Smart Social Media Strategies for Horse Professionals
Chad Mendell
• EquestrianProfessional.com
• Equestrian Social Media Boot Camp
• Equiseen
• ESMA Judge 2012, 2014
Past:
The Horse – Executive Editor
[email protected]: @ChadMendell
Game Plan
• Why social media for horse businesses
• Quick rundown of the biggies
• Essential Principles for Success
Why Social Media?
• At any given time, only 3% of the people in your market are ready to make a purchase or use your services.
• What about the other 97%?
- How do you stay in front of them?
Why It Works
• Inexpensive – Knowledge Based not $
• Word of Mouth Based - Highly trusted and 78% of business comes directly from or influenced by WOM
• Visual - Lets you utilize images and video
• Informal Content Works – and horse professionals are close to the action!
• Mobile – You can market using your mobile phone
The Serious Six
• Facebook• Twitter• LinkedIn• YouTube• Pinterest• Google+
• Personal Profiles• Business/Fan Pages• Groups• Wall posts• Live chat, photos,
videos, links, e-mail
LOGO/URL
Pages vs. News Feed
• 96% of users don’t return to your page
• You are 40-150x more likely to reach your fans in their newsfeed than your page
• 27% of all time on Facebook is spent looking at the newsfeed
• Only 16% of your fans will see your posts
EdgeRank
• Twitter is an instant messaging and micro-blogging platform that enables people to communicate to their friends, followers and the universe using 140 characters or less
“Twitter is like a Text Message with a BCC: To The World”
Photo Credit: ydhsu
Hash Tags & Trending
Twitter Tools
• A business oriented social networking site that allows registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business.
Connections, Groups, Discussions, Job Search, Answers & News
*
Groups on LinkedIn
YouTube
• A video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos that is also social
• Subscribers, Friends, Comments
YouTube and Search
YouTube and Search
YouTube and Search
Share Your Circles
Google+ & Search
Google +1 Button
Websites that have Google’s +1 button installed generated 3.5 times more traffic from Google+ than websites that don’t have the button installed.
• A virtual pin board where users share images and videos by sharing links from their own or other people’s websites and/or from their own computers and social media channels like Flicker and YouTube.
• A post is called a “Pin” and posting is referred to as “pinning”
• “Pinners” then have the option to like, comment or re-pin” and can also follow other Pinners or specific Boards from other Pinners
• The majority of Pinners are content curators – 80% of all pins are repins
Which should you use?
• Each of the social media platforms have different strengths and applications.
• Which platforms and strategies you should use, depends on the type of business you have and your specific goals.
Where are your customers? Go to Them.
By didgital
Customer Pyramid
What to Posts?
• Frequently asked questions• Behind the scenes • Events• Current news• Your Customers (in a good way)• Ask questions and solicit input• Aggregate
It’s not about hard selling.
Next Steps
• Start with one or two platforms– Goals?– Customers?
• Set time limits• Get to know Photoshop/editing software• Test, Measure, Repeat• Be social
It’s Not Free
“The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.”
- Stephen Covey
Questions?
