SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS FOR EQUESTRIAN BUSINESSES

Part of my full-time job as a public relations consultant involves assisting companies with their social media PR. I have seen some fantastic results- including huge leaps in website traffic, increases in sales (both on and offline) and some businesses have even managed to break into other international markets as a result of raised global awareness.

I would fully recommend getting out there and creating an online voice for yourself. People will be chatting about you anyway so it makes sense to be part of the conversation. And if they aren't chatting about you...well, that means they don't know who you are and that's something that needs rectifying! Here are a few quick tips courtesy of moi for anyone wishing to give social media a go:

1) Firstly....I see a lot of NZ equestrian businesses running competitions through Facebook. Please please bear in mind that Facebook has very strict competition rules (check them out here). If you run a contest based on fans joining your page, tagging a photo or if you use your Facebook page to announce or contact winners of your competitions, Facebook will ban you and remove the page. If you would like to run a competition, host it on Twitter (MUCH less strict) or your website and link it to Facebook. You will get the same benefits re: brand awareness but without running the risk of losing all your hard work building your Facebook page.

2) Make sure you post on Facebook at least once a day. There is nothing worse than a stagnant profile that hasn't been updated for five months...People that stumble across it will just assume you don't do anything or you've gone into liquidation or something!

At the same time....don't post too much on Facebook...People can only tolerate a certain number of updates before you become the spammer and they start blocking you. Unless a special event is going on or the page is unusually active (questions etc), I would limit to five posts, spread out over the day. Twitter moves so fast that there is really no cap on number of posts. Just make sure you don't repeat the same thing over and over as that gets old very quickly....

3) Keep on top of spammers. They do hit Facebook and blogs and if you don't keep on top of it things can get out of control fairly quickly. It does not create a good first impression.

4) Social media is more casual than writing a letter or communicating through other marketing tools. Keep the tone of voice friendly, genuine and personal- don't try too hard. Visitors will want to feel like they are conversing with an actual person, not a robot.

5) Answer questions. Be on hand to answer any queries. Facebook and Twitter can form a great part of your customer service repertoire. However, remember that if questions are asked and you don't regularly check on your social media portals to answer them it can reflect badly on the company. It looks like you don't care.

6) Don't just post details about your company. Don't be tooooo self-promotional. Develop a valuable resource that people will keep going back to because it provides useful equestrian information. Of course, let them know when you have an exciting new product, a special deal or when something interesting has happened with the business, but also give them horsey advice and share relevant equestrian news and info.

7) Encourage people to interact with the brand. Don't simply talk at people- invite them to contribute as well. Ask for results, news, opinions on your products etc etc- be creative. That way you will create a vibrant online equestrian community- rather than a static page where you talk about yourself (boring!!)

8) Check your spelling. Bad spelling and grammatical errors = highly unprofessional (I've even noticed a few proofing this so it happens to all of us if we're writing too quickly!)

9) Have a look at some succesful Facebook/Twitter profiles and learn from what they do and how they interact with their followers. Here are some good ones: Supreme Products Facebook, Show Circuit Magazine Facebook, Show Circuit Magazine Twitter, Equine Trader Facebook, Equine Trader Twitter, Horse & Hound Facebook, Tack Shop NZ Facebook and Abbeyview Equine Twitter.

There are many, many more things I could add but those that I have mentioned are a good starting point. If you're after any additional advice, feel free to drop me a line at jfboyes@hotmail.com and I'll do my best to help you out :)

PREPARING SHOW HORSES AND PONIES FOR THAT BUZZY COMPETITION ENVIRONMENT

Those first few outings with your young or novice show animal are always exciting times. Will they explode like a dry tinder box packed full of chinese firecrackers, doused with petrol and then lit with a single match? Or will they come off the box and float serenely into the ring, wowing the judge and everyone at the ringside with their grace and poise?

Sometimes, the ones that you would least expect turn into fire-breathing dragons and the so-called 'nervey' ones are perfectly well behaved. Our horses like to keep us on our toes you know.

Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to prepare your horse or pony for it's first show ring experience:

• Firstly- it might sound obvious- but do try to take your horse to a couple of small, inconsequential competitions before you tackle anything more important. That way, you can get an idea of how your horse will react and accustom him to the environment without it mattering tooo much.
• Make sure that your horse is properly trained before you start entering him in classes all over the place. If he is a ridden prospect, ensure that all of his transitions are smooth and unrushed etc. If you are wanting to show a youngster in-hand, practice leading, trotting and standing quietly until he is performing calmly and obediently.
• Have a few practice runs at home. Go through the whole shebang- washing, plaiting and loading so that you know exactly how long it will take you on the day (this cuts down HUGELY on your already soaring stress levels!)
• If at all possible, practice leading or riding with other horses around....
• Show grounds can be a lot buzzier and noisier than most horses are used to. Consider playing music while you are riding or leaving the radio switched on next to his stable/paddock so he gets used to different sounds
• Desensitise your horse to as much as possible! Balloons, flags, livestock- all of these things are often present at larger shows and can cause a bit of a horsey meltdown if he hasn't come across them before
• For the big competitions, which will have plenty of spectators, consider downloading a clapping soundbyte from a website such as this one. Believe me- it is well worth getting them used to this noise as countless laps of honour etc have been wrecked by horses freaking out at the sound of clapping

There are also a number of things you can do once you are at the show:

• Leave yourself plenty of time. A stressed owner = a stressed horse!
• Warm your horse up at the edge of the showgrounds if you can, so that he can see/hear all the action but isn't in the thick of it. Easing him into the show environment is much better than hurling him in and expecting him to deal with it
• Take your horse for a walk in-hand around the grounds (for both ridden and in-hand animals). Let him have a look at everything before you ask him to do any work.
• Before you enter the ring, take note of any horses that are playing up or riders that look like they aren't coping. Stay as far away as possible from them!
• Once in the ring- stay calm, think ahead and don't get bunched up with other competitors. If you think you are going to catch up with a group of other riders, simply turn and ride a large circle or ride deeper into the corners. Keep plenty of space around you (as well as being more relaxing for your horse there are also obvious ring-craft benefits)

Happy showing and those that are venturing out for the first time, enjoy your first event!