Marketing Tips: Creating Video for Your Horse Business
Republished with permission from Yellow Barn Media | See original here
By Theresa Sheridan, The Branding Pen Marketing Network
I’ve no doubt that many of you are already using video to promote your business and your horses. As breeders, we’ve been sending off VCR tapes of sales horses and stallions for years, right? Now we’ve graduated to DVD’s and YouTube videos.
YouTube has revolutionized the way we do video for our business. Back in the day, trying to get a video on your website presented many challenges with uploading files that large as well as getting them to spool and play in a reasonable amount of time (the same day would have been nice).
Now, we can upload a video to YouTube in a fraction of the time, and with a handy little code provided by YouTube embed it right on our website with YouTube doing the heavy lifting and hosting it and spooling it for us, so it plays seamlessly right on our site.
We also have the ability to post this video on our social media sites such as Twitter, Pinterest & Facebook, driving even more traffic to our YouTube page as well as our website. Uploading our videos to YouTube serves several purposes, beyond just hosting our videos and freeing up space on our own websites.
YouTube, being owned by Google, is now a big part of a complete Search Engine Optimization program for our websites. Millions of users cruise through YouTube every day searching for everything from entertainment to tutorials, so here is your chance to give them what they’re looking for. People can subscribe to your YouTube channel and receive a notification every time you post something new. This is just another great way to build a following and show the world your brilliance.
Here is just a short list of what types of videos you could be posting to YouTube and then embedding on your site and sharing on social media (and afterwards, I have a great video tutorial for you with a nifty YouTube tip that will help drive traffic back to your website):
- Sale horse videos – a no-brainer, show the world how awesome your horse is and why they must have him!
- Stallion videos – again, a no-brainer here. Seeing your handsome boy in action, seeing his charm and charisma, his talent under saddle and his manners at the end of your lead rope will convince people that he is the one to cross on their favorite mare.
- Training tips – offer small bits of information that someone could put into action right away with their horses, but don’t give away the farm. Giving them something useful will show that you are the go-to person for their chosen discipline, and peak their curiosity while enticing them to contact you for even more great training help. This could even be a mental technique you use to get ready for a big show or competition. Be creative and think outside the box here.
- Got a handy tip that you use around the barn? Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with horses directly, but it sure will keep them from chewing up the floats on your water troughs! Share it – people will eat it up, because you just saved them a bunch of time and money.
- General marketing videos, to promote your program, facility & horses. If you need to, get some help with the editing and music to put together a really nice video. These are great to burn to DVD as well and take with you to expos and shows and hand out. Talk about a great business card!
Here are a few more tips to get the most out of your videos:
- Don’t make your videos too lengthy, just a few minutes will do, or you might lose their attention. People are in a hurry these days.
- Let people see your personality. People want connections these days, and the more they relate to what you’re saying, the more memorable you’ll be over the other boring guy. Show your whacky sense of humor, tell a little story that is consistent with your brand message, and will help you stick out in their mind.
- Be careful with using music and other photos or images that are protected by others. YouTube has been known to remove videos that violate copyright laws, especially when it comes to using music. Click here to read more about YouTube’s copyright infringement policy.
- Watch this video about how to ad a clickable external link to your videos, right on the video itself, instead of just in the description down below the video. This is super helpful for directing more traffic right back to your website and people will thank you for making it so easy for them to find out more about you.
About Theresa:
Theresa Sheridan is a freelance web & graphic designer in the Fresno, California area. She specializes in helping professionals in agriculture and related businesses brand themselves, build a powerful online presence and grow their business. She is the creator of The Branding Pen Marketing Network, a unique site providing branding and marketing resources for ag professionals. You can find out more about Theresa and view her complete online portfolio at http://www.theresasheridan.com.