Our how-to guide to recession-friendly polo and equestrian marketing
During times of recession and economic crises, the first thing many companies cut back on is their marketing and promotional budgets. But in fact this is one area you should actually put more work into to ensure you attract new customers as well as keep your loyal ones. In the polo industry this is particularly important as you need to continually attract new customers and audience attendees to your tournaments and events, to continue to grow the awareness of your polo club and tournaments.
But how I hear you cry? Marketing doesn't always have to be expensive to be effective and produce good results. There are many simple things you can do to increase your target audience reach, which don't always have to burst the bank.
Online tips...
Simple things such as using social media to promote your products, events and tournaments through Facebook, twitter, and through blogs can be relatively easy to manage in-house. They have great immediate results in increasing your audience awareness of your services and creating a new international community for your brand, which is particularly important during recession.
Utilities such as hootsuite allow you to update multiple social media networks quickly and easily as well as schedule tweets for online campaigns about your products.
Another great way of telling people what you are doing is setting up a online newsletter for your customers/polo club members. You could send this out as often as you like -weekly/monthly/quarterly and keeps your customers in touch with your brand as well you giving you the opportunity to promote new upcoming products/discounts/events etc
Have you thought about sharing links with other sites? A good way to drive traffic and visitors to your site is to share links with other polo and equestrian-related websites, who will list your website on their links page in return for you doing the same on your site.
Sponsorships and prizes..
If you want to promote your products to the equestrian industry, it might not be as expensive as you think to sponsor an event. Some tournament sponsorships start from as little as US$250 and can help you get your brand noticed by the polo elite.
Another great way of showcasing your products is through exhibiting at the tournament, many larger tournaments have stands for hire that you can showcase your products.
Many tournaments look for prize sponsors, for people to donate prizes to the winning teams. This can be a very good opportunity for you to directly get your products to your target audience who will then be able to try and recommend your product for you. A great way of getting new customers is through the good worth of mouth of your existing loyal customers. Many polo clubs charge no or very little fees to be a prize sponsor and many will give you a good mention in their press releases, online marketing of the event and depending on how much you donate some even name the tournament after you.
There are many ways to promote yourself, here are our top tips:
1. Set up a a facebook business page account and use this to increase your online audience
2. Use twitter to share news about your products/services and create discussion about your brand
3. Contact other related businesses to see if you can share links on each others websites
4. Set up an online newsletter
5. Become a prize sponsor and donate prizes to polo tournaments and equestrian events
Marketing is important, but it doesn't have to be as expensive as you think so don't leave it out of your budgets entirely.
"Don't be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing" - Mike Volpe, Chief Marketing Officer, HubSpot
"There are no magic wands, no hidden tricks, and no secret handshakes that can bring you immediate success, but with time, energy, and determination you can get there. " - Darren Rowse, Founder, ProBlogger
The Polera offer bespoke marketing and sponsorship services and can tailor make packages to suit your needs and your budgets. We offer advertising, marketing, sponsorship and promotional filming services. Contact our team now at thepolera@gmail.com for information on how we can help you.
