Stallion Promotion on a Shoe String Budget

Stallion Promotion on a Shoe String Budget

Everyone will tell you that promoting a stallion can be an enormous undertaking and cost thousands. Well, this may be true in some cases. But there are ways in today’s modern world of getting your stallion out there on a shoestring budget, without going bankrupt or taking out a 3rd on the house!

The first thing we will start with is establishing your brand recognition, you stallion becomes a representative of your ‘brand’ of horses. So it is important to get your ‘Brand’ out where your target market will see him- constantly. So for instance if you are standing an imported Hanoverian stallion and your target market is Dressage people, you are going to want to have him advertised where this type of horse person frequents, this includes websites, tack stores, feed stores, local barns, etc. Get your horse in front of these people, and KEEP HIM THERE. Post flyers at feed stores, grocery stores, gas stations and (with your WEBSITE!) leave a handful of your business cards with each flyer posted. People love business cards!

Advertise on the website where the people you wish to attract frequent the most, so in the case of a Dressage Champion Warmblood stallion- post flyers and advertise where Dressage people frequent- or whatever the case maybe with your type or breed of horse. Then, look at the all breed websites and email the webmaster to find the statistics of hits per day, per month, per year BEFORE you advertise. You want to advertise in the places that are attracting the majority of the traffic. Ask about entire year advertising, there may be discounts to be had and it is best to keep your horse out there at ALL times, not just breeding season. Out of sight, out of mind is a golden rule to live by when advertising and promoting a breeding stallion.

You want to spend your dollar where your horse will be seen the most. It is better to pay more for a well placed ad that generates lots of traffic then to have a few on more obscure websites that may or may not bring in the traffic at all. The idea of internet advertising is traffic that brings inquiries and that is where you get your sales. This same consideration should be given to all but the free advertising opportunities, if it is Free to advertise, take advantage, the more people see your horse on different sites, the more his name and "brand recognition" will stick in their minds.

So, you now have you stallion advertised where your ‘niche’ of targeted potential clients visit the most, and have him on a very popular and high traffic all breed website. ALWAYS include your web address in the ad, should the website not provide it for you via a link. We recommend www.Dreamhorse.com and www.Equine.com we have had great results with those sites and they have great rates!

After you have paid for a couple of good photo ads or banner ads on popular websites, it is time to blanket all the FREE Photo advertising that there is. How do you find them? Simple, run a www.google.com search for “Free Photo Horse Classifieds” That search usually yields pages and pages of results. Most of them require you to ‘register’ so I choose a username that I can use for all, and a password for all to make it easy to remember. Always include your website address in those free ads! The name of this new game is traffic. Also, the more people see your stallion repeatedly, the more brand recognition sets into their minds. It also gives the stallion stability, because wherever they go, there he is. So, he must be something pretty special!

That is why having a simple clean easy to use website is key. The easier you make it for people to navigate and see what they want- the better your results will be. Now that you have the internet blanketed and your paid ads on the best sites, look at your publications. You might check out the publications that are FREE at the feed stores. People always pick them up, sometimes religiously. Look at the ads and the prices, and pay attention to the dominant horses appearing in those magazines. Very often I have picked up an all breed magazine to find that it was mainly a quarter horse and stock breed magazine. Not a good place perhaps to advertise Arabians and Saddlebreds.

Look instead for the all breed magazine that truly has a variety, then look at circulation. Some of the Free magazines sell subscriptions, and sometimes there are a lot! So compare circulation, prices and of course, where your market is going to be. Place your ad with the magazine with the most variety or ‘like breed’ ads and with the highest circulation. Call and speak with them about giving you a year round special. It is best to keep your horse out there constantly in people’s minds and line of sight. Out of sight, out of mind. That is a very true statement in the horse world.

For specialized breeds, they often have their own, or even a few different magazines dedicated to the breed. Again, place your ad where it will be seen the most. We recommend ( for budget friendly ads ) to keep a year long ad running in the classifieds with a small photo. I don’t know a soul who doesn’t check the classifieds for horses for sale and at stud.

Let’s also look at the possibilities of the local Free Classifieds newspaper, ours is called the Big Nickel. I have never met a person that didn’t pick these up on a regular basis looking for something. These can generate a lot of traffic to your barn for lessons, boarding, training, people looking to buy horses, lease horses and breeding.

They are often very cheap to advertise in, and because they are Free and readily available at most all gas stations, small resteraunts, truck stops, etc, they normally have really high circulation. Often, they get passed about from erson to erson too, so as many as 3 people can read the one newspaper.

Usually they always have a pets and livestock section. Call them to find out how much it would be to have a small year round ad with a photo. Keep the ad simple, listing your services. Again, you are keeping yourself, your farm and your horse in people’s mind, locally, regionally and nationally with the tools we have at our disposal.

In addition to these services, it is also a great idea to have a presentation in the late summer, early fall to showcase your stallion and that year’s crop of foals, along with sale horses and such. We will be writing an article about having open barns and these kinds of events, however, keep it simple. Some Free Food, some education, a presentation of the stallion and his foals. This is a great way to get your clients more involved and help them market the foals. In addition to the stallion being presented you can have a ‘ year end production sale ‘ with maybe some silent bidding or something. Check with your local laws.

Be sure you invite the local 4-h and FFA chapters, your local breed youth group and post an announcement on your website, announce it in one of your premium ads, and take out an ad in the regional magazine and the local nickel. This is just like having a small horse show at your place, so make sure the horses are all groomed to perfection, your place is clean and you have plenty of volunteers to help out.

It is at this time that you want to offer breeding discounts, offer the in utero foals for sale for the following year and present to your guests what you are all about and what you have to offer. Get people caught in the excitement of your program, whatever it may be. Excitement is the key to happy clients, better sale prices and that means- more profit for you!