How to make a killer Facebook post to advertise your horse business (or any other service, event, etc).

I used to work in advertising. More specifically, I worked in radio, and I was the girl that sold you the ad, wrote the copy for your ad, and convinced you that buying a certain radio spot at a certain time and writing killer copy would make you a sale, which is also known as a return on your investment or "ROI". I also always had a hard time with that because honestly, I knew from my horse business that I could make an awesome sale through digital (Facebook) without ever spending a dollar on the radio. I also used to sell digital and print, so i've had experience using all three forms of media for advertising. (Not gonna lie, I have a sweet spot for print - and maybe I'll blog about that in the future). 

So today I am going to tell you how to make a killer Facebook post that will put dollars in your pocket so you can go spend it on hay and grain. We often talk about using different forms of social media to create and audience and following however, posting on Facebook isn't worth it if you're not using the right kind of ad copy and call to action. This post isn't about generating a long term audience, it's about converting a sale NOW so that you can stop scraping the quarters off the floor of your car to eat off the dollar menu. The most important KEY KEY point in writing a good Facebook ad is that you want your customer to ACT. Now, you as the seller need to figure out what you are going to do to get your customer to ACT and convert that sale.  

1. First you need a killer photo. The photo I have listed above always nets a direct sale. ALWAYS. It's cute right? Two pretty horses sniffing a horse kid. It summarizes my horse business in a nutshell because my students all know how to CONNECT with a horse. My personal business isn't about just horse showing, it's about relating to horses and so much more. My students always show love and affection for my lesson horses. This photo holds that essence. How do you know if you have a good photo? Share it on Facebook. If it gets a lot of likes, then you know it's something people like. If it doesn't, get a different picture because yours isn't motivating people to act, and in this case the "act" is liking your photo. Also, if you want adult clients, then you should have pictures of adults riding horses. If you want kid clients, you need pictures of kids. Think about what type of client you want and project that. Like attracts like. 

2. You need a call to action. If that sounds Greek to you, then please please please google how to write a good call to action. Do you ever hear those annoying commercials on the radio where they repeat the phone number THREE times (that's frequency by the way), and you are so annoyed they keep repeating it? Well, the call to action in that ad is to make a phone call! On digital platforms like Facebook your call to action is going to be to send a message or send a text. What's really really important is that you tell your customer what you want them to do in the text of that ad. It might be something simple as "send a message to schedule your lesson." Other business platforms might be more like "drop in on Tuesdays for 2.99 Margaritas and Taco Tuesday" (call to action there is DROP IN). You need to tell those customers to STOP IN DROP IN and DRINK UP at least 3 times for it to sink in. 

3. You need a GREAT DEAL and a TIME LINE!!! I can't emphasize this enough. So last week I offered a deal on kid lessons - purchase 3 lessons for $120 between now and February 18th. Offer expires on February 18th - no exceptions. You have to motivate your customer to take action now if you need to get paid now! And that deal EXPIRES on a certain deadline - no exceptions. PLEASE TAKE NOTE. If you're broke, find a number that makes you feel like you are not worth it. Just a little below what you feel comfortable. Make a killer deal out of that. It's okay to undercut if you need to put money on the table. When I first started my horse business I would often do a 4 lessons for $100 deal. If I ran that deal I would have money on the table to pay rent the next few days. Sometimes dealing with those clients was STRESSFUL, but I was grateful for the money. Eventually I moved up to selling 3 for $120 on a deal day because I knew I was okay financially, that $25 an hour made me grouchy, but $40 per hour was okay. My point? You can't sell your worth if you're not established, and if you're not established you can't be asking $75-$100 per lesson....but if you want money and you're willing to set aside your ego ...go for the $$ that will make you cringe and that's probably what people can afford. Do it so you can make rent and realize it's just a step in growth. 

4. Tell your customer how you want to get paid! If they want to book those lessons, SURPRISE, you just might open your paypal or venmo and see unexpected money because you told your customer how they could reserve those lessons! You know in 3rd grade when you have to write that essay on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then the teacher reads each student's essay in front of the class as she makes the PBJ and you can see who messed up??? Well, be explicit and make a really delicious PBJ with Nutella and bananas. Don't be that kid that puts the bread together backwards. 

5. TIMING is everything. Please do NOT run your ad on the 8th or the 18th of the month. That would be really dumb. I mean seriously, do you know anyone that gets paid then? Run your ad around the 1st and the 15th of the month, when the majority of people get paid. Horses are a luxury for most families and the first thing to go if there are extra expenses in life, so you need to be very judicious about timing. Run you ads a few days before the first and a little after so people have time to sit down and look over their finances and see how much is left after the pay bills. And remember that thing about a time line? Well, if they are giving you money that you NEED then by all means be a little flexible on that through messaging, but if you don't need it you can be fixed. 

Next time I sit down and blog I will write more about target demos. Please SUBSCRIBE to my blog and Youtube channel (see my call to action!!!) if you'd like future horse marketing tips!