowd

People are bombarded by advertising throughout the day. What will make you stand out over all others?

This might include a really special Ram or Bull with great performance figures that you feature in the advertisement. Or you might choose to use an alternative design that catches attention.

As an example, have a look at the ad below for Smithston Farms. This concept came from the stud owner of Smithston Sheep Stud, Dugald McIndoe who was born and raised in Scotland.  Our graphic designer, Caitlin, then created the design.  It certainly did get some attention.

Delegate Where Needed

We all have different strengths and weaknesses. If you don’t have the expertise or time to do something, outsource it.

If you know you won’t have time to plan and schedule social media posts leading up to the event – outsource it! If you want to send an eNewsletter to your previous clients, but don’t feel you have the tech skills to do it yourself – outsource it! Want a print advert in your local newspaper, but don’t have the design skills to pull it off – outsource it! There’s a high chance that you already have enough on your plate without tackling tasks that you don’t feel confident in.

At Bizboost, we know how busy things can get. For that reason, we’ve developed a Sales Marketing Package for those farmers who want to take their marketing to the next level, but don’t have the time to do it themselves. You can find more information here.

 

So these are our six tips when it comes to marketing your upcoming sale. It’s by no means an exhaustive list. So if you have more tips and tricks, let us know in the comments below.