Blog

Making the Most out of Your Marketing

by Laura Huff | Jul 15, 2016
There are countless marketing options out there, especially as the Internet continues revolutionize the ways in which we connect. It can be hard to know which channels of marketing will work best for your Ranch. Below, we are sharing a quick breakdown of a few of ideas that we see used most frequently and most successfully by our website customers. ​We are first sharing the main benefit of each; then we are provid​ing a little more information with an explanation of the examples we provided. Enjoy!

Marketing Samples

Social media can allow you to connect with other people interested in the industry on a daily basis. It allows you to share glimpses at life on the ranch, announce new arrivals or information about specific animals and can show off a little of your personality.
Our Social Media example is the Instagram profile of our customers at Circle K Ranch. The Krause's are talented photographers and they often use Facebook and Instagram to share a unique look at their Longhorn herd.

Business cards are great for events you attend with other breeders. They provide all of your information conveniently and you can even have them attached to a sale pen sign (see below) or at your booth for others to pick up as they walk by.
Above you can see the business cards we created for Struthoff Ranch when we redesigned their website.

Brochures and flyers can be used to provide a lot of content about your ranch in one place. Many of our customers use brochures to create mailers that include order forms when they have a special offer happening. As more marketing moves online, a piece of mail is sure to catch some attention.
Red Circle Ranch worked with us on a new logo, website and the brochure we have shared in our graphic. Their ranch features Miniature Longhorns, a breed which few are familiar with. This brochure is a great resource for their visitors with questions and can also be mailed out to those making website inquiries.

Ranch logos can be used well in all of your marketing outlets. Logos successfully build audience recognition and continuity across the different medias.
B&C Wildlife Consulting, LLC worked on us with this logo, and we are happy to see it being put to good use, especially on their website header and Facebook Page!

E-blasts (also called email marketing). E-blasts are an easy way to bring extra attention to sale consignments or special offers coming from your program. They contain plenty of links to help drive traffic to your website, along with photos, contact information and more.
CR Longhorns regularly advertises sale consignments using e-blasts to show off images of the available animals and other relevant longhorns, such as their service sires or sire and dam. You can see a screenshot of a portion of one of their e-blasts from the 2016 spring sale season above.

Print advertisements in Industry specific magazines are continuing to be an effective method of advertising. Although hard to measure their success, with an eye-catching design you can stop plenty of fellow breeders who are flipping through an industry-specific magazine. Magazine ads can easily be shared on Facebook as well to reach additional viewers.
The full page ad for DropTine Ranch above is a great example of an eye-catcher because is isn’t cluttered by too much information or too many animals. 

Sale catalog ads are effective becuase EVERYONE participating in the sale looks ​through the catalog at least once. You can promote your consignment​, choose focus more on service sires or your overall program.
We designed the 2016 Millennium Futurity catalog as well as the ads inside.

A sale pen sign is a great way to show off the pedigree, progeny, measurements or other key information about the consignment you brought. You potential customers will be there previewing the lots in their pens and take note of what you have highlighted for them. These posters can be made for individual animals, or be designed for reuse by just including your contact information, logo and spaces for pedigree pages to be placed.
Bo​len Longhorns shows off relevant animals by ​the sale pen sign our example. They like to call attention to the siblings, parents and service sires of their consignments by placing a printed copy of the animals' Hired Hand pedigrees.

Adding your logo to apparel or other items allows you to take your brand anywhere you go. It also exposes your ranch to others who may not know much about the industry.
MVP Whitetails has done a lot of fun, different things with their Hired Hand logo. Hats (like these two they gifted to their fans) shirts, baby onesies, belt buckles and thermoses haver all been shown off on their Instagram account.
Contact us for help with any of these marketing strategies. We can help you create a plan before sale time, or get to work designing materials for you to use!

Leave a comment

Connect With Us

Facebook Logo, Link to Hired Hand Facebook page Twitter Logo, Link to Twitter Page Instagram Logo,  Link to Instagram Page Pinterest Logo, Link to Pinterest Page RSS Logo

Archives