Stallion Promotion - Disappointed in your Advertising Results?

Stallion Promotion

Disappointed in Your Advertising Results?

By Lisa Atkinson (with thanks to Sharron Wilcox, Renaissance Farms, Kamloops, BC)

You’ve just paid for all your spring advertising, now you settle back, telephone handy to answer the flood of calls from interested breeders. Well, the phone never rings except for the advertiser wanting more money and you say, never again will I waste money on advertising!!!

Before you completely dismiss advertising from you life, let us examine how it works and what it does for you. Many people don’t realize that just like horse breeding, advertising is a long term investment with a long term payoff. This article will explain the benefits received from advertising, and you may be surprised at some of them.

Advertising builds an image of your stallion, his progeny and your farm, so it should be approached with thought. Serious breeders, who want to make money with their stallion, have a business plan and part of their plan is how much to pay for advertising for the year and where they will get the best value for their money. James P. McCall, PhD in ‘The Stallion, a Breeding Guide for Owners and Handlers’ suggests spending two times the breeding fee for the advertising budget. So if your stud’s fee is $500, he suggests spending $1000/year as part of his plan to breed 40 mares/year.

The serious breeder’s goal is to have her stallion’s name become familiar to all her potential customers because people trust names they recognize. This means having her stallion in front of people all the time, even during the off season. To become a familiar name, the serious breeder makes sure her ads are consistent and attractive, with a recognizable logo, colour scheme or style, so people associate it with her stallion and farm. She wants people to see her ad and instantly recognize her stallion and farm name. People also believe what they read so by putting what she wants known about her stallion in the ads, she creates an instant image for him. She knows when a stallion’s ads are seen regularly, it builds an image of him being a high quality, successful stallion. This is why frequency of advertising really pays off.

The serious breeder also plans where and how to advertise. She knows it is important to use different types of advertising like internet, magazine, stallion auctions and showing. Here are some things to look for to get the best value, in each type.

The best magazines to be seen in are stallion editions and annual issues because these are often kept for years, so your ad in one of these will be around for much longer than your ad in a monthly magazine.

78% of horse breeders (2002 Canada Breeder’s Directory study) use the internet to research horses, so it is a very important place to be seen. It is great to have your own website, but if people can’t find it, it is not much use. Ideally your web site shows up in to top 10 search results (or 20 maximum) on MSN, Yahoo and Google, if not you need to work on getting it there, or plan on attracting visitors another way. Another good way to have your website found is to be listed in the internet horse directories. If you are paying for you listing, find out how and where the directory is being promoted (eg. magazines, other places on the internet) because everytime the website is promoted this is also a promotion for your stallion. Canada Breeder’s Directory advertises in several magazines across Canada which is paying off in large numbers of people coming to our site. Also important to check is how much traffic the website receives, is it easy to navigate, quick loading and does it have enough to keep breeders coming back.

Stallion auctions generate a great deal of interest in the offered stallions but the cost (usually 1 breeding) is expensive if you consider how much other advertising you would get for that amount of money. You may be surprised, but showing your stallion is a form of advertising and is excellent for creating word of mouth advertising.

An often over looked benefit of advertising is with the name recognition of your stallion comes an increase in the value of your foals. An important point to make to mare owners is that your stallion’s foals are easy to sell because your stallion is regularly advertised making him well known and this has creating a high demand for his offspring. When you help your customers promote their foals, not only does this make them happy it also promotes your stallion.

I’m not a big breeder, this doesn’t apply to me, you may think. Well, even if you are standing a stallion just for ‘fun’, why not make him a popular, well known and in demand sire. Then he will earn enough money to cover his costs and maybe even support your whole farm. Also, it is much more rewarding when you ‘casually’ mention his name and people light up because they know him and want to tell you all about him.

Important points to remember:

Advertising is cumulative, it works over time.

Advertising creates an image of your stallion and operation.

People believe what they read, so build an instant image for your stallion and farm with your advertising.

People trust familiar names and being seen often makes your stallion familiar.

Being seen regularly is equated with quality and success.

Advertising in stallion issues and annual issues lasts longer than monthly issues because people keep them.

When you market your stallion, you are also marketing his offspring.

Promotion of his offspring also promotes your stallion.

Some of the benefits of advertising are:

More breedings over the long term.

People assume your stallion must be good when he is advertised regularly.

The value of your stallion’s foals is increased when people recognize the stallion’s name.

Your stallion becomes more in demand because his foals are in demand.

Pride in standing a stallion everyone knows.

A good advertising plan can make your stallion a popular, in demand sire. Just remember, advertising does work, but not instantly, the same as with your breeding program.

For more information on stallion promotion, check the other “Articles” on our website

Updated March 20, 2003